T5 vs Facelift

[Ajspicer]

Having spent the summer with our CALIFORNIAISH conversion we now want more of the refinements of the full California.

New is out of the question for us and just when I thought I would be happy with a pre2010 Cali, I went to the VW dealer in Bristol and sat in a new facelifted model. I know it is more than a facelift but I will use this word for post 2010 models.

My first reaction was how much nicer the vinyl wrap on the kitchen and cupboards and the fabric on the seats, I am not a great fan of the grey and blue fabric.

Please can you let me know what other benefits are within the facelifted California's as whilst my current budget will not stretch to a facelifted Cali, I could be tempted to dip into savings if you guys can sells he benefits to me! Or may be there are benefits to the Pre 2010 models?

Many thanks in anticipation of your replies.

Andrew.

 

[SimplyDubs]

I think I read the battery charger works differently. Newer models charge all 3 batteries from the mains, rather than just the leisure batteries but I may be imagining it. Obviously the dash is upgraded with the new look display too and the engines are more efficient 2.0 rather than 2.5. They are all great vans and I would have been very happy with an 08/09 model.

Post 2007 charge all 3 batteries, so little difference there.

On the interior side many of the changes are cosmetic and it comes down the preference.

I'm undoubtedly prejudiced but prefer the interior of the pre-facelift. Wood grain running horizontally just doesn't look right to my eye and the grey sliding table looks a little more obvious. All personal choice though.

Pre-facelift interior cloths were appalling in my mind... Stained by water never mind anything else... Leather trim was one of my first mods, less than 4 months from new. (Why they didn't use traditional VW cloths I'll never know... My T4 still looks new after 11 years)

Interior lights on all but the earliest facelift a are LED, but it's easy enough to change them out in the pre.

Nice options like HID lights etc on the facelift, but expensive.

The real differences start to appear in the engine, gearbox and dash.

I prefer the old 5 pot 2.5 but that's probably a hangover from my T4... A well tested engine. The bi-turbo has completely different characteristics but performance and fuel economy appears very similar. (Also know my way around the 5 pot pretty well)

The facelift dash is much, much better... Less van like with,lots more refined options.

A

All only my opinion... And as I say... I'm a little biased.

Rgds
Mark

 

[ChrisandPenney52]

Yep, as the owners of a pre-facelift we'd endorse Mark's comments. I wish we'd protected the seats from day one as they do suffer from water marking. We made covers for them rather than change to leather. LEDs are a simple and worthwhile fix, which Mark introduced us to. New Calis are not trouble free, and if you go with an oldie you should be able to quiz the owner or look at the service history to see if there are any persistent faults. The T5 is pretty tough generally though.

Check that the habitation kit is working (water, gas supply OK, hob lighting and burning evenly, and fridge cooling). Check it against spec (there is a list somewhere on the site of what should be supplied). Check the roof raises and lowers properly and that the fabric is undamaged. And find out what the roof blistering situation is and whether the owner has agreed a fix.

The cosmetic state of the interior will depend on how fussy the owner has been, but I've seen as many battered one year olds as five/six year olds.

Loads of people here would be willing to help you crawl all over one.