Reintroduction!

[Rogerstone]

Hi,
An update to our membership. I'm almost ashamed to admit this but a year ago we deserted the fold!
On a whim we bought an Autosleeper Stanton, fine piece of kit ,very comfortable and not bad to drive. We were very fortunate that our daughter bought our California.
As could have been expected I did not bond with the new van ! Fast forward and on Monday we collect our new California .
10 month old 150dsg Ocean. An expensive exercise not to be recommended and certainly won't be repeated.
California's really do rule.

 

[Digger]

Welcome back.

 

[LemonDrop]

But your daughter got a lovely cali out of it too! Welcome back.

 

[mapman]

Welcome back we done the same, auto sleeper symbol for a few months then back to a new California

 

[Jay20cali]

Same here cali then Karmann Colorado 655ti then a Westfalia Columbus then back to a California
Been there done that.
The westy was good though to be honest I’d go there again.but not yet

 

[Calisand]

My wife and I love our Cali but often have the debate about slightly larger van with toilet and hard roof versus driveability, flexibility and versatility of the Cali. It’s not a daily driver for us as both retired and have another smaller car for shopping etc. but is used a least weekly for days out and/or weekends-away and touring.

Having tried other things which you wouldn’t call ‘great whites’ what brought you back to the Cali?

 

[Jay20cali]

We really enjoyed the Westfalia Columbus that was a fantastic van and we do regret selling it as new ones are now unaffordable at 74k...
But the big one was a pain for going away at the weekend the lakes was hard work with narrow lanes ect.
Great for Europe
The main reason we went back to a California was because there easier to live with,no habitation checks yearly and they depreciate slower so with it not being our daily driver it doesn’t matter if we wasn’t using it as much as we should When we do retire we definitely plan to get a bigger van as you really do feel the benefits of having a fixed roof and toilet and more space
But for now we love the California
I think if you’re still enjoying a California your not ready ,,,
if you see what I mean ???
but if it’s not as enjoyable as it used to be being in the California it’s definitely time for a medium van conversion

 

[Jay20cali]

Also the fiat was a bit of the issue
They really don’t compare to a vw so a medium van on a crafter would be our next big van

 

[Calisand]

Also the fiat was a bit of the issue
They really don’t compare to a vw so a medium van on a crafter would be our next big van

Thanks Jay17 Cali. Your comments really concur with our own thoughts. If/when we change it would be for a Crafter based conversion. If the California Grand 600 came with a
‘normal’ hi-top roof we would definitely consider that in the future or a Westfalia Sven Hedin but spending £70-80k takes some thinking about. 680 is definitely too big for us so that rules out several other Crafter based alternatives.

However still very happy with Cali at the moment - just thinking ahead and hoping VW decide to offer a 600 Grand at some point without the 3m roof height.

 

[Rogerstone]

My wife and I love our Cali but often have the debate about slightly larger van with toilet and hard roof versus driveability, flexibility and versatility of the Cali. It’s not a daily driver for us as both retired and have another smaller car for shopping etc. but is used a least weekly for days out and/or weekends-away and touring.

Having tried other things which you wouldn’t call ‘great whites’ what brought you back to the Cali?

The main reason is the unmatched build quality, versatility following closely.
4 seats,4berth and a pleasure to drive !
They really can't be beaten!

 

[Rogerstone]

As stated the build quality and versatility of the Cali is unmatched

 

[Rogerstone]

Ok,so picked up the new (to us) California yesterday from Marshall at Reading.
David Muriel had dealt with us from the beginning of our search, his patience is to be commended!
Very good handover. After having a 180 DSG SE previously I wondered how the 150 would compare . Needless to say it drives beautifully! Starlight Blue looks fantastic.
Sorted a few things out this morning and now looking forward to many years of fun.
There will be no more deviation from the path!