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

[JuanVecino2023]

Update on the Multivan test drive.
Drives like a tall golf.
Absolutely sublime.
No issues with seat height adjustment, knee and hip level (I’m 6foot tall with long legs)
Electric lumbar support in the correct place in the middle of the back (not at the L5/S1 position that a Cali 6.1 is !! Which is just useless as it crushes the base of the spine and pushes in the lower back by your tail bone!)

It’s 100% going to be an amazing drive with a kitchen and manual pop top.
High up driving position.
No right knee dropping towards door and resting against plastic trim.
(Side bolsters on even the life trim were perfect and look to be exactly the same on a style trim)
Left knee doesn’t touch the gearstick column as it’s now a smaller lower box with electric handbrake (Yes ! Electric handbrake !)
Can rest both feet on foot rests left and right,
whilst in adaptive cruise mode.
Going to be a great day van, with ability for couple of weeks a year camping.
Chassis was calm and collected on a spirited drive at 70 mph on an A road.

The amount of T6.1 Oceans waiting to be delivered into VW Hereford are in double digits and I counted 5 waiting to be cleaned and re sold.
They said many people are upgrading to GC, as they have outgrown the 6.1.

Can’t wait for the UK order book to be open.
Cali T7 will suit my needs for the next 3 years.
Adaptive cruise.
Great car like feel drive.
43mpg
(Kato’s will fit right on!)
Fridge for cold drinks.
Night heater for pre warm up/ defrost.
Keeping warm after a walk / day out.
Kitchen to make a quick meal.
Passenger chair easier to turn completely.
No worries about which side to park up and use the door.
Easier access for fridge with awning and chairs out for afternoon by river.
Don’t care about less compartments. Will store less as the amount of kit I took out the 6.1 was crazy and never used.
Dustpan? Why, never used it. Used small brush to brush out dust/sand/grass straight on floor.
Loads of food. Never used it.
Box’s of stuff never used in 4 years.
Also what I like:
Can remove 1 chair and keep portapotti in its space. So always accessible loo.
As the bed will rest on side of kitchen unit and on the other chair.
Also can pull other seat forward on its own and access other box behind back seat.
Did I mention how nicely it drove?
(Don’t care about outside look too much, it’s no T6, with its boxy, instant wave ability feel. But, change, embrace it

I’m on board with this. As @WelshGas says, the way we holiday is different now. I think a lot of people use campervans as a quick weekend trip or intersperse a night or two camping a night or two hotel/Air BnB on a road trip. That’s what I’m planing in Ireland next month.

A lot of Millennials will want them as festival vans.

Whilst a Transporter based van can be a daily driver, it’s not really as easy as a car in daily use. It’s still a converted builders van.

I suspect MV California will sell well.

 

[Barry Chuckle]

I’m on board with this. As @WelshGas says, the way we holiday is different now. I think a lot of people use campervans as a quick weekend trip or intersperse a night or two camping a night or two hotel/Air BnB on a road trip. That’s what I’m planing in Ireland next month.

A lot of Millennials will want them as festival vans.

Whilst a Transporter based van can be a daily driver, it’s not really as easy as a car in daily use. It’s still a converted builders van.

I suspect MV California will sell well.

I agree, whilst it may not be too popular with many on this forum VW will have done extensive market research before launch. I loved the way my 6.1 drove and it's much better than all it's peers but it still drives like a van not a car.

With the price of many campsites gone crazy, it makes sense to intersperse your trip with a hotel stay as a few now cost less pn than some campsites!!!!!

 

[Azteccamper]

I agree, whilst it may not be too popular with many on this forum VW will have done extensive market research before launch. I loved the way my 6.1 drove and it's much better than all it's peers but it still drives like a van not a car.

With the price of many campsites gone crazy, it makes sense to intersperse your trip with a hotel stay as a few now cost less pn than some campsites!!!!!

Recently stopped off in Fatima (Portugal) for a visit en-route north. I decided to look for hotels just to have a change. We paid €41 for a cracking room in a hotel with a pool. Cali locked safely in their private car park. Lovely night

 

[SusiBus]

W

I’m on board with this. As @WelshGas says, the way we holiday is different now. I think a lot of people use campervans as a quick weekend trip or intersperse a night or two camping a night or two hotel/Air BnB on a road trip. That’s what I’m planing in Ireland next month.

A lot of Millennials will want them as festival vans.

Whilst a Transporter based van can be a daily driver, it’s not really as easy as a car in daily use. It’s still a converted builders van.

I suspect MV California will sell well.

I certainly don't think of our Cali as a converted builder's van. Yes ours has got all the bells and whistles, 204- 4Motion, and 235mm tyres, that make a world of difference to the ride. When its laden up, I think as the laden builder's van heritage will have given it, they cope well with the weight, the drive is excellent. OK a bit of a wallow on corners, but I can live with that. The one thing l don't like is that the DSG is too slow to react. Converted builder's van, it's a dam good one.

 

[JuanVecino2023]

W

I certainly don't think of our Cali as a converted builder's van. Yes ours has got all the bells and whistles, 204- 4Motion, and 235mm tyres, that make a world of difference to the ride. When its laden up, I think as the laden builder's van heritage will have given it, they cope well with the weight, the drive is excellent. OK a bit of a wallow on corners, but I can live with that. The one thing l don't like is that the DSG is too slow to react. Converted builder's van, it's a dam good one.

I agree. They are largely good at what they do and the build quality of the conversion is second to none.

That said, it’s a van with all the dynamics of driving a van.

I haven’t driven the MV, but as a car platform, the dynamics will presumably be more car like.

I love my Cali and I love a bit of camping. But I don’t do long trips purely camping. I see the Cali more as a large family car that we have the option of sleeping in.

I think on that basis, the MV Cali is worth a look for my use case.

I’m purely speculating that perhaps VW’s research reveals this as a growing trend. Hence the use of the use of the MV as the new platform rather than the Ford/VW van.

 

[Barry Chuckle]

Recently stopped off in Fatima (Portugal) for a visit en-route north. I decided to look for hotels just to have a change. We paid €41 for a cracking room in a hotel with a pool. Cali locked safely in their private car park. Lovely night

I've just booked a nice, but not palatial C&MH site in Yorkshire for £41.60 a night. Is it just me or are these prices just getting crazy/greedy????

 

[secret lemonade drinker]

YES THEY ARE!

 

[JuanVecino2023]

I've just booked a nice, but not palatial C&MH site in Yorkshire for £41.60 a night. Is it just me or are these prices just getting crazy/greedy????

They are price gouging!

Zero service ie no beds to turn, one or two communal facilities to clean. 3 - 5 staff seems to cover it.

Compare those staffing/laundry/utilities/cleaning costs with a full service pub room at £150 including breakfast.

To my mind, £25 is fair value for a pitch.

 

[Corradobrit]

They are price gouging!

Zero service ie no beds to turn, one or two communal facilities to clean. 3 - 5 staff seems to cover it.

Compare those staffing/laundry/utilities/cleaning costs with a full service pub room at £150 including breakfast.

To my mind, £25 is fair value for a pitch.

And far lower taxes, I assume business rates, insurance, utilities and the list goes on. Rip off Britain at its finest.

 

[JuanVecino2023]

And far lower taxes, I assume business rates, insurance, utilities and the list goes on. Rip off Britain at its finest.

I’m moving to Germany.

At least I can get the good stuff for the Cali straight from the source.

And Bulli looks far cooler on the badging.

 

[pjm-84]

And far lower taxes, I assume business rates, insurance, utilities and the list goes on. Rip off Britain at its finest.

Depends on the camp site... the CCC site in Salisbury has a rateable value on 57500, so that's circa £550 a week in rates....as it commercial rubbish that's on top, separate and strangely quite expensive.

 

[Corradobrit]

I’m moving to Germany.

At least I can get the good stuff for the Cali straight from the source.

And Bulli looks far cooler on the badging.

Welcolme to the fun side of the fence. What part of Germany? And you're right, so many smaller companies offering cool gear for the Cali. I just ordered the mosquito net from Busboxx. And then there's Project Camper, Maxxcamp etc

 

[Corradobrit]

Depends on the camp site... the CCC site in Salisbury has a rateable value on 57500, so that's circa £550 a week in rates....as it commercial rubbish that's on top, separate and strangely quite expensive.

The rot is worse than I thought. Better off staying on Farmer Giles' bottom field.

 

[pjm-84]

Its surprising...

Heathrow Airport business rateable value is >£210m ....I think it may be going up to £300m by 2029....

54.6% is payable..... so that's £314,136 a day at the moment

 

[Barry Chuckle]

They are price gouging!

Zero service ie no beds to turn, one or two communal facilities to clean. 3 - 5 staff seems to cover it.

Compare those staffing/laundry/utilities/cleaning costs with a full service pub room at £150 including breakfast.

To my mind, £25 is fair value for a pitch.

Not only that many are moving over to metered EHU's so even that's not included anymore!

£40pn isn't the most expensive out there by a fair margin, some of the 'luxury' sites can be nearer £50 and above, then they charge you extra for awnings, extra cars etc. At least Josh Fiddler only charged £1 for each extra when he was ripping of Sid & Bernie in Carry On Camping!!!!!!!

 

[andyinluton]

At least Josh Fiddler only charged £1 for each extra when he was ripping of Sid & Bernie in Carry On Camping!!!!!!!

£1 in 1969 = £14.10 today after inflation! so nothings changed

 

[Barry Chuckle]

£1 in 1969 = £14.10 today after inflation! so nothings changed

A small price to pay to watch Barbara doing her early morning exercises!

 

[CaliforniaSeb]

One thing that gets my vote is having a proper sliding hatch over the passenger area to tidy away the bellows when the pop top is down. What a faff that is, trying to squeeze in the new bellows.

I think if i were choosing to buy new now ,and was erring towards having one car, it would be the multivan...probably! However, the T6.1 drives plenty well enough and last time when we went to the house in Spain we spent 7 consecutive nights in the van getting there. We got a little bit stir crazy by night 7 and I think that extra bit of storage space and wiggle room would make a difference.

 

[OooOooTheMonkey]

One thing that gets my vote is having a proper sliding hatch over the passenger area to tidy away the bellows when the pop top is down. What a faff that is, trying to squeeze in the new bellows.

I think if i were choosing to buy new now ,and was erring towards having one car, it would be the multivan...probably! However, the T6.1 drives plenty well enough and last time when we went to the house in Spain we spent 7 consecutive nights in the van getting there. We got a little bit stir crazy by night 7 and I think that extra bit of storage space and wiggle room would make a difference.

We don’t have any issues getting the hatch shut with the 2 skin bellows. It helps to partially fold it into place as the roof comes down though.

 

[UrbanSplash]

Still no UK pricing?

I see there is a UK price list for the new Nugget. Pretty much comes with everything now. Hybrid looks reasonably priced.

Heated bed sounds great

 

[NZCol]

I've gone round in a circle - had a Cali from 2004 in T5 guise, then another in 2014 then a Beach then went to bigger vans (6M) and now back out of that and waiting for the T7 beach to be released. Really interested to get one as more car like drive (having driven a MV) and will work better esp in hybrid all wheel drive guise (for Scotland winter roads).

 

[Californication69]

I've gone round in a circle - had a Cali from 2004 in T5 guise, then another in 2014 then a Beach then went to bigger vans (6M) and now back out of that and waiting for the T7 beach to be released. Really interested to get one as more car like drive (having driven a MV) and will work better esp in hybrid all wheel drive guise (for Scotland winter roads).

I haven’t seen a hybrid in the German configurator.
The MV drives really well doesn’t it.

 

[pluc99]

I've gone round in a circle - had a Cali from 2004 in T5 guise, then another in 2014 then a Beach then went to bigger vans (6M) and now back out of that and waiting for the T7 beach to be released. Really interested to get one as more car like drive (having driven a MV) and will work better esp in hybrid all wheel drive guise (for Scotland winter roads).

We're probably going to have to wait for a further year for the 4Motion hybrid version. The Tiguan and Tuareg are now configurable only in Germany with the same 4Motion hybrid system but I suspect there aren't any vehicles on the road yet.

 

[Californication69]

We're probably going to have to wait for a further year for the 4Motion hybrid version. The Tiguan and Tuareg are now configurable only in Germany with the same 4Motion hybrid system but I suspect there aren't any vehicles on the road yet.

Interesting. And yep, I’d want a 4M for sure

 

[Jay586]

California Chris has put a pre-launch info video up just now. Saying probably not going to be in the UK before next year.