Taken the plunge...

[Maud]

After months of driving myself :crazy looking for my perfect used Cali, swaying between pre-facelift, early facelift and pre-registered, I have taken the plunge and placed an order for a new one. Thanks to advice on the forum, I used DtD to get a guide price, contacted a few dealerships to see if any would get close and have ended up with a deal I am thrilled with I just hope I have got the spec right now!

180 DSG toffee brown metallic
Warm grey cloth
Cascavel anthracite wheels
Black awning
Front and rear parking sensors
Privacy glass
Multi-function steering wheel
Premium bluetooth (I'm hoping this will be fully compatible with my iPhone 5S)
RCD 310 DAB+
Front and rear mud flaps

I also asked for winter tyres but these could only be ordered with thunder alloys for some reason :doh

I toyed with the possibility of towbar preparation (just in case I ever want to fit one in future) and the MDI lead but my dealer didn't seem to think I would need either... I'm still wondering though...

 

[calikev]

At last.congratulations to you the van sounds great

 

[Maud]

Thanks, Kev!

The forum has been invaluable and I hope to learn a lot more before my Cali arrives and after!

Maud

 

[Martin]

Well done Maud, glad you got it sorted in the end, what dealer did you end up using?

 

[Maud]

Martin.

I went with my local dealership in the end - John Clarke at Bury St Edmunds - who was initially unable to get more than 5% off the list price, but went above and beyond to meet with the boss and negotiated a much better deal and came up trumps. I am really pleased as it is reassuring to just be a drive down the road so I can deal face to face throughout and with any issues afterwards.

Maud

 

[smgcowfoldparts]

If you think you may get a tow bar in the future then get the tow bar prep. A fitted tow bar is the best part of £1,000 without tow bar prep as there is about 6 hours worth of work for fitting the bar and the wiring. With the prep on the vehicle the time drops to less than three hours so makes a significant different.

cheers and enjoy your new vehicle when it arrives.

 

[Maud]

Thanks for the advice about the tow bar; I am still sitting on the fence a little as I am fairly certain that I will never want to tow anything at all, and we have the Disco4 to tow with- it was just really in case we ever decided we needed to tow the caravan with the Cali. It is highly unlikely to happen but one of those "what if..." dilemmas! I will make a decision in the next couple of days so that I can let my dealer know if I want to add it to the order.


Maud

 

[teeboy]

Whilst it is 1000 quid for vw to fit a tow bar, it is possible to get a westfallia tow bar and electrics fitted for about half of that. The parts are about £250 and it is a bit of a pain to fit, but not impossible. So if you do devide not to get the prep it is not the end of the world.

Sent from my Sony Tablet S using Tapatalk

 

[Maud]

Thanks Teeboy, that's good to know


Maud

 

[Sportsman]

This is my first post so please go easy lol,we are a family of 4 and love the caravan and camping scene, i have the chance of leasing a california through my business in a couple of months when my VW Touran goes back,problem being we are worried about the day to day running around etc..How do people find them.

 

[Californiaman]

Mine is normally where I left it

 

[Sportsman]

Ha ha ok comedian in the house lol. !

 

[calikev]

We have a lot of members who use the Cali everyday with no problems

 

[Maud]

Mine will be used for the daily commute, shopping etc. I intend to find it as easy to drive and park as any other car

 

[Sportsman]

Oh ok cheers.

 

[AlanC]

I use ours for my daily commute.

Works well for me as I work in a communal office with 11 other lecturers and student coming and going.

Having Wilf in the car park is my quiet bolt hole when I need him for concentrated reading.

Alan

 

[Mazvw42]

I use mine daily and I can only think of the positives . The issues are not the size, it may be that you want to seat 5 people, in which case leave someone at home! or give some extra consideration about parking. However in saying that there has always been somewhere to park and that can be in normal car parks or on the road if there aren't any high enough and that just might mean a longer walk. Do it, you won't regret it and it's far more than a vehicle!

 

[Sportsman]

Thanks for all the replies ,obviously i will be dropping the kids of then doing the odd customer vista and local commute,want problem i suppose is fuel economy don't think it will be great,suppose that a small price to pay though…Thanks for all the replies everyone and sorry to hijack the original posters thread

 

[Kirk]

Remember the Cali is not really suited to short journeys due to the DPF

 

[Sportsman]

Mmm ok there will be stop start journeys all week school runs to and from work with a weekend run out..Should be fine with that i think.

 

[Maud]

Mine will be doing a 22mile daily commute (each way), with a mixture of carriageway, B roads and country lanes. It will do the odd shorter journey of 10 or so miles to the supermarket/shops in our nearest town but the rest will mostly be longer trips. I hope this will be okay for the DPF. :?:

Maud

 

[teeboy]

Ours is used for long haul holidays for 6 weeks a year. The rest of the time it is our second car so gets used for school runs, shopping and general work horse.

When using it on short journeys then the MPG drops to 30MPG or less (from 35 or more on Runs) we have a 180DSG so probably worst case.

Obviously for holidays it is excellent, but around town it is only slightly bigger than our car so fits in all parking spaces.

You will also take great delight in loading your shopping in the massive side door, and putting all of your frozen shopping in the fridge.

Other perks include putting the heaters on before you go out in the cold and sitting higher than people in range rovers

T

 

[holliers]

Hi

Ours is our second car, and gets used everyday for school and shop runs. We probably do around 200 miles a week. For this we're lucky to break 30mpg, so it costs us about £40 a week in diesel (180 DSG).

No issues with the size or parking. Driving, you just need to remember it is bigger / heavier than a normal car so adjust speed and breaking distances.

As others have said, it only has four seats, so as today, I have the van because Mrs Holliers needs to take kids and friends and needs our main car. She'll be glad to have the Cali back tonight as she really loves it.

Only other thing to remember is to scope car parks online before travelling to new places. Look for P&R with Motorhome facilities and you'll usually be fine.

It has loads of space inside, it is easy to all pile into when it is raining (open side door, jump in and sort yourself out in the dry), comfortable, great view (from the back for the kids as well)......loads to recommend.

Enjoy!
Mark