Should we spend so much money on a VW California Ocean for a young family?

[Bramco]

The average age for an SE / Ocean owner is 67

Damn - I hate being average...

But to answer your question - YES.

We should have done it when our kids were small - but I always needed a reliable vehicle and the early incarnations of the camper wouldn't have made it. OK the new incarnations aren't 'proper' but you can use them as a normal drive with the advantage of great holidays and days away or even a warm mobile office - whatever you need.

Do it, do it, do it! You won't regret it. Your kids will relive the times away for the rest of their lives.

 

[Borris]

Wow. What an uplifting, positive series of posts this has been! and darn right too

I absolutely get the feeling of dread when your committing so much dosh on something that you have so much hope for. Its such a emotional roller coaster isnt it? im going through or have gone through the exact same thing (picking up our first Cali next month) and im sure the exact same thing many a first time (or multi) Cali owner has gone through.

I've got 2 youngish children. 8 and 11, we hired 3 campervans last year as a trial the last one for a month, 2 of them were Cali's and the kids absolutely loved them. They met new friends, they had new adventures in different countries which was a hoot!. One of their most exciting times was getting their friends round in the garden for a sleepover in the van and with the driveaway awning up in the summer. Shortest roadtrip ever! lol.

So in the short time we had with the van I knew it had to happen and I cant wait now! So so many places to explore!

No time like the present!

Ahh but when it comes down to it, you simply cannot compare a vulgar pile of cash with memories that will last you and your family a lifetime. Cash is only "a means to an end" or in this case, a means to a beginning.

 

[Ruby Mouse]

We couldn't afford anything like a cali as I was still a student when my kids were little - but the freedom of turning up at the school gates on a friday afternoon, all ready packed for a weekend elsewhere was amazing. We'd often not go far: to the beach or the lake district if it was sunny. Sometimes, during rainy weekends, we'd head to one of those huge places with entertainment so the children could use the pool and we could have a beer or two watching them at the kid's disco. We'd never had dome those things if we hadn't had a ready made house on wheels.

 

[Sunstoner]

Ahh but when it comes down to it, you simply cannot compare a vulgar pile of cash with memories that will last you and your family a lifetime. Cash is only "a means to an end" or in this case, a means to a beginning.

Couldnt agree more!

 

[soulstyledevon]

Also calis can be picked up sub £30k may help viewing some, People look after them like children and kept very clean compared to a car the same age and miles I’ve found

Good call.
I’ve seen a couple of 2017 vans advertised lately, two years old with less than 3000 miles...???
Makes you wonder why people buy them?

Worth looking for something around the £35k mark, it’s not a lot different to the current vans. I’m guessing 2010/12 vans should be had for that...

 

[Amarillo]

People look after them like children and kept very clean compared to a car the same age and miles I’ve found

I look after Amarillo like I look after my children. Muddy and feral looking, but loved nonetheless.

 

[Skylark2.0]

we are a young family of 4, both turning 30 this year and 2 boys 2yrs 6months and 5months having purchased a house in feb 19 which needed a lot of time and money throwing at it i decided to purchase our cali November 19 (great timing ) 2011 se with a few jobs i wanted to knock out over winter, we still haven't had our first night away yet due to work and house refurb and if im honest i shouldn't have bought it but my view is as mentioned you never know whats around the corner, the kids are only young once and time with them is priceless, we get to see places you'd never see on your average holiday, we love adventures and to be flexible with travel, best to regret what you've done than haven't done, and if i need to sell for what ever reason then so be it, the way in which they hold there value is incredible and helped when handing the cash over.
we are very excited for this years travel, DO IT!!

Review your choice after this summer.

 

[Nicholas1987]

Some really good comments here.

I purchased an ocean when my little boy was only 10 weeks old, I am must admit I was a little over ambitious with grand ideas of travelling the length of Europe with a tiny baby and all the paraphernalia that goes with him. So far we have managed allot of weekends away, and I have used the van as a bit of a base for day trips away so my son can that his afternoon nap in the pop top.
What made me finally hand over my had earned cash last year was the idea of spending time together as a family. I spend allot of time overseas working away from my son and partner so the time we have together is very precious. The cali for me allows us to go away, switch off and spend time together. As my son grows he will grow up with fantastic memories! If you can afford it just go for it, you can't put a price the memories you'll make as a family.

 

[soulstyledevon]

When you think that a California is really no bigger, length and width wise of most SUVs.
The Cali is clearly the most practical family vehicle on sale...

 

[Redpanda]

We have kids age 8 and 6 and have had our van for 2.5 years. Yes, it was an awful lot of money but we decided we could afford it. There have been no regrets, it's the best purchase we've made. The kids have so many memories of our van already. We get out into nature far more, enjoy last minute weekends away etc. Even on day trips or long walks, having somewhere to come back to warm up and easily get changed.....we always comment how much we appreciate having the van.

 

[dave6779]

Similar in sentiment to alot of the other posts above, we have a 21 month old daughter and bought it when she was 15 months old. They're so versatile you can even get a travel cot setup in there.

A good friend of mine lost his 19 year old son a couple of years ago and said the thing he regrets the least is the holidays he went on because they spent a fortune but have fantastic memories. So I took his advice and have never looked back.

I'm not gna lie, it is expensive but it's so worth it. Wherever you are, you've always got a dry safe space for little ones to play in, your day isn't over when it suddenly rains, just go back to the van, wait out the rain then get back out there.

We spent 10 days in Devon last year and when we got home my daughter said, "outside, outside" every day for the first week when she woke up because she was so used to getting up in the van and being outside. It never occurred to me she would enjoy something so simple.

Really glad to see so many other young families on here, I didn't realise how many there were! Hope you have a wonderful time with your family in yours! Don't forget to name it and make it a part of your family too :-D

 

[OGII]

The average age for an SE / Ocean owner is 67 - we need young families to redress the balance

.....or Beach owners

 

[Borris]

.....or Beach owners

Yeah, lets hear it for us young Beach owners. I'm only 66.

 

[dthomas]

Notre fils aîné à 20 ans, le plus jeune 14. Nous avons toujours voyagé ainsi. Nous avons parcouru beaucoup de pays européens l'été. L'hiver, mes 2 garçons et moi (pas ma femme) partons au ski et surfer.En février, nous repartons au ski avec.
Je n'imagine pas quelle vie nous aurions eu sans le T3 joker au début et sans le t5 California maintenant. De la naissance à la fin de tes jours tu devras avoir un Calif.
Bons voyages

 

[Toothlessjon]

I bought new, I should have bought used imo. If you have the money to spend why not, if you don’t it was foolish. If you use it a lot then it’s fantastic if you don’t you’ve wasted your money. A couple and two children is a squeeze in a Cali imo, but if your the adventurous camping type I don’t expect it to be a problem. I would probably have gone for a mobile home for the extra space, but they are not as flexible as a Cali.
To summarise its up to you now to make sure it was the right thing to do, otherwise it’s not the Cali that’s the wrong vehicle it’s person that’s the wrong owner.

I hope you and your family have some fantastic times in your Cali, enjoy every minute.

 

[Benjo]

Wow, so many incredible posts. My wife and I are both 38 and we have a 5 and 2 year old. We bought a Cali Beach in September 19. I definitely had a sinking feeling that we’d done the wrong thing. However have absolutely no regrets. The van is always packed with essentials ready to go and, although we’ve not been on a couple of family trips due to the time of year we bought the van just knowing it’s there ready to take us off on an adventure is brilliant.
I use it as a day to day vehicle and it’s simply brilliant. As soon as I finish work and get into the driving seat with the armrests down I have a big smile on my face. I’ve been working away a lot and have been sleeping in the van in the work car park and it’s been fab. When I have work to do from home I often drive into the countryside and use it as a mobile office. It’s so versatile for carting around the kids and our extended family and chucking in all the stuff that comes with having young kids. It’s also perfect for those impromptu trips to ikea where you pop in for a few bits and bobs and end up with a new suite of wardrobes!
We’re so lucky we could get it and are very much looking forward to lots of adventures in the summer.

Do it, do it, do it!!!

 

[Rycorteen]

27 year olds with a 5 and 2 year old.
I think about the cost but I certainly don’t think about it when we are sleeping in the alps or black Forrest in it.
we maximise the use of it to get the most out of it.

 

[Borris]

Notre fils aîné à 20 ans, le plus jeune 14. Nous avons toujours voyagé ainsi. Nous avons parcouru beaucoup de pays européens l'été. L'hiver, mes 2 garçons et moi (pas ma femme) partons au ski et surfer.En février, nous repartons au ski avec.
Je n'imagine pas quelle vie nous aurions eu sans le T3 joker au début et sans le t5 California maintenant. De la naissance à la fin de tes jours tu devras avoir un Calif.
Bons voyages

Exactement mon ami.

 

[Chris Hardern]

We bought used SE a couple of years ago from Kamper Hire when it was a couple of years old. We had retired and the 'kids' have grown up. It was our later life crisis. We are bad enough with crumbs, chocolate stains and sand, but a new one with young children? Still, it all cleans off in the end!

 

[Holly Bus]

Definitely save your money. Spend it on 5 star hotels where you stay in and eat the same every day, leave towels out to get a spot by the pool and spend a fortnight locked in not exploring the country you're in. You could do this many times on the same budget. And your kids will grow up doing the same. Dont ask silly questions to the already converted!! Dont forget the bikes! We started in '59 Canterbury Pitt conversion, tandem on the roof, in 1988. Got the cali in 2017. Life moves on...you're gonna love it.

 

[Bramco]

Yeah, lets hear it for us young Beach owners. I'm only 66

Sadly we're still average at 67 but the Beach is keeping us sane if not younger.

 

[superchoward]

We bought our 2013 Cali in the summer of 2018 a bit earlier than we had planned it. Me and my wife are 31 and 37 and we have got 2 young girls who are now 5 and 2 but when we got it they were 3 and 1.

In summary we have had plenty of ups and downs in it. Travelling and holidaying with 2 young children is very challenging with plenty of kit required to travel e.g. pram, bottles, nappies etc which by the time this summer comes, most of that extra stuff will have fallen by the wayside.

Our longest holiday away in it was a trip last summer to Bristol and Cornwall which we loved so much we are going back again this year, such a beautiful part of the country!

We have bought a driveaway awning which we have used when travelling as a family of 4 simply because we require the space regardless of how long we are travelling for to leave everything in whilst we sleep etc.

Being a young family of 4 in such a small space is as challenging as you would expect it to be. The kids wake up at 6am and we don’t think it’s fair to unleash them on the campsite at that time full of beans that they are when they first wake up so we try and keep them in the van until a more reasonable hour but there’s not much space for them when the van is in full sleeping mode. On days when the weather is awful there’s not much you can do in the van with them when you have packed light because

We are still finding our feet in the van and our children are growing up very quickly so I think it will get easier as they get a bit older and also there will be more for us to do when we go and visit different places. I know this post points out a lot of negatives but I think it’s important to have a balanced view when you go into something like this! We aren’t selling the van anytime soon so thats the acid test of what we really think!!!

Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[Joefarina]

Yes! Just Go.
i will just let you see and inspire you. Take a look at our first trip on our Cali this summer with our little monsters (3 and 5).

Familytrip

Familytrip è la nostra famiglia, girovaga avventurosa ed appassionata di viaggi in van. Il canale raccoglie le nostre avventure, i viaggi fatti, e prova a tr...

www.familytrip.cloud

babies simply fall in love with “Him” . Today we spent our Saturday inside nature and they just finished to jump on the upper bed and have their favorite pillowfight. Me and my wife ( 42 and 43) just told one year ago, after a lot of tent camping cruises and after renting a Vw in Ireland, “next 10 years with the babies will be OUR LIFE, JUST LET’S GO!” And it was right. It‘s worth just for what it does to unite your family.

 

[calibeach76]

Another like Amarillo. We have a 4 and 2 year old and they both love our Cali. I think once you've had one it really is in your blood. We are fortunate for our ages to have forked out cash for ours and it was a big decision because the outlay was so significant. I still recall hovering over the mouse when hitting transfer from the bank account. It is like others say a means of creating priceless memories. In our 4.5 months of ownership we've taken weekend trips, two tours of France and a week in Brittany for new year. Get on and do it. Financially as vehicles go it will probably be one of your better investments but it really is so much more than that. God speed and enjoy.

 

[David Bailey]

To be balanced your are talking to the people on this forum who are clearly the half that love their Cali. There is probably another half who tried it for a while, realised the pictures in the brochure of the van on its own in the wilderness is not very often the reality and the dream is not quite what the expected. They won’t be on here. We just sold ours after 18 months as we found that it was just to cramped for a family of four to camp. We are thinking about an opus trailer instead that you can leave behind at the campsite when you go touring. The good news though is that you don’t lose much money if you decide it’s not for you. The definitely do not work out for everybody, but there is only one way to find out.