Warranty after 3yr manufacturers finishes ?

[CornishPasty]

With one year of the VW factory warranty left to run and my concerns over the poor quality of the fixture and fittings within the Cali, I am looking for a warranty that can give me peace of mind after the manufacturers warranty runs out. The factory warranty from new is not an option I have been told, however there is the Extended warranty ! I have looked into this and I am of the belief this only covers the van as if it were a transporter ie mechanics and electrics relating to the drive etc. It does not cover the habitation side such as the workings of the roof, the control panel, the heater, the fridge etc. Does anyone know if this cover can be obtained, who would provide this type of cover if it can and at what price ? Thanks

 

[Martin]

I think the extended warranty is now around £1,500 per year for the SE ... I would stick the money in a savings account and hope you dont need to touch it.

 

[WelshGas]

Agree totally.
If you are so disappointed with the fit and finish of your vehicle and obviously unhappy, why not sell while you have warranty left.
Mind you any alternative vehicle you buy will be a conversion on a new or old chassis and you can start again.

 

[CornishPasty]

I don't want to sell. I just find it quite astounding that an iconic vehicle for VW, the Cali, which costs so much money to purchase, can have so many poor designs and known faults, which outside of the warranty will and have cost forum members a lot to rectify. Wondered if there was a warranty which could help with this !

 

[WelshGas]

If you want the short answer - No.
You can get warranties for the vehicle mechanicals but not the camping facilities. All the new vehicle conversions my son looked at gave a 3 year warranty on the new base vehicle and 1 year on the camper conversion.

 

[CornishPasty]

Thanks WelshGas for that.

 

[motacyclist]

I don't want to sell. I just find it quite astounding that an iconic vehicle for VW, the Cali, which costs so much money to purchase, can have so many poor designs and known faults, which outside of the warranty will and have cost forum members a lot to rectify. Wondered if there was a warranty which could help with this !

I think that enthusiasts, which is what Cali owners are, always tend to gravitate to forums and other media so they can discuss their vehicles. In doing so it is inevitable that faults are discussed and that can give the impression it's an unreliable or poorly made vehicle.

I'm sure if you go on Porsche or BMW or Subaru forums there will be many threads discussing the weaknesses of these vehicle; but basically they are all fine cars.

On the other hand, buyers of say, a Peugeot 308 (just the first 'boring' car that came to mind) are unlike to form say, a Peugeot 308 club! Apologies to anyone who has got one .....

£1500 is a lot of money for an insurance policy. As Martin says, put the money to one side; if you don't use it on repairs it can go towards your next Cali

 

[GrannyJen]

No one that I know of, camper, motorhome, caravan, give extended warranties on the interior habitation.

How can you differentiate on rugged wear and tear, 12 blokes sharing on a stag night, and "normal use over a period of time"?

Having had motorhomes, caravans and a couple of conversions I am not disappointed with the cali. My kitchen doors are a little loose, do I blame the manufacturer or me for allowing a portaloo with a full flush tank sliding across the vehicle floor to bash into them?

Given the second hand prices that the cali aspires to then if I had serious disappointments I would be off to someone like Bilbo's and asking to P-ex. They will bite your hand off for a used cali at present.

 

[CornishPasty]

I have just noticed that the smiley I used at the beginning of this thread, is totally inappropriate and offensive ! I thought it was a thumb. My apologies for causing offence. I need to go to Spec savers ! Sorry

 

[larrylamb]

On the other hand, buyers of say, a Peugeot 308 (just the first 'boring' car that came to mind) are unlike to form say, a Peugeot 308 club! Apologies to anyone who has got one .....

http://www.peugeotcentral.co.uk/ftopic-36001.html

You're right, it could be much worse

 

[F5 JNR]

If we can all afford to buy a cali in the first place either by cash or by affording second mortgage like monthly finance then enjoy the van, its uniqueness, practicality, lifestyle etc As im sure you can then afford any repairs or maintenance to keep living the dream. (just make best mates with a damn good vw mechanic)

 

[F5 JNR]

Ps our van was 3 years old in december last year, so forget limited get out clause warranties and keep money in the bank just in case. Come on guys its a bullet proof vw delivery van at the end of the day, camping bits can be replaced easy enough.

 

[2into1]

You need a few independent garages to specialise in Cali's, starting with the guys who fit Cali interiors into standard vans. They already know more about Cali hardware than all the vw commercial dealers put together.

 

[F5 JNR]

Agree, vw garages are simply not trained to deal with such a unique vehicle. Sadly, you really would think the vw camper (westfalia camper/california) would be more of a priority to vw than any other vehicle marketed?

 

[motacyclist]

http://www.peugeotcentral.co.uk/ftopic-36001.html

You're right, it could be much worse

Yes, and no interest in it from any other "Peugeot enthusiasts" (is there such a species?)

(Maybe you can tell I've had really bad experience with Peugeot in the past)

If you you think we've got it bad with the Cali, try these searches on Google:-

"boxer water ingress"
"ducato reverse judder"

That's just the base vehicle, on top of those faults there are numerous problems with the converters; we've had headaches with Swift, Auto Sleeper, Auto Homes, Auto Trail and Knaus. And two of those went bust on us leaving us to sort the problems out ourselves.

And the motor home dealers have a tendency to go belly up leaving you in the lurch with the warranty ... e.g. Discover Leisure where we bough the Knaus from; first Knaus went bust then Discover Leisure, leaving us to sort out faulty roof light and damp ourselves. And on the same vehicle we had the reverse judder problem from Fiat. What a nightmare

At least with the Cali the buck stops at VW!

 

[F5 JNR]

Us 2, had 4 hymers, swift, new tribute 665 before oyr cali, all had silly problems easy to diy but lack of useful support. Tribute had annoying ducato 2.3 if you used windscreen washers the water pooled in the scuttle and dripped onto the engine electrics. From experience never ride a ducati motorbike in the rain either....same problem, doesnt any one drive in the rain in italy? our last hymer, albeit an exsis, was the awful ford engine which demanded you slip the clutch all tghe time unless it stalled! thank god we have vw again.

 

[GrannyJen]

Well, I am all smiles tonight.

Almost a year ago a fault developed with my vehicle. 240v charging of leisure batteries from hook up. Sometimes it would, sometimes it wouldn't, then finally complete failure.

Never really gave me a huge problem, it would charge from engine and rarely did I stop still.

SMG had it back over and over again. Finally in frustration I contacted VW customer service.

They, and SMG, have been brilliant and tonight it's back all hooked up and working.

Silly faults happen. When mine had a silly, but complex fault, I had a vast dealer network to choose from to fix it. I had a multinational customer support network who I must say really got involved. I felt as though VW technical services were really working on it.

I've paid a lot of money for vehicles in the past and not had a tenth of the care shown. Anything complex can fail. I'm very happy with the support I've had. The point about having a "one stop, buck stops here" multinational as opposed to a bloke around the corner doing a conversion job was not lost on me when I bought my cali. That judgement has paid off as far as I'm concerned.

 

[motacyclist]

Tribute had annoying ducato 2.3 if you used windscreen washers the water pooled in the scuttle and dripped onto the engine electrics

What is it with these Seville vans and water?

We had

1st Boxer 1995: Water leaked into the bonnet, filled the battery which overflowed spilling acid all over the wiring harness and the subframe stripping all the paint at 6 months old.

2nd Boxer 2000: I thought they would have fixed the problem but no, this time the water got into the gearbox an knackered the speedo drive. Gearbox had to come out. £400 + bill. Two weeks later the synchromesh went on 2nd gear ... gearbox out again

Switched to Fiat, hoping dealers would be better ..

1st Ducato 2005: surprisingly good van but water was still dripping on the engine. Didn't keep it long so maybe that was why we didn't have any problems.

2nd Ducato 2007: New style, but guess what - water still dripping on the engine! Plus we had the reverse uphill judder.

And so to 2010: California. I shouldn't mention the EGR valve, should I? At least the engine stayed dry!

 

[F5 JNR]

Not just me being pedantic then! Far as I know all egr valves are time bombs on all vehicles since 1996. just emphasis is on campers n motorhomes which tend to be driven 'gently' so we dont spill our wine or make our hob rattle etc. We have fantastic vw vans here so try rallying them once in a while to heat the engine and blow crap out the valves like the engines designed for? or am I putting my head in the noose here?

 

[motacyclist]

Well, I am all smiles tonight.....

They, and SMG, have been brilliant and tonight it's back all hooked up and working.

Great to hear you have a fully 100% working Cali at last

 

[F5 JNR]

Yip.

 

[GrannyJen]

Not just me being pedantic then! Far as I know all egr valves are time bombs on all vehicles since 1996. just emphasis is on campers n motorhomes which tend to be driven 'gently' so we dont spill our wine or make our hob rattle etc. We have fantastic vw vans here so try rallying them once in a while to heat the engine and blow crap out the valves like the engines designed for? or am I putting my head in the noose here?

We had a thread recently about the DSG dropping a gear and assisting braking on downhill descents and the way it made the engine rev up...

I always love it when it does that ... I think "EGR cleaned ... DPF cleaned ..... ".......

 

[WelshGas]

F5 JNR. You are totally correct. The California is based on White Van mans use. Used for everything you can think of, the majority driven by NON owner drivers and regularly to be found in the fast lane. They are not concerned about economy, just getting from A to B ASAP.
So when you see a California that is 5 yrs old with 10,000 miles on the clock ! ! ! Beware.
My EGR was replaced at 900 miles, obviously faulty, it happens.
Work on the premise the EGR and DPF are unlikely to last the life of the vehicle.

 

[WelshGas]

GrannyJen, what was the problem in the end?

 

[GrannyJen]

GrannyJen, what was the problem in the end?

A rogue relay somewhere. Jason is going to tell me when he has a moment but apparently it was a relay somewhere sending signals to turn the charger off.

Being a terribly non-techie person the main difference to my life now is that I can both charge the batteries and use my hair dryer at the same time