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[HectorPascal]

GrannyJen,

Good to meet you today and glad you have done the deal for Albert 2. We are super excited to start out adventures with Albert. We will treat him well and take him far! Girls already planning first night sleep locations.

Good luck and happy venturing with Albert.

 

[Borris]

I am confused, Anna is the lovely redhead who is generally warm, her sister Elsa is the blond who is a trifle cool

Somebody else has sat through Frozen a few dozen times!

 

[Bellcrew]

Somebody else has sat through Frozen a few dozen times!

Two granddaughters who are besotted and can sing every word, some in key!

 

[GrannyJen]

I have contemplated selling our VW on the basis on lack of use and my wife's wishes not to sleep in her after she was ill most of last year - we never named our Ocean but probably should have called her 'Anna' from the film 'Frozen' because it is Onyx White and also bloody freezing upstairs!

Anna is my daughters name so may be a bit confusing!

I am sure you have made the right decision and new adventures await for you, Albert I and now soon to be Albert II. Albert I can look forward to adventures with his new family who will love and treasure him as you will your new Ocean with more knobs on by the look of the spec!

Go Granny Jen, go and embrace the change since that is what life is, one long series of cyclical changes that come and go with the wind and the seasons!!

Embrace the change and feel happy you made the decision xx

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Thank you

I am sorry to hear of your wife’s illness. I hope whatever the decision it all works well for you ....

 

[2haw]

I have contemplated selling our VW on the basis on lack of use and my wife's wishes not to sleep in her after she was ill most of last year - we never named our Ocean but probably should have called her 'Anna' from the film 'Frozen' because it is Onyx White and also bloody freezing upstairs!

Anna is my daughters name so may be a bit confusing!

I am sure you have made the right decision and new adventures await for you, Albert I and now soon to be Albert II. Albert I can look forward to adventures with his new family who will love and treasure him as you will your new Ocean with more knobs on by the look of the spec!

Go Granny Jen, go and embrace the change since that is what life is, one long series of cyclical changes that come and go with the wind and the seasons!!

Embrace the change and feel happy you made the decision xx

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Without doubt my favourite Cali.. love the Onyx and Springfields.

 

[Julian_Camper_Man]

Without doubt my favourite Cali.. love the Onyx and Springfields.

She is lovely and we had a day out today in Porthcawl cooking soup and then tea with a super walk on the board walk with the dogs - lovely day!

 

[Erem]

Well, we picked up Albert today and driven home. Girls very excited when we got back and began searching through all the cupboards. They came across a chilled bottle of champagne left by Jen. Thank you so much for such a kind gesture Jen.

My daughter is doing her homework in the pop top as I type! Wife and Granny Devon having a brew on the drive. Not a bad start to our Cali ownership.

To Jen, wishing you all the best on your adventures with .

 

[Digger]

Just wait till spring and the real fun begins

 

[GrannyJen]

Well, we picked up Albert today and driven home. Girls very excited when we got back and began searching through all the cupboards. They came across a chilled bottle of champagne left by Jen. Thank you so much for such a kind gesture Jen.

My daughter is doing her homework in the pop top as I type! Wife and Granny Devon having a brew on the drive. Not a bad start to our Cali ownership.

To Jen, wishing you all the best on your adventures with xxxxx .

Well, just what is a fridge for

So pleased you all got home safely. I think Sharon was really brave just jumping in and setting off

Enjoy the champagne. It's a bit like Albert, lot and lots of bubbles of happiness!

Have fun guys and don't forget this place if you need to know anything. There is more Cali knowledge in this forum than in the whole of the VW empire!

 

[CYCLOPATH]

Jen, genuine question....as my van gets near to three years old
Why change??
I ask as I am asking myself that.
The changes seem relatively minor
I can afford it, but it would probably cost circa £20k

 

[GrannyJen]

Jen, genuine question....as my van gets near to three years old
Why change??
I ask as I am asking myself that.
The changes seem relatively minor
I can afford it, but it would probably cost circa £20k

Then if you don't want to don't do it.

We are all different so I can only give you from my perspective.

I am so mechanically incompetent I turn ineptitude into an art form.

After 3 years my van was out of warranty. This gives me a sense of vulnerability exacerbated by my acute sense of mechanical incompetence. Even keeping it for a fourth year is a testament to the confidence I had in Albert. However bits start coming loose. Take the tambour door for example. For anyone else it is five minutes with a bit of tape. For me it is five minutes with a bit of tape followed by an order for £65 to the shop for a new door followed by a visit to SMG Cowfold for them to fit the new door and to repair the damage I have inflicted on the rest of the van.

So, I am out of warranty, feeling vulnerable and bits coming loose that are a 5 minute job to anyone else are seriously beginning to niggle me. Add into that the costs of ownership of my Cali has been about half of that of my previous second car so the P-Ex hit, to me, is less significant than it has been probably ever in my history of vehicle ownership. For me it all makes sense. I have just bought five years piece of mind and really happy that next time a tambour door starts coming apart I can just pop it into SMG Cowfold and say very nicely "Can you fix it under warranty please".

Obviously if for you it doesn't then don't do it but please, don't question me for I am after all entitled to spend my money how I wish

 

[CYCLOPATH]

We are all different so I can only give you from my perspective.

I am so mechanically incompetent I turn ineptitude into an art form.

After 3 years my van was out of warranty. This gives me a sense of vulnerability exacerbated my my acute sense of mechanical incompetence. Bits start coming loose. Take the tambour door for example. For anyone else it is five minutes with a bit of tape. For me it is five minutes with a bit of tape followed by an order for £65 to the shop for a new door followed by a visit to SMG Cowfold for them to fit the new door and to repair the damage I have inflicted on the rest of the van.

So, I am out of warranty, feeling vulnerable and bits coming loose that are a 5 minute job to anyone else are seriously beginning to niggle me. Add into that the costs of ownership of my Cali has been about half of that of my previous second car so the P-Ex hit, to me, is less significant than it has been probably ever in my history of vehicle ownership and for me it all makes sense.

Obviously if for you it doesn't then don't do it and please, don't question me for I am after all entitled to spend my money how I wish

That totally makes sense to me, I can see your perspective.....and as you say, mine is vvery different, I almost relish getting the tape out ) though I can't be that good as I don't know what a tambour is , till I google it in a minute.
And , you have helped my thought process......and for me, I think I will be happier when my van is a little older, and I am less precious about it
My first scratch was almost like a relief.....like a boil bursting....so she wasn't pristine any more, and I could relax a bit more when manoevering
Thank you for sharing your perspective
Shame you are not coming to the west bay meet, as I would love to see your new van.....and meet you . I can show you my scratch and you can show me your wooden floor!

 

[mccp]

I can afford it, but it would probably cost circa £20k

Don't forget that your £20K cost to change is not static, the longer you wait, the more depreciation you will have, any the higher the new cost will be. I have kept my current car (LR Discovery 3) from new in 2007. It cost around £34K and is probably now worth £5K (although the replacement gearbox last year at £2.7K is half of that). A new Disco is around £55K so my cost to change would be £50K - this how I can justify changing to a £62K Ocean .

I have come to the conclusion that buying new and keeping for a long time doesn't really save anything over buying new and changing after 3-4 years. I'm also 100% with @GrannyJen on the warranty. For me it will be the 2 year, 150K mile extension, and probably sell at 4 years with the balance of the warranty remaining. I suspect that will be the point at which the cost to change will be at its lowest.

It probably helps that I'm not that emotionally attached to vehicles, even the D3 which is the best car I've owned by a long way. I might struggle to sell a splittie, but an Ocean is a comfortable builder's van when all is said and done.

 

[GrannyJen]

That totally makes sense to me, I can see your perspective.....and as you say, mine is vvery different, I almost relish getting the tape out ) though I can't be that good as I don't know what a tambour is , till I google it in a minute.
And , you have helped my thought process......and for me, I think I will be happier when my van is a little older, and I am less precious about it
My first scratch was almost like a relief.....like a boil bursting....so she wasn't pristine any more, and I could relax a bit more when manoevering
Thank you for sharing your perspective
Shame you are not coming to the west bay meet, as I would love to see your new van.....and meet you . I can show you my scratch and you can show me your wooden floor!

For me it even extends to cleaning it. This sounds stupid but it is very real. I would love to give Albert a wash and polish. If I even attempted anything more than a softly applied pressure wash, sponge and bucket I would do all sorts of damage. I would have polish all over the windows so they smear to hell, probably use the wrong soap / wax combination so hard lumps of congealed substances stick everywhere and end up with swirl marks no matter how hard I try or how many buckets I use.

 

[CYCLOPATH]

For me it even extends to cleaning it. This sounds stupid but it is very real. I would love to give Albert a wash and polish. If I even attempted anything more than a softly applied pressure wash, sponge and bucket I would do all sorts of damage. I would have polish all over the windows so they smear to hell, probably use the wrong soap / wax combination so hard lumps of congealed substances stick everywhere and end up with swirl marks no matter how hard I try or how many buckets I use.

Funny, where as cleaning for me is part of the connection, like loving and caressing it( may be going a little far there) but you may know what I mean, a little bit of nurturing

 

[CYCLOPATH]

Don't forget that your £20K cost to change is not static, the longer you wait, the more depreciation you will have, any the higher the new cost will be. I have kept my current car (LR Discovery 3) from new in 2007. It cost around £34K and is probably now worth £5K (although the replacement gearbox last year at £2.7K is half of that). A new Disco is around £55K so my cost to change would be £50K - this how I can justify changing to a £62K Ocean .

I have come to the conclusion that buying new and keeping for a long time doesn't really save anything over buying new and changing after 3-4 years. I'm also 100% with @GrannyJen on the warranty. For me it will be the 2 year, 150K mile extension, and probably sell at 4 years with the balance of the warranty remaining. I suspect that will be the point at which the cost to change will be at its lowest.

It probably helps that I'm not that emotionally attached to vehicles, even the D3 which is the best car I've owned by a long way. I might struggle to sell a splittie, but an Ocean is a comfortable builder's van when all is said and done.

I guess I do get a bit attached , even though it is sort of fanciful. My other car is now 15 yrs old. It has been well looked after mechanically, and has all sorts of history.....we drove to Spain, sleeping in it, before I got the van. Kids have grown up in it. It's present value is around £450 , so it can't really dépréciâte any more. My mechanic, when he welded the rear seat belt mounts back on for its last MOT has given it a terminal diagnosis, about two years to live!
It's not just about the money. A veichle for us is a member of the family. I guess like a pet.

 

[GrannyJen]

I have never been attached to a vehicle before Albert, except for perhaps my very first new car, an Aconite (purple) Mini. 1974, which I bought via a crippling loan to celebrate getting my first degree. I loved that mini and as with Albert also enjoyed cleaning it.

I have enjoyed no such affection otherwise except for my second Range rover, but that was only for the entertainment value for the way it kept locking everyone out, with the exception of the smart-arse BMW electrical whizz kid who was brought in to remove the problem. He did. The vehicle locked him in instead

 

[Jay586]

I change my car pretty much every 3/4 years for a new or very nearly new one & have people give me a bit of grief about it. But neither me or OH can mend stuff, we reply on the vehicle for work & when we lived in Scotland, there were lots of areas we drove through where it would have been inadvisable to break down, particularly as I was driving alone a lot of the time...

However, I have had pretty much 20 years of trouble-free driving and I've also watched my mother spend many times the worth of her vehicle getting it mended, as it suited her farmer mentality not to waste money. But she drives a max of 10 miles from home in an area where everyone knows her.

Horses for courses.

 

[Digger]

My sister changes her E Class every 2.5 years and with a total mileage of less than 15K miles. She would be cheaper using a taxi but it suits her so we don't comment. The great thing is to enjoy the vehicle and if well looked after the next owner can get the same enjoyment at a price they can afford. Part of the merry go round.

 

[GrannyJen]

When I worked for BL they gave me a new car every six months.

At least it meant that I had a fresh supply of oil every so often to drip on to the drive

 

[Jonathan Duke]

For me..... I don't think reliability comes into it.... As, any car that is well looked after should be more than reliable for at least 10yrs....

Nothing wrong with a "change of scenery" every few years tho.... Some new gizmos to play with, and that lovely new car smell.... I know it costs a premium, but if it brings you happiness, you can't really put a figure on that. Everyone will have their own reasons, different use cases and it's everyones own prerogative on how and where, to spent their own hard-earned.

 

[mccp]

I don't think reliability comes into it.... As, any car that is well looked after should be more than reliable for at least 10yrs....

Maybe so. My 10 year old Disco 3 with 175K miles on the clock is reliable, in the sense that it has never (yet) dumped me at the side of the road with a breakdown. However, there are increasingly times where parts wear out and it performs badly. Today it's at the garage having two new EGR valves, in 10 years I've had them replace three times. When they pack up, you can still drive, but with very poor acceleration below 30 MPH. I had to get a new coolant tank put in a month ago. It's also had a new torque converter and rebuilt auto gearbox at 145K miles, a lot of the suspension replaced at 120K miles (common issue with D3s).

I could continue, but my point is that you need to spend increasing amounts of time, money and effort to maintain the reliability of any modern car. As others have said, if you are usually within 10 miles of home a breakdown is not a worry. We drive to the South of France 4 or 5 times a year and a breakdown at the side of the A75 with two dogs and a full car is a stressful and expensive event that I will do a lot to avoid. I'm also a pretty competent mechanic - it's not about being able to fix a problem, it's more to with avoiding it in the first place.

 

[The Merle]

Then if you don't want to don't do it.

We are all different so I can only give you from my perspective.

I am so mechanically incompetent I turn ineptitude into an art form.

After 3 years my van was out of warranty. This gives me a sense of vulnerability exacerbated by my acute sense of mechanical incompetence. Even keeping it for a fourth year is a testament to the confidence I had in Albert. However bits start coming loose. Take the tambour door for example. For anyone else it is five minutes with a bit of tape. For me it is five minutes with a bit of tape followed by an order for £65 to the shop for a new door followed by a visit to SMG Cowfold for them to fit the new door and to repair the damage I have inflicted on the rest of the van.

So, I am out of warranty, feeling vulnerable and bits coming loose that are a 5 minute job to anyone else are seriously beginning to niggle me. Add into that the costs of ownership of my Cali has been about half of that of my previous second car so the P-Ex hit, to me, is less significant than it has been probably ever in my history of vehicle ownership. For me it all makes sense. I have just bought five years piece of mind and really happy that next time a tambour door starts coming apart I can just pop it into SMG Cowfold and say very nicely "Can you fix it under warranty please".

Obviously if for you it doesn't then don't do it but please, don't question me for I am after all entitled to spend my money how I wish

So have you picked up your new addition to the family yet, or are you Cali less at the mo?
Would be good to see what the two tone beast looks like!

If you hadn't of upgraded, and like others do all the time then there would be a lot less Cali owners out there!
Plus I'm sure that the new Albert owners appreciated you doing it as they got a bargain.

 

[GrannyJen]

So have you picked up your new addition to the family yet, or are you Cali less at the mo?
Would be good to see what the two tone beast looks like!

If you hadn't of upgraded, and like others do all the time then there would be a lot less Cali owners out there!
Plus I'm sure that the new Albert owners appreciated you doing it as they got a bargain.

I waved bye bye to Albert yesterday

I say hello to Albert 2 tomorrow

Currently in an hotel in Droitwich a couple of miles away from Listers.

 

[Verity]

When I worked for BL they gave me a new car every six months.

At least it meant that I had a fresh supply of oil every so often to drip on to the drive

When we owned a Defender, I bought it a sticker which said 'Land Rovers don't drip oil, they're just marking their territory'. And it did. A lot.