I have thought long and hard about writing this piece but have decided that it may be helpful to some potential new Cali owners so here goes.
About four years ago when Mrs B and I could see that our family was starting to expand exponentially we began to look for a larger suitable vehicle in which to both safely cart our grandchildren about and to sleep in during necessary escapes from the same and life in general. After looking at all sorts of vehicles we narrowed our search to the VW Transporter range. We discovered that the VW Shuttle made an excellent people carrier but was no good as a mobile escape pod. The Caravelle with the bed pack seemed to be the way to go but during one of our many trips to VW dealerships to research this important and expensive decision we were introduced to the California SE. The result of that meeting was a decision to buy a full fat no compromise camper van for our use and to deal with the people carrier needs later on when the children became too big to fit comfortably in our family car. We therefore purchased one of the last four seater T5 SE 180 dsg 4motions. It was an ex demo vehicle and has proved to be a truely wonderful vehicle since we collected it in October. Since then we have had many days out in her (Margot) and five trips away. She stands fully provisioned and ever ready for us to disappear off somewhere at the drop of a hat. FANTASTIC and our decision to opt for a late model T5 SE has proved to be a massive success.
Then earlier this year I had an unexpected financial opportunity that ment that we were able to re-visit the people carrier issue in order to cope with our growing family needs (currently eight grandchildren). Now having already done the research we trotted back to the same dealer that we had purchased Margot from (SMG Tonbridge) with the intention of buying a Caravelle to replace our eleven year old car. What we eventually drove away in was their ex demonstrator T6 California Beach. Although when we saw it in January it hadn't been registered and we had to wait until the 1st of June to get our mitts on it. For those Who want to know, we managed a +15% discount including a loyalty bonus and received a Cali with 171 miles on the clock. Result! Laine Watts the Salesman was brilliant throughout.
Like Margot, this vehicle, now named Bluebell Bus, had every option that I would have picked plus a few extra and is perfect for our needs. In the three weeks since we collected her she has been used for school runs, has been stripped out to carry a whole christening party in boxes to a local hall and this weekend will be used as a seven seat people carrier at our youngest sons wedding. Last weekend we even spent the weekend in her at the Lower Lode with the Cali Club but only because I wanted to discuss having something made for her with Nick from Comfortz. She also proved superb to sit and sleep in as well.
Our reasons for buying another Cali and not a Caravelle are:
1. After you include all of the extras that we wanted there isn't that much difference in price.
2. Whilst you lose a sliding door you gain a pop up roof and all the usual Cali camping equipment.
3. We will be able to use both Calis on holidays with our family.
4. The extra scope that the Cali Beach gives you over the Caravelle is amazing when you are looking after little ones during the holidays and at other times. Picnics in the Beach are a highlight for them and trips to the beach will be a lot easier with the blinds and parking heater available to reduce some of the inevitable torture.
5. The no nonsense wipe down interior is much better suited to our needs than that of the more swanky Caravelle.
6. The residuals mean that our money should be safer with a Beach than a Caravelle.
So why did this chap not just buy a Beach in the first place I hear you ask?
Well for one thing, as I have described above, our decision making process led us to buying a proper camper van first for our own exclusive use with no compromises. However our main reason was that we wanted to clear off on a wim in a fully kitted out vehicle without the hours of digging stuff out and packing it in after first removing the seats etc. In a word - spontaneity.
We hadn't intended buying another Cali but now that we have, the Beach is rapidly proving to be the right choice. Our need was for a general purpose family car that can fulfil many different roles well and so far it has exceeded all of our expectatations. Wow, what a great vehicle! And you can camp in it as well.
Now having explained how we have unexpectedly ended up with two Calis I will try to answer WG's question. I say try because we have only had Bluebell bus for three weeks so it is early days yet. However I wiil give a full report later after I have had a good poke round and have done some more miles.
So we now find ourselves the owners of a T5 SE 180dsg 4motion and a T6 Beach 150 six speed manual. The differences couldn't be further apart so all I can do is to report my impressions and not to attempt any direct comparisons.
So first impressions are:
1. The Beach is a very versatile vehicle ideally suited to our varied current needs as a general purpose day van and people carrier.
2. Whilst the manual gearbox is lovely I do miss the DSG a lot. I have stalled the manual a few times forgetting that you need to use the clutch!
3. The rugged bog standard commercial vehicle dash is perfect. It has lots of cubby holes and is very practical unlike the expensive flashy optional upgrade. I even think that even if it were the same price I would still prefer the basic dash.
4. The engine is very smooth, quiet and pulls very well. However I wouldn't like to say at this stage that it is any less noisy than the 180 engine in the SE.
5. Without trying to achieve any good fuel economy figures, the Beach is currently reading an average of around 44 mpg on the computor with less than 1000 miles on the clock so the prospects for even better mpg over the long term are good. I haven't done a brim to brim test yet.
6. With the exception of the fabric seats which we have fitted waterproof covers to, the materials used in the interior are all tough and easy to wipe down and keep clean. A good example is the front door cards. The SE has a fabric insert which I have always felt are vunerable to wear and tear, whereas the more basic Beach interior has a less fancy one piece tough plastic door card.
7. The manual roof is very easy to operate and seems blisfully simple compared to the electro/hydraulic version. However in adition to the usual scissor issue, you also have to ensure that you do not trap any fabric in the catches that hold the roof down as apparently this is another potential cause of holes in the fabric.
8. The roof material is much lighter making, IMO, an internal liner essential. No observations yet on whether it is more waterproof than the old canvas.
9. Apart from an annoying rattle coming from the awning it seems to be no more noisy on the road than our T5 SE.
10. The trip switch for the electric hook up on the Beach is a nightmare to get at with that muti board thing in place.
11. The T6 doesn't have the rub strips down each side that the T5 has. This means that you are even more aware of the potential for damage.
12. There no longer appears to be the DVD player function that the 510 system has on the top end radio sat nav option on the T6.
I will endeavour to expand on my experience of both later but Mrs B has just reminded me that there is more to life than the VW Cali Forum and who am I to disagree with her.
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