Buy all your VW California Accessories at the Club Shop Visit Shop

Rejigging cars

My father died recently and I now have his car in adition to our gorgeous Cali and Mrs B's trusty Skoda Superb Estate. The plan was to sell this 49000 mile, fifteen year old Skoda Fabia and add the cash to his estate. WBAC offered £1040 for it! However my step mother has said that she would prefer that we keep it as that's what my father would have wanted. So I've insured and taxed this 1.4 Tdi diesel and have been using it for school and tip runs, shopping and other errands etc. With dirt cheap insurance +£115 pa, VED + £125 pa and 60mpg what's not to like. I can park it out side the school where the yummy mummy's can throw open their car doors into it and I care not a jot. Yes our other two vehicles get even less use but as our previous Cali Beach was damaged to the tune of £600+ by someones little darling outside of said school then running this as a third car makes eminent financial sense to me. It will also be treated as a family pool car so if anyone has car problems it's here ready and waiting. It also means that I can now relax and have both eyes closed when waiting to pick up the grandkids.
Sorry to hear about your Dad.

Love my £600 Yaris for the same reasons. There’s something very satisfying about driving round in a beat up old car, especially when it’s out of choice.
 
My father died recently and I now have his car in adition to our gorgeous Cali and Mrs B's trusty Skoda Superb Estate. The plan was to sell this 49000 mile, fifteen year old Skoda Fabia and add the cash to his estate. WBAC offered £1040 for it! However my step mother has said that she would prefer that we keep it as that's what my father would have wanted. So I've insured and taxed this 1.4 Tdi diesel and have been using it for school and tip runs, shopping and other errands etc. With dirt cheap insurance +£115 pa, VED + £125 pa and 60mpg what's not to like. I can park it out side the school where the yummy mummy's can throw open their car doors into it and I care not a jot. Yes our other two vehicles get even less use but as our previous Cali Beach was damaged to the tune of £600+ by someones little darling outside of said school then running this as a third car makes eminent financial sense to me. It will also be treated as a family pool car so if anyone has car problems it's here ready and waiting. It also means that I can now relax and have both eyes closed when waiting to pick up the grandkids.
Very sorry to hear you lost your father recently Borris, I think you’d mentioned previously both a fractured hip & Coronavirus. We hope he didn’t suffer, sincere condolences to your family.
 
Very sorry to hear you lost your father recently Borris, I think you’d mentioned previously both a fractured hip & Coronavirus. We hope he didn’t suffer, sincere condolences to your family.
Thank you.
Unfortunately he had a ghastly time but I won't expand except to say that he, like many others at the moment, ended his days alone with only his wife (my step mother) allowed to see him at the very end. He was apparently one of a number of cases that contracted Covid whilst in that Hospital. The hospital has been the subject of an investigation and found severely wanting!!!

I'm not saying that at ninety one he would have lived much longer or that covid was directly responsible for his demise but contracting it in hospital prevented him from recovery after the hip operation and launched him onto a slippery slope.

He was a great character and is greatly missed by us all.

R.I.P Dad aka Dick.

In his lair.
20201011_174357.jpg
 
Last edited:
Thank you.
Unfortunately he had a ghastly time but I won't expand except to say that he like many others at the moment ended his days alone with only his wife (my step mother) allowed to see him at the very end. He was apparently one of a number of cases that contracted Covid whilst in that Hospital. The hospital has been the subject of an investigation and found severely wanting!!!

I'm not saying that at ninety one he would have lived much longer or that covid was directly responsible for his demise but contracting it in hospital prevented him from recovery after the hip operation and launched him onto a slippery slope.

He was a great character and is greatly missed by us all.

R.I.P Dad aka Dick.

In his lair.
View attachment 67687
So sorry Borris, that looks like a great workshop.

I still remember fondly the picture of your ancestors you posted, do i remember correctly that your father was in it as a small child.
 
So sorry Borris, that looks like a great workshop.

I still remember fondly the picture of your ancestors you posted, do i remember correctly that your father was in it as a small child.
Thank you. I never knew how he could find anything in there. He built very many mind blowing projects in that shed.

No. He was born in 1928 whereas this photo was taken in 1919. However his elder sister is the little girl in the back row being held by his father. My grandfather had seven brothers and seven sisters and the family was thought to be the largest surviving family in Kent following WW1.

We held a large family reunion last year in the pub opposite the house featured, to celebrate 100 years since that photo was taken. Being the eldest family member there, my father was the guest of honour. Why was this photo taken in the first place? As mark of thanks giving for all the family's men folk returning safely from the first world war and the family's survival of the Spanish Flu pandemic. So it's poignant that he should die so shortly afterwards, partly because of contracting another pandemic virus.
20200315_195728.jpg

Sorry to all. This has gone well off topic.
 
Last edited:
Thank you.
Unfortunately he had a ghastly time but I won't expand except to say that he like many others at the moment ended his days alone with only his wife (my step mother) allowed to see him at the very end. He was apparently one of a number of cases that contracted Covid whilst in that Hospital. The hospital has been the subject of an investigation and found severely wanting!!!

I'm not saying that at ninety one he would have lived much longer or that covid was directly responsible for his demise but contracting it in hospital prevented him from recovery after the hip operation and launched him onto a slippery slope.

He was a great character and is greatly missed by us all.

R.I.P Dad aka Dick.

In his lair.
View attachment 67687
May he rest in peace.
 
So after nearly 12 months, I've finally managed to finish our plan as per the original post on this thread. We have now sold the three cars we owned and have a new Renault Zoe and a Cali SE.

Picked up a 2015 Cali SE 140 a few days ago. Chuffed to bits with it as exactly what I was looking for, even had the climatronic which seems quite rare on the 140s. Looking forward to getting out again when the weather improves.

Renault is great for school runs and nipping to the shops, so seems a pretty good combo. Longer term I'd love another classic sports car, although I may have to wait a while until I present that idea to the missus...
 
Back
Top