HectorPascal
Lifetime VIP Member
As a couple we could never be accused of rushing into this particular buying decision. We love the Cali. Let us make this statement unequivocally right off. We have now rented one for a week in October last year and for two week in September this year, when we toured France. Its fun, its spontaneous, its fast and comfy, its well thought-out. It will become an extension of our house (as one lady contributor notably said on these pages), it will ensure that we do things 'together' in retirement which is arguably the main benefit.
If anyone can recall our previous posts, when we were new to the whole camping-in-a-van shebang and the novelty tended to get in the way a bit and coloured our opinions somewhat. We knew this, though, and resolved to spend a lot of time renting and testing and musing before signing on anyone's dotted line.
A couple of years on quite a lot has changed: Diesel is now as anti-social as Agent Orange, VW are now naughty liars and electric vehicles have become the new Messiah. Such is our world of knee-jerk, black-and-white judgementalism.
A few things have not changed however. One of these is that the VW offering manages to command a hefty premium which may or may not be justified. Living with the machine for two trips now, we feel that VW have been taking the mickey and that the quality of fixtures and fittings sadly let down the core-worthiness of the vehicle - rubbish blinds, seats that require about 40-50 switcheroos to even begin to get the 'knack' (and by then you have scuffed the trim here and there). Bits of trim falling off in the first year. Pop-up roofs that love to buckle themselves when you look away, or chew the bellows. etc. etc..
In January, we travelled to Stuttgart to view the Mercedes offering (I told you we were serious) and were impressed but there was a great deal of 'showroom appeal' and maybe the worthy old VW would prove to be the Gabriel Oak compared with Merc's Sergeant Troy. Also, in the two weeks in France we spotted one solitary Marco Polo which stood out amongst the shoals of Calis. There is a theory that the collective body of opinion, formed over a long period of time, is seldom wrong....
We are getting closer now. In the last few days we visited Sandown Mercedes in Basingstoke to view their showroom UK-Spec Marco P. Figures and specs have been compared. People, you need to know this: equivalent spec, the MP is about 10k cheaper and is superior in many respects. We used a lot of the sales staff's patience, insisting that we saw the Westphalia roof operating and so on.
Perhaps, like me though, you remember the early Vito vans which rusted like a Lancia in Llandudno. Perhaps you are a bit biased against a prop-shaft driven rear-wheel drive. 4-Motion anyone? Who knows what the residuals might look like - although we intend very log-term ownership so this is a tad academic. Overall it is looking like a sensible option and one we will explore further with a rental, most probably in Euroland because the UK dealers do not seem to have the vehicles available for extended test, never mind rental. Hell, we might even buy a LHD one as most of our vacationing will be on the 'other side'.
It may well prove to be that the venerable Vee-Dub will prevail but it could also be that, having slept on their laurels for so long, the best thing that could ever of happend to the VW Cali is the Marco Polo.
Our search for the right vehicle for us will continue for a bit yet.
If anyone can recall our previous posts, when we were new to the whole camping-in-a-van shebang and the novelty tended to get in the way a bit and coloured our opinions somewhat. We knew this, though, and resolved to spend a lot of time renting and testing and musing before signing on anyone's dotted line.
A couple of years on quite a lot has changed: Diesel is now as anti-social as Agent Orange, VW are now naughty liars and electric vehicles have become the new Messiah. Such is our world of knee-jerk, black-and-white judgementalism.
A few things have not changed however. One of these is that the VW offering manages to command a hefty premium which may or may not be justified. Living with the machine for two trips now, we feel that VW have been taking the mickey and that the quality of fixtures and fittings sadly let down the core-worthiness of the vehicle - rubbish blinds, seats that require about 40-50 switcheroos to even begin to get the 'knack' (and by then you have scuffed the trim here and there). Bits of trim falling off in the first year. Pop-up roofs that love to buckle themselves when you look away, or chew the bellows. etc. etc..
In January, we travelled to Stuttgart to view the Mercedes offering (I told you we were serious) and were impressed but there was a great deal of 'showroom appeal' and maybe the worthy old VW would prove to be the Gabriel Oak compared with Merc's Sergeant Troy. Also, in the two weeks in France we spotted one solitary Marco Polo which stood out amongst the shoals of Calis. There is a theory that the collective body of opinion, formed over a long period of time, is seldom wrong....
We are getting closer now. In the last few days we visited Sandown Mercedes in Basingstoke to view their showroom UK-Spec Marco P. Figures and specs have been compared. People, you need to know this: equivalent spec, the MP is about 10k cheaper and is superior in many respects. We used a lot of the sales staff's patience, insisting that we saw the Westphalia roof operating and so on.
Perhaps, like me though, you remember the early Vito vans which rusted like a Lancia in Llandudno. Perhaps you are a bit biased against a prop-shaft driven rear-wheel drive. 4-Motion anyone? Who knows what the residuals might look like - although we intend very log-term ownership so this is a tad academic. Overall it is looking like a sensible option and one we will explore further with a rental, most probably in Euroland because the UK dealers do not seem to have the vehicles available for extended test, never mind rental. Hell, we might even buy a LHD one as most of our vacationing will be on the 'other side'.
It may well prove to be that the venerable Vee-Dub will prevail but it could also be that, having slept on their laurels for so long, the best thing that could ever of happend to the VW Cali is the Marco Polo.
Our search for the right vehicle for us will continue for a bit yet.
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