What (if anything) irritates you about you Cali?

[Borris]

1. The lack of holes to park your drink container on the top of the Comfort dash. Our previous Beach with the uncomfortable dash had them as does the T6-1 but not the T6.
2. The stupid location of the EHU trip switch thingy on the Beach. You can't see it and you can barely reach it without completely unloading the boot. Stupid stupid stupid!
3. The fragile picnic seats. IMO not currently fit for purpose.
4. The lack of accurate drivers seat positioning locator detent for swivelling. Whilst I don't have an issue with this many people do. It would be a simple inexpensive mod for VW to do.
5. The lack of leisure battery condition indicator on the Beach.
6. The ability to overfil the adblue tank thus causing a fault that will need a trip to the dealer. Stupid and un-necessary IMO.
7. The complicated but necessary emissions gubbins that require a regular thrashing to keep the DPF healthy.


The rest of the vehicle is as near to perfect that any vehicle of this type could be.

 

[Sunstoner]

Is picking up my first Cali on 6th March and being told 2 weeks later not go anywhere in it. Still, least Im lucky enough to have gotten me grubby mitts on it.

 

[ArunAlec]

I forgot, 2 more
1. The drivers handbooks are not an easy read and are lacking one of the most needed items.....
2. No fuse allocation chart
A vehicle with multiple fuse panels and permutations of fuse allocation that doesn’t come with any fuse information is ridiculous. Assuming that the factory wired it to a wiring diagram, rather than random, it wouldn’t take much for that data to be provided as a printout.

 

[CaliBear]

1. Having to keep the van above quarter of a tank so not to cause problems with the dpf regen, thus only being able to use 3/4 of the tank.
2. Poor information in the manual for bulb types, fuses etc. As ArunAlec mentioned.
3. Commercial dealerships selling and trying to maintain the California that do not have the knowledge or experience with the vehicle.
4. Fragility of the fittings and fixtures that don't seem very durable, despite treating them with great care.
5. Looking at it sat on the drive and not being able to go away due to lockdown as mentioned before in this thread!

Other than that love Walcot to bits and can't wait to at least camp out in it on the drive on Saturday night for the NHS camp out!

 

[Borris]

Is picking up my first Cali on 6th March and being told 2 weeks later not go anywhere in it. Still, least Im lucky enough to have gotten me grubby mitts on it.

You will be able to use it soon enough.

 

[HB19]

On the new LR Discovery you can put the third row of seats up and down by remote control. I would like to be able to press a button to put the front seats into the correct position for turning. I am happy to turn them manually but would like to do away with the getting it ready phase. When visitors are ‘helping out’ I find myself telling them not to do the seat swivelling because with practice the right position is intuitive and it’s hard to watch the less practiced fumble about with it.

 

[GregW]

The turbo lag on pulling away.

 

[Tandt]

What irritates me is looking out of the window at my Cali on the drive wishing I could drive off right now for non essential travel. Ahhhh those happy days before lockdown

Not been in it so much lately so back to banging my head on the way out the sliding door.

 

[David Stock]

Lack of power tailgate.

 

[dave6779]

Reliability, everything seems to break, not the engine (touch wood) but ACC, electric folding and heating wing mirrors, sliding door latch sticking and eventually not opening, cupboard door bowed and scratched on the other door (under the sink), water level sensor, the list goes on and on.

But I still love it. Can’t wait to go away in it again soon!

 

[Vantastic2]

Blimey! I question why you bought it! It's a shame that VAG doesn't seem to take any notice of multiple recurring faults, I see the same sort of comments on my Skoda club forums.

Should have been built by Skoda, would have been a better quality build and cheaper too !

 

[Grumposaur68]

Handbrake - Can't swivel drivers seat with brake on.
Cup holders - Two hands job to put cup in them, if you can find one that fits safely
Radio/head unit - turns off after 20 minutes
In my mind all these minor but irritating issues could relatively easily been overcome but the fact that they haven't suggest a lack of thought and real world testing.

A handbrake adjustment kit exists

 

[Agnes]

Good afternoon,

There are not a few things that irritates me, but of course there are some:

1. No central lock button either near the upper bed or the "living space" (not even in T6.1)
2. Rattle (I don't believe that all the noise is coming from the content of the shelves and drawer)
3. Open and closing of sliding doors can be awkward (This has been solved with the new doors in the T6.1)
4. Using the sliding side windows can be fiddly, mechanism should be better
5. Lever for grey water tank on an awkward place
6. No compass (I know not essential, but I don't understand how they could build a camper without a compass, I had them in my Tiguan as standard)
7. To open and close the gas cylinder for each use (it is annoying) before driving off
8. Build quality of the van could be a wee bit better for that amount of money
9. No power socket on the dashboard (This has been added in the T6.1)
10. Blinds can be a bit "fiddly". They might not look that nice, but curtains might be better
11. Blinds on the front window are to fiddly to use, should have been more robust
12. Turning of driver seat should be easier
13. Clarity if the car alarm is switched to internal only or not - could be improved
14. Gauge for fresh and wast water tank could be a bit more in detail

A lot of the things mentioned above are changed on the T6.1. In general most of the items it is easy to live with.

Regards,
Eberhard

That is a brilliant list. not sure how i would use a compass, but for sure the rest are right on. For me, the turning of the seat - its a great security device - just that i can never remember how to do it either. side windows are def. really fiddly, or maybe I haven't yet got the knack. Blinds on the front window - really, does anyone actually engage these the first time of trying? ping, ping, ping, then they go in. The rattles, well yes - but its something to talk about for the first 20 miles of each journey, " its the mugs, its the kettle, its the walking boots" until you just get resigned to the noise.

 

[RichardH]

What irritates me is looking out of the window at my Cali on the drive wishing I could drive off right now for non essential travel. Ahhhh those happy days before lockdown

For me, just a couple of minor niggles: the flimsy knob on the CPU and the useless gauge for the water reservoir. But an equally (more?) relevant list for me would be "what delights you about your Cali?" I could think of plenty and I'm longing to get back into mine at the end of the lock-down, despite its flaws.

 

[Dominiek]

Seems strange to me but nobody mentions the poor suspension. ( 205hp tdi 4-motion ) I was scared in this car when there is side wind... and the lack off feel in the stearing. Solved that with Bilstein B14, i already had the stonger torsionbars. Strange that a 2.7T vehicle uses the same springs as the standard van.
Also the Automatic gearbox shifting in to 7 th at 70 km/h reving about 1100 rpm and thus killing your engine so you have to go to sport mode... that is not why i chose for an automatic gear change...
And the satnav is trash... Have a BMW 525 and those work briljant.
Love the concept of the California but for a car at 70.000 euro there are some serious flaws...

 

[RichardH]

Rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles,

Don't abandon hope! Ours is almost rattle / squeak-free. It took a while. I'm neurotically obsessive about rattles, hence non-slip drawer liners, tea-towels wrapped around crockery, irritating squeaks located and sorted with help from postings in this wonderful forum - maybe we have been unusually lucky, but our travels are now remarkably tranquil.

 

[TripleBee]

Seems strange to me but nobody mentions the poor suspension. ( 205hp tdi 4-motion ) I was scared in this car when there is side wind... and the lack off feel in the stearing. Solved that with Bilstein B14, i already had the stonger torsionbars. Strange that a 2.7T vehicle uses the same springs as the standard van.

It certainly is a point that, due to the weigt, the California suffers from negative camber, and this can't be adjusted by alignment. But if I look up, my van already has the rear springs of the highest weight class (visible in etka).
I found some (supposed to be) better springs, but for that price I can change mine 2 - 3 times at VW.
Apart from that negative camber, and a bit lower on the backside, I haven't found any real problems while driving the van. Not even on side winds. Due to it's weight, it will stick to the road better than an empty Transporter with the rear end higher.

 

[gatvol]

Build quality - roof corrosion, bonnet release seized up, corroding alloys, driver's door rubbing on sill, camper control unit, rattles, stereo, window motor, water gauge ...

Other than the bonnet catch, all of the above were in the first three years. VW/ Audi is a bottom quartile brand for reliability these days, but lots of folk still in denial about it.

 

[ArunAlec]

A handbrake adjustment kit exists

Agree but you shouldn’t have to customise a premium vehicle to make it do what it’s marketed to do. Unless VW only ever intended the Cali to be used on level sites.

 

[Vagophile]

Seems strange to me but nobody mentions the poor suspension. ( 205hp tdi 4-motion ) I was scared in this car when there is side wind... and the lack off feel in the stearing. Solved that with Bilstein B14, i already had the stonger torsionbars. Strange that a 2.7T vehicle uses the same springs as the standard van.
Also the Automatic gearbox shifting in to 7 th at 70 km/h reving about 1100 rpm and thus killing your engine so you have to go to sport mode... that is not why i chose for an automatic gear change...
And the satnav is trash... Have a BMW 525 and those work briljant.
Love the concept of the California but for a car at 70.000 euro there are some serious flaws...

Have you ever driven a Merc sprinter based big white? White van men who drive the commercials (even fully loaded, which helps) must have nerves of steel (or no brains).

 

[Ting Tong]

The grey carpet and upholstery....and the fact that VW employ people who are so out of touch that they think to fit it.

 

[Vantastic2]

Have you ever driven a Merc sprinter based big white? White van men who drive the commercials (even fully loaded, which helps) must have nerves of steel (or no brains).

Merc sprinter brand new approx yr 2004, nice experience with it, the servo brake failure 2 wks later !

 

[Vantastic2]

Well, we have had this California for almost 7 yrs (in July) the real age is 7 yrs 7 months since it left the factory according to the yellow inspection card that came with it. Has it's faults now, the roof and roof panel was a bad job and we get water in (but do have a blocked tube so could be that also?) The famous roof rattle ( more like BANG BANG) on passage side ( thanks to our marvellous roads ) happens when going over a dip in road or drain.
3rd brake light ,water got in & destroyed (rotted) one of the contacts. Thanks to advice on here and using You Tube, struggled but got the job done around 3 wks ago.
Also a shame when asking dealership to do a job and end up doing it myself, was an irritating squeak from gear stick mechanism changing from
3rd to 4 th, so again onto You Tube, got gatter off and sprayed silicon grease around the mechanical parts and that was around 3 years ago and it worked noise gone !!!
Wife does say about things inside van could be improved i.e wardrobe cupboard space and that bendy light is useless !
But if we didn't enjoy our California it would have been sold long ago !
How many of you get people interested in them ?, I have had people see me next to our California asking 'when you selling it' !
Chance for jobs to be done, sun out 'whilst locked dn' then ready for trips ( we hope )sometime in the year ?

 

[clarinetbcn]

I love my Beach, but...the shockingly low level of the interior trim and finish. This seems to go in cycles with VW. I was 16, with a driver's license, when my family bought a four year old '67 Beetle from a friend who had taken great care of it. It was indestructible, inside and out. The build quality showed in-depth thought had been put into every piece. My brother finally sold it years later with 450,000 miles on it, still running great.

In '92 my brother in law bought a new T4 in Germany. The quality of the finish really was not good. Just one example: The speedometer binnacle was crooked, and when he tried to have it corrected at the dealer's, he was taken to the show room, where every new bus on the floor had the same problem. In the end he had so many problems with it that he swore he would never buy a VW again.

Fast forward to today, he has a Porsche and my sister has the latest of a series of Golfs. Both are put together like a Swiss watch, and there really is not much difference in build quality between the two.

That is the build quality that I was hoping for in my van. It has been disappointing. I love DIY, but the times that I have gotten below the surface and found shockingly cheap, or actually just stupid designs just out of sight are sadly frequent, as most here on the forum know.

But, I love my van, even when it buzzes irritatingly somewhere deep inside the dash in 3rd and 4th around 2000rpm. I just wish that Volkswagen loved their vans as much as I and we all do.

 

[clarinetbcn]

I love my Beach, but...the shockingly low level of the interior trim and finish. This seems to go in cycles with VW. I was 16, with a driver's license, when my family bought a four year old '67 Beetle from a friend who had taken great care of it. It was indestructible, inside and out. The build quality showed in-depth thought had been put into every piece. My brother finally sold it years later with 450,000 miles on it, still running great.

In '92 my brother in law bought a new T4 in Germany. The quality of the finish really was not good. Just one example: The speedometer binnacle was crooked, and when he tried to have it corrected at the dealer's, he was taken to the show room, where every new bus on the floor had the same problem. In the end he had so many problems with it that he swore he would never buy a VW again.

Fast forward to today, he has a Porsche and my sister has the latest of a series of Golfs. Both are put together like a Swiss watch, and there really is not much difference in build quality between the two.

That is the build quality that I was hoping for in my van. It has been disappointing. I love DIY, but the times that I have gotten below the surface and found shockingly cheap, or actually just stupid designs just out of sight are sadly frequent, as most here on the forum know.

But, I love my van, even when it buzzes irritatingly somewhere deep inside the dash in 3rd and 4th around 2000rpm. I just wish that Volkswagen loved their vans as much as I and we all do.

P.S. When I mentioned this to the great guys at the Westfalia agency who imported my van from Germany, they nodded sadly in agreement, but said, "If you think VW's bad, the others are worse."