Predicting I'll be spending a lot of time here!

[Seaside Sussex]

Hi all

I'm Jayne from Sussex by the sea.

Husband and I are making tentative first steps into considering buying a T6 for us and our 2 pre-teens. We'd always planned to buy a camper on retirement but think it'll be good to make the purchase earlier and get a few years in with the children before they decide they are too old to go away with their parents!

We've not experienced life in a camper as a family so it'll be good to get some pointers on this and surviving, especially with pre-teens.

Having had a good look around the site we are seriously considering a T6 Ocean, having previously only considered a conversion from the likes of Bilbos. We are hoping to have a look at one at the weekend from our local dealer, Southern Motor Group, who we've seen come highly recommended on here. We've not ruled out the Beach as my SSMTB'ing husband can sling his bike in the back.

One of my concerns about the Cali is the opening roof, which I'd read can have waterproofness issues (this seems a bit of a selling point for Bilbos). Is this still the case on the new T6 (I've been led to believe its been resolved). We are planning on using our camper year-round in the UK and northern Europe so won't be able to rely on the weather being warm and sunny!

Thanks.

 

[Alibee]

Hi Jayne, and welcome to the forum!

I'm sure you will have picked from some thread trawling that renting before buying is something of a standard recommendation around here, and with good reason as it's quite a confined space to exist in for more than night or two. We manage fine with four and a dog, but it isn't for everyone.

I'd like to think that most members here have come to the conclusion that the combination of build quality, very low depreciation, vehicle size and quality of drive realistically rule out anything other than a Cali in one form or another. It's not that they're without their issues, but the overall ownership experience is generally more satisfying than conversions / larger campers / etc. There's a pretty broad spectrum on here, from the 25yr old Westy's to shiny new T6 owners, and I'm sure you'll have no trouble getting answers to your questions.

Incidentally, if you do decide to go for a T6 but aren't sure on the spec then I'd suggest placing your order (with £1k deposit) asap so you have a build slot secured. You can adjust spec for some time afterwards which takes the pressure off sorting it out in advance.

Cheers,

Ali

 

[Hotel California]

Welcome,
think you are on the wrong foot with the roof not beeing waterproof...

As for teenager in a Cali , as long as they got thier smartphone and internet i see no problem thats all they need nowadays

 

[Seaside Sussex]

Thank you @Alibee . That's really good advice about getting a deposit in to secure a build date, thank you.
Yes, we are planning on renting a camper for a long weekend later on in the year. There's a rental place around 5 miles from us - not Cali's, but converted T5's which will give us a good idea if we can get on ok together in a confined space. As @hotel california says, we should be ok so long as we have their smartphones Thanks too @hotel california about the heads-up about the roof, I'd read it in someone's blog about needing a cover to go over the roof when elevated to keep it waterproof….. Maybe there's was a much older model

 

[ArunAlec]

If you are in West Sussex, BMVS in Bognor hire T6s. Theres's a world of difference between a conversion and a Cali. I would suggest you hire the Cali. I was looking at buying a conversion and looked at Bilbos, Jerbas etc but got seduced by the refinement of the Cali.

 

[Teejay]

Hi & welcome,
Sage advice from @Alibee. We hired first and we were "lucky" to have several season in a single day.
From rain and sun to snow; see here: https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/view-from-of-your-van.11132/page-17#post-144704 we realised that if we enjoyed in these conditions we be ok.

Hire first at least 5-10 days at least that way the excitement may where off and you really begin to think is this for us! Some even take that hire price off if you purchase.

Hope it works out for you

Teejay

 

[Seaside Sussex]

@Teejay1, that's a good idea to go for several days to get over any initial 'honeymoon' period, thank you.

Thank you @ArunAlec, I'll check them out. We are in East Sussex, but would probably head to the New Forest for our first hire so that might work for us. There's a place near Southampton which does the new T6 Cali so I'm going to get in touch with them too.

 

[larrylamb]

Hi Jayne, many owners T5 and T6, use a roof topper accessory to keep the Cali warmer and less draughty when the weather is not so great. It does also help keep the roof canvas dry when it is pouring down. This helps as it is not advisable to store the roof down with wet canvas. Our son sleeps upstairs and we find a topper definitely makes it cosier up there.

 

[Skylark2.0]

We have a wireless router in our glove box which keeps the teenager (and me) happy. Yes it's expensive but we really like it.
We also love the built in Sat Nav, others wil disagree but we like the lack of wires and we prefer the operability compared to our expensive Garmin. Like the Traffic message update, it's so easy to access. Personally I wish we had the built in handsfree but we didn't so we have the non factory fit, which is really clunky.
We had a horizontal gale force storm on Islay last year. The roof was waterproof, the TK10'd cagouls, trousers and door weren't. How waterproof does it need to be?!!
The biggest teenager problem is the weekend commitment, it rights off many a good weekend away....