VW GrandCalifornia Price Confirmed

[Borris]

The Grand may be relatively expensive compared to its competitors but if the depreciation is lower then cost of ownership may not be any more. Obviously you just need the extra capital available.

There's no guarantee that these vehicles will depreciate at a slower rate than similar motor homes. It may be called a California but it represents a whole new direction for VW. As I see it VW are deliberately trying to sell these by piggy backing off the long standing VW camper van heritage and it may not work. The current Cali has been a continuous development from the original early splitty campers. It is a tried and tested formula that has evolved slowly. It's difficult to sum up it's appeal because it may vary from owner to owner but appeal it has in spades.
This new much larger vehicle will have an entirely different customer base and it will have to prove itself in a market where there are already many good alternatives available.

 

[2into1]

^ agree, particularly because the quality looks a bit 'ikea parts bin' * vs our Cali's.

*stick on buckets for the deckchairs, rear windows look like speed camera, fridge box construction looks like a Billy bookcase

 

[Jay586]

Is it the euro:sterling causing the price increases?

From posts on here, I thought the California is pretty expensive when sold in Europe too?

I know it's a factor but not the full explanation.

 

[itscalledbob]

At the caravan salon and talking to the VW reps who tell me the basic price starts at 57,000 €

 

[Hotel California]

57.000€ that is without tax ?
A Cali is about theasame !

 

[Wolfsburg]

Price confirmed of €57,000 on the standard model, they say price incudes tax. I think they needed to price at this level as competition from Hymer and other

 

[itscalledbob]

57.000€ that is without tax ?
A Cali is about theasame !

57k including tax basic
4 motion plus 4000€
Auto plus 2500€
(Aprox)

Available to order in jan (whole of Europe)
Delivery may/June

 

[andrew149]

Price confirmed of €57,000 on the standard model, they say price incudes tax. I think they needed to price at this level as competition from Hymer and other

This is a very realistic price and I can now see this selling as it can compete with the other Fiat based vans

 

[larrylamb]

Who was closest in the poll to guess the price? Oh, hang on it was me!

 

[B J G]

Big no-no for me would be the length and height of the Grand Cali adding approx £100 to a Ferry return trip to France. With 6 per year the travel cost gets seriously high.

Oddly the height quoted for the 600 is more than the 680. 303 cm and 285 cm respectfully.

 

[hewittd]

As I said on another thread, that price is pretty reasonable (especially when compared to a normal Cali) but for our use it's just waaay to big. One of the attractions for us is that Cali can be used as an everyday car.

However if you don't have that requirement, it looks great

 

[Annik]

I think people are missing the point here and stating the obvious, this is aimed at a different market so obviously it would not be for many people looking for a T6 size vehicle, but anyone looking for a Fiat Ducato panel van conversion this opens up a new option for a big market so I personally think this will be hit.

 

[flying banana]

Who was closest in the poll to guess the price? Oh, hang on it was me!

hold on a minute, do you think that will be the uk forecourt price ? no way

 

[itscalledbob]

Big no-no for me would be the length and height of the Grand Cali adding approx £100 to a Ferry return trip to France. With 6 per year the travel cost gets seriously high.

Oddly the height quoted for the 600 is more than the 680. 303 cm and 285 cm respectfully.

The height depends on the addition of a bunk bed. The standard height for both the 600 and 680 is the same but if you spec a bunk bed it adds 35cm to the height. HTH

 

[Borris]

57000€ is about £51000. We will not be offered this vehicle in any form for anywhere remotely near that price in the UK. If we are I'll eat my hat.

 

[2into1]

57000€ is about £51000. We will not be offered this vehicle in any form for anywhere remotely near that price in the UK. If we are I'll eat my hat.

I tend to agree with that, but it's an interesting topic to speculate......We've know for years that the (proper / our) Cali is overpriced.....in that you can buy a chunky well specced car and a complete caravan and still have change from the price of your cali. (Or a Coachbuilt motorhome for the same money). It's only the fact that all the Cali's competitors are* built by hand in small quantities with huge labour hours which prevents much cheaper alternatives being available.....so VW charge what they do. (* this changed a bit recently with Westfalia's new VW entries and the Marco Polo arriving here).

Moving up to the motorhome sector, VW are competing with pan european models built in proper factories which achieve economies of scale. That's why they've had to get real with their pricing else they'd look foolish and not sell any.
Much of the competition is built on the Fiat chassis. The real competitor seems to be Westy Sven Hedin built on the same Crafter https://www.campersales.co.uk/for-sale/220/ which in nice spec in the UK has a list of £76k! I think @Borris 's hat may be safe for a while.

 

[Billy]

57000€ is about £51000. We will not be offered this vehicle in any form for anywhere remotely near that price in the UK. If we are I'll eat my hat.

Eat your monster mats would be better

 

[Borris]

Eat your monster mats would be better

Too chewy!

 

[motacyclist]

I wouldn’t be interested in the Grand no matter what the price, it’s just not what I want at the present time and I suspect that is true for many.

What concerns me to some extent is that there could be a watering down of this forum with a camper that has less in common with what we have than a Mercedes MP or similar sized vehicle.

VW are capitilising on the California name the same as BMW has with multiple variations of the Mini and Fiat with their 500.

 

[2into1]

What concerns me to some extent is that there could be a watering down of this forum with a camper that has less in common with what we have than a Mercedes MP or similar sized vehicle.

Good point. Let's hope the owners are grabbing a domain for the 'Grand' forum as we speak, as they did for the Marco Polo. They'll be some overlap in 'where we go' in them, but despite allowing T4's on here, even my old high top, at least this space has been focussed on Transporter based vans.

 

[Billy]

I think it could be good for the forum, it would bring some fresh blood on board from people that have different needs from a vehicle which would make interesting reading for anyone looking to up or downsize.

Although the VW brand is pants, I still love the Volkswagen scene that you don't get with any other marque in this category. If f I was looking for something larger, the Grand would possibly be my first choice over a Fiat!!!

 

[pjm-84]

Cant see it being anywhere near that price.

Keen to see this. At 5.9m I can park it on the drive.

https://peterrobertscaravans.co.uk/portfolio-item/new-roller-team-pegaso-590/

 

[2into1]

I think it could be good for the forum, it would bring some fresh blood on board from people that have different needs from a vehicle which would make interesting reading for anyone looking to up or downsize.

Although the VW brand is pants, I still love the Volkswagen scene that you don't get with any other marque in this category. If f I was looking for something larger, the Grand would possibly be my first choice over a Fiat!!!

Yes but......others are considering swapping to a caravan, tents, 5 star hotels. We can't include all those, so I'd prefer 'here' to stay focused.

 

[2into1]

57000€ is about £51000.

I love the fact that despite us (sort of) knowing the answer to the poll, still no one has voted for it!

 

[Billy]

I love the fact that despite us (sort of) knowing the answer to the poll, still no one has voted for it!
View attachment 37257

Loads of news articles now confirming price,

https://newatlas.com/volkswagen-grand-california-dusseldorf-2018/56101/