T6.1 quality drop?

[Steve&Bev]

We still have our 2019 Ocean but went to check out the new T6.1 and were shocked at the quality of the dash and door cards. The new California's appears to be based on the van interior, like most VW conversions. The T6 Cali uses the interior from the executive Transporter so has soft touch door tops with cloth trim sides and an almost Audi like dash panel. We will be holding on to our T6 for the foreseeable but has anyone that's moved from a T6 to 6.1 noticed the change in quality or are we a one off??

 

[andyinluton]

I went from a T5.1 to T6.1 & was originally horrified at the sight of the door trims. However now the van has acquired the lived in look, they are standing up to being used far better than the older van.
We found the fabric in the old one stained whenever it got wet & you could never completely remove the mud from the mesh of the fabric. The new door trims are far more practical & wipe clean. You can't see 99% of them when you are sitting in the seat anyway.
I don't have a problem with the dash, with the upgraded infotainment system & digital dash its far better than most cars, the only thing missing in my view is a lid on the dash top tray, it would stop the reflections in the windscreen of anything light coloured that was left there.

 

[blondebier]

I don't see it as an upgrade. Even if they were the same price I wouldn't choose one.

They've been cost cutting and it shows.

There are lots of hard cheap plastics in the T6.1 - and the front grill! I don't think my eyes will ever get used to that.

 

[andyinluton]

I don't see it as an upgrade. Even if they were the same price I wouldn't choose one.

They've been cost cutting and it shows.

There are lots of hard cheap plastics in the T6.1 - and the front grill! I don't think my eyes will ever get used to that.

People said the same about the T6 when that came out!

 

[blondebier]

People said the same about the T6 when that came out!

They did. But the T6.1 has been out for a while and it hasn't got any better looking!

The internal finish just isn't as good and that's not subjective or going to improve.

 

[Charlotterobin]

I went from a T5.1 to T6.1 & was originally horrified at the sight of the door trims. However now the van has acquired the lived in look, they are standing up to being used far better than the older van.
We found the fabric in the old one stained whenever it got wet & you could never completely remove the mud from the mesh of the fabric. The new door trims are far more practical & wipe clean. You can't see 99% of them when you are sitting in the seat anyway.
I don't have a problem with the dash, with the upgraded infotainment system & digital dash its far better than most cars, the only thing missing in my view is a lid on the dash top tray, it would stop the reflections in the windscreen of anything light coloured that was left there.

I've been trying to get details on a lid for the tray... Is it possible do you think? Can't bear the reflection... Anyone looked in to this please?

 

[Kayleigh]

Is the T6.1 production moving to Turkey? If so, would one expect this to have a negative impact on quality?

 

[andyinluton]

They did. But the T6.1 has been out for a while and it hasn't got any better looking!

The internal finish just isn't as good and that's not subjective or going to improve.

Other than the front door trims which I've commented on above, I really am struggling to see where the internal finish isn't as good.

The low level parts of the dash and the top part are exactly the same plastic as all previous versions. The central part of the dash with the piano black and grey textured trim are fine.

The plastic to all the seat bases, window surrounds etc are exactly as before.

So perhaps you could tell us where the internal finish isn't as good?

I've attached a couple of photos to assist.

 

[andyinluton]

@blondebier
Just realised you would be looking at the Beach rather than the Ocean that we were talking about, I have to agree the basic dash does look pretty plasticky.
You do have the option of the Comfort dash that adds in the piano black & chrome bits etc, just added it in the configurator & with all the extra bits that it insists you add with it, it comes out at a totally outrageous extra £6,744.00 !!!!!!

 

[Elmo3]

I thought the quality on the 2 T6 Oceans we had to be pretty good. However, the T5.0 we currently have is in a different league! It really does feel very solid, with extremely practical surfaces which have stood the test of time and 114K miles of use. It will be interesting to see how a 12 year old T6 and 6.1 look at the time, if they’re not taxed off the road by then!

 

[Steve&Bev]

We were in the Ocean. Did not realise there is a dash upgrade option. I wonder it the upgrade includes the doors?

 

[blondebier]

@blondebier
Just realised you would be looking at the Beach rather than the Ocean that we were talking about, I have to agree the basic dash does look pretty plasticky.
You do have the option of the Comfort dash that adds in the piano black & chrome bits etc, just added it in the configurator & with all the extra bits that it insists you add with it, it comes out at a totally outrageous extra £6,744.00 !!!!!!

Our T6 Beach dash (almost identical to the T6 Ocean)







It's a premium finish. The MFSW buttons feel soft to touch and have a nice spring feel.

I looked at a T6.1 Ocean and the buttons don't have the same feel. It might seem like a small thing but you press them all the time. They just don't feel as well made.

Some of the T6.1s even have a transporter DSG shifter:



Even the surrounding trim looks and feels poor. (i.e. like cheap Skoda scratchy plastic)

This stuff is on vans that cost over £60k.

Some T6.1 owners are complaining about engine/DSG performance issues. They've had T6's and notice the difference.

The jury is still out on whether it's a step up from the T6. From what I've seen and heard people say I'm not convinced.

 

[andyinluton]

We were in the Ocean. Did not realise there is a dash upgrade option. I wonder it the upgrade includes the doors?

The Ocean comes as standard with what the Beach gets as an upgrade if that makes sense.

 

[blondebier]

@blondebier
comes out at a totally outrageous extra £6,744.00 !!!!!!

There is a T6.1 beach tour on autotrader (with lots of cheap plastic up front) advertised for £67,675

I'm guessing it doesn't have all the stuff you selected so it would appear that the price could become even more ridiculous.

 

[Kayleigh]

There is a T6.1 beach tour on autotrader (with lots of cheap plastic up front) advertised for £67,675

I'm guessing it doesn't have all the stuff you selected so it would appear that the price could become even more ridiculous.

Maybe why it is still for sale…

 

[blondebier]

Maybe why it is still for sale…

The colour combo doesn't help it either. It's two tone Ascot Grey with a Candy White Upper.

 

[66tim99]

The colour combo doesn't help it either. It's two tone Ascot Grey with a Candy White Upper.

That’s £2800 for two non- metallic colours!

 

[Kayleigh]

Is that why it costs £9K more than the Beach Camper also on Autotrader?

 

[starbug]

They did. But the T6.1 has been out for a while and it hasn't got any better looking!

The internal finish just isn't as good and that's not subjective or going to improve.

people aint bothered about quality any more because they will buy a new one in a few years. its the throw away world we live in.

 

[Borris]

Whether the T6-1 dash build quality is better or worse than the T6 comfort dash is as far as we forum members are concerned, a matter of personal opinion. Historically, manufacturers have constantly looked for ways to reduce costs and maximise profit and that continues today. VW's ever increasing prices indicates that they don't have problem with charging extra to maintain profit margins. But to make that work effectively one would naturally expect that they would also have people tasked purely with reducing manufacturing costs. So it stands to reason that VW's aim would have been to design the T6-1 dash to be manufactured in a way that makes each unit as cheap as possible to produce whilst still maintaining the same feeling of quality. That may or may not include changes to the manufacturing process and possibly even tweaking the quality of the materials used. E.g: some have said the the new coloured digital dash display may be cheaper to produce than the normal instruments that we are all used to. This does seem highly plausible.

Anyway, it all comes down to how one perceives the product and how it behaves in the real world. Personally, I am not keen on various aspects of the T6-1, the dash being only one of them. I ordered one of the last T6s because of these concerns but that's just me. Others may see it as an improvement.

But remember, just because something is new doesn't necessarily make it better. I read recently that the Germans have a word "verschlimmbessern" which apparently means 'making something worse in the process of fixing it'. Just my opinion which I have voiced before but I love the simple symmetry and quality feel of the T6 comfort dash and IMO it didn't need fixing.

 

[Corradobrit]

and the front grill! I don't think my eyes will ever get used to that.

Clearly you haven't seen the T7

 

[Corradobrit]

Perhaps an alcantara wrap on the door cards would help.

 

[Corradobrit]

The colour combo doesn't help it either. It's two tone Ascot Grey with a Candy White Upper.

Nothing wrong with that combo, Looks classy

 

[66tim99]

some have said the the new coloured digital dash display may be cheaper to produce than the normal instruments that we are all used to.

In that case...Improved functionality + lower cost = better value. The Holy Grail?
There’re many examples of better value comparing a 6.1 to a 6. Then there’re some (such as the rear seatbelt warning chime and improved mpg) that improve functionality at higher cost. These are necessary and presumably account for part of the increased price.
There are very few IMO that compromise functionality (which includes user experience). Even the dash has better electronics, but some dash plastics and cubbys do I think give worse value. I suppose VW take a decision that the savings are worth more than the small number of potential customers lost.

 

[Borris]

I went from a T5.1 to T6.1 & was originally horrified at the sight of the door trims. However now the van has acquired the lived in look, they are standing up to being used far better than the older van.
We found the fabric in the old one stained whenever it got wet & you could never completely remove the mud from the mesh of the fabric. The new door trims are far more practical & wipe clean. You can't see 99% of them when you are sitting in the seat anyway.

I agree. From a practicality stand point the door cards are now much better. I found that the fabric inserts also damaged very easily. You only had to catch it with your keys or a zip etc and it would mark.