The New T7 California can be ordered from today in Germany + configurator.

Winston Rumfoord said:
Have you considered a T6.1 beach camper? :)
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I’ve got one on a year lease. we enjoy it, but as a car driven mostly not for camping I think the new one will do a better job tbh. it’s only disadvantage I see (as a car, not a camper) it’s the length but I think I could live with this.
As a camper of course the T6.1 has more space, e.g fits a little fridge behind the seat which I have concerns about not fitting in the T7 with the bed open. but can’t have it all I guess ;)
 
T6/6.1 beach with removable slidepod kitchen in boot, retains 5 seats when away, still use large table inside, cook under tailgate, 2 burners and sink with onboard built in waste tank, remove it when you get home, takes up same space in garage as the two captains chairs to make car seven seater
 
I just play configured a California Ocean on the Swiss VW site, the configurator having just now been enabled. I was pleasantly surprised that the price for a FWD petrol version with all my options would come in just under £68000. I expect the PHEV/4Motion version will add about £5000 to the total but as of now there's no word on when it might become available.
 
Beast sent back to VW Hereford.
Stinks of tobacco. Ciggie burns in seats. Floor and seats covered in silicon. Was an 2 owner car and was told it was 1 owner. And by lots of discussions with other valeters and motor trade people, tobacco smell will never be got rid of.
Good job they had a no quibble 30 day refund and return policy.
Drove there on A roads for 90 minutes.
I’ll be honest and say at £70k worth of motor, it is so noisy, rattles and the suspension is not like the 90 minute drive back in the air suspension £63k Defender (my24)
Disco S MY25 on order.

Really cannot live with the crashing noise in the MV.
Seat was good.
Electric sliding doors = ace.
But I fear for the California Beach / Ocean T7.
Gona be a bumpy ride.

I’ll get a roof tent for the Disco. And cook outside.
Fridge in the armrest.
Then Sprinter based JC 600D when I retire.
 
Interesting experience then. Initially very positive (1st and 2nd September posts) but you fell out of love. Will be interesting when someone gets hands on with the Cali T7, Not looking entirely promising though.

What was it about the drive that put you off in the end? First review was that you couldn't fault it. But it seems it was noisy and crashy after a while. Was that it?
 
pluc99 said:
I just play configured a California Ocean on the Swiss VW site, the configurator having just now been enabled. I was pleasantly surprised that the price for a FWD petrol version with all my options would come in just under £68000. I expect the PHEV/4Motion version will add about £5000 to the total but as of now there's no word on when it might become available.
Click to expand...
I think you'll be sadly disappointed if you're expecting the PHEV/4Mo to be an additional 5K. I would say 15K is closer the mark. Those batteries aren't cheap, plus all the development spend has to be paid for.
 
m10chkcalifornia said:
Interesting experience then. Initially very positive (1st and 2nd September posts) but you fell out of love. Will be interesting when someone gets hands on with the Cali T7, Not looking entirely promising though.

What was it about the drive that put you off in the end? First review was that you couldn't fault it. But it seems it was noisy and crashy after a while. Was that it?
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It’s good on a billiard type motorway.
Adaptive cruise works well 90% of the time.
Automatic steering is very weird and I don’t trust it at all.
The A road driving on bad roads is pretty bad.
Maybe if it has another 350kg loaded up it might be better. But will need testing out by somebody.
Buyer beware.
 
Corradobrit said:
I think you'll be sadly disappointed if you're expecting the PHEV/4Mo to be an additional 5K. I would say 15K is closer the mark. Those batteries aren't cheap, plus all the development spend has to be paid for.
Click to expand...
It’s a heavy beast just in a 2.0 petrol version.
Dread to think how it will handle with heavy batteries and motors.
 
m10chkcalifornia said:
Interesting experience then. Initially very positive (1st and 2nd September posts) but you fell out of love. Will be interesting when someone gets hands on with the Cali T7, Not looking entirely promising though.

What was it about the drive that put you off in the end? First review was that you couldn't fault it. But it seems it was noisy and crashy after a while. Was that it?
Click to expand...
And yes, 100% interesting experience.
Really glad I was able to put some miles on it, and have the experience.

I wonder which sales place does a 30 day quibble free return & refund drive of a sprinter based campervan ? :D
 
Californication69 said:
It’s good on a billiard type motorway.
Adaptive cruise works well 90% of the time.
Automatic steering is very weird and I don’t trust it at all.
The A road driving on bad roads is pretty bad.
Maybe if it has another 350kg loaded up it might be better. But will need testing out by somebody.
Buyer beware.
Click to expand...
Well you tried it Bill. Good job you had the 30 day money back guarantee. If it didn’t have the tobacco and silicon issues do you think you would have kept it?
I have a feeling you’ll be joining the beach club ;) (T6.1 that is)
 
Kayleigh said:
Well you tried it Bill. Good job you had the 30 day money back guarantee. If it didn’t have the tobacco and silicon issues do you think you would have kept it?
I have a feeling you’ll be joining the beach club ;) (T6.1 that is)
Click to expand...
That’s the rub right there. I don’t know, is the honest answer.

Still want that, stop and pull up, switch off engine, stand up, walk to the back and toilet, shower, make the tea, have a chill, get into bed, with no faff.
To be honest :thumb
 
Californication69 said:
That’s the rub right there. I don’t know, is the honest answer.

Still want that, stop and pull up, switch off engine, stand up, walk to the back and toilet, shower, make the tea, have a chill, get into bed, with no faff.
To be honest :thumb
Click to expand...
That’ll be the Club Joker then?
 
Corradobrit said:
I think you'll be sadly disappointed if you're expecting the PHEV/4Mo to be an additional 5K. I would say 15K is closer the mark. Those batteries aren't cheap, plus all the development spend has to be paid for.
Click to expand...
You may well be right of course. I was basing my guess on the difference between a 4Motion Tuareg R-Line and the corresponding PHEV R-Line/4Motion. My reasoning is that it should have a similar amount of batteries and technology costs. Having looked at it again the difference between the two is closer to £6000 (CHF 7000) and not the £5000 I said before. We'll see once they make it available. Based on @Californication69 's review of his MV experience I definitely won't be the first in line to switch.
 
Kayleigh said:
That’ll be the Club Joker then?
Click to expand...
Would love a 4Motion club joker.
But would need an ergo comfort chair from the MV in the drivers seat position with height adjustable and no swivel.
I think it could work !
That’s a great idea :thumb
 
Corradobrit said:
Smart move IMO. What are the specs of the T6.1?
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I went for a fairly high spec Surf. I quite like that Surf is a bit kooky and different, pick up within a fortnight.

To be honest with you with the discount and 5 year 0% it’s a no brainer and saves me at least an extra 20k on a Multivan that may or may not arrive before next summer and may or may not be any good.
 
Californication69 said:
Beast sent back to VW Hereford.
Stinks of tobacco. Ciggie burns in seats. Floor and seats covered in silicon. Was an 2 owner car and was told it was 1 owner. And by lots of discussions with other valeters and motor trade people, tobacco smell will never be got rid of.
Good job they had a no quibble 30 day refund and return policy.
Drove there on A roads for 90 minutes.
I’ll be honest and say at £70k worth of motor, it is so noisy, rattles and the suspension is not like the 90 minute drive back in the air suspension £63k Defender (my24)
Disco S MY25 on order.

Really cannot live with the crashing noise in the MV.
Seat was good.
Electric sliding doors = ace.
But I fear for the California Beach / Ocean T7.
Gona be a bumpy ride.

I’ll get a roof tent for the Disco. And cook outside.
Fridge in the armrest.
Then Sprinter based JC 600D when I retire.
Click to expand...
That’s really interesting. Thanks for sharing and your honest appraisal.
 
OooOooTheMonkey said:
That’s really interesting. Thanks for sharing and your honest appraisal.
Click to expand...
This makes me wonder actually what the Cali would be like. I drove a T6.1 Transporter as a courtesy vehicle recently. Totally different experience to the T6.1 Cali. Weight difference was very obvious. So if the Multivan is like that in normal configuration, the Cali presumably can only be a more exaggerated version of this? Also, I don’t find the T6.1 at all bad to drive. Some minor improvements on the Multivan I think but is it really worlds apart?
 
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Not sure if this is the right thread, but look what SpaceCamper have done to the Multivan. They created a new type of pop up roof and you can even drive with the roof up!!

www.spacecamper.de

SpaceCamper | Der individuelle T6.1 Camping-Ausbau

Der Hersteller für Camping-Ausbauten auf T6.1 Basis - Transporter, PKW und Wohnmobil in einem. Werden Sie Teil der SpaceCamper-Familie!
www.spacecamper.de

IMG_8327.jpeg
 
Tycoon said:
Hey everyone,



I’ve been following the discussions here for a while and decided to make my first post to get some advice.



I’m pretty set on getting the beach camper since it’ll mainly be used as a regular car for my family of four, with occasional camping trips (longest probably 2-3 weeks, once or twice a year).



One thing I’m still debating is the built-in kitchen. I’m considering whether I should go for the beach tour instead and wait for some third-party removable kitchen options.



Has anyone here tried the built-in kitchen in the Berlingo California? It should be the same.



Thanks in advance :)
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Look at the road fund tax for the beach models - if the tax people do not consider it a proper camper you will not get the exemption for campers - the difference is eye watering
 
CALI FATE said:
Look at the road fund tax for the beach models - if the tax people do not consider it a proper camper you will not get the exemption for campers - the difference is eye watering
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About another 10 years and the road fund tax difference for my Beach will have broken even :rolleyes:
 
Our 2017 beach was a prestige car and taxed as such for the first five years, but it was also insured as a MPV car also, one offset the other
 
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