What to look out for when buying a used Beach.

[Roc1]

Hi all

Going to be having a look over a couple of 'approved used' Beaches this week so all very exciting. Are there any particular things on a used van I should be looking out for that folk have had issues with in the past? Prob going for a 2018 one.

Also, have any of you had luck getting any 'extras' thrown in on a used Cali, or are the dealers quite hard to get anything out of? Don't ask don't get I guess!

Thanks, looking forward to joining this great community!

 

[2into1]

Be aware the 'nearly new' Beach Market was disrupted recently with Motorpoint and other retailers selling relatively poor spec 6 month old Beaches for £38k, which at the time was £6k or so cheaper than the approved dealers were asking. Some have responded, some haven't.
Well specced Beaches are rare so pricing is more of a lottery.

 

[Roc1]

Be aware the 'nearly new' Beach Market was disrupted recently with Motorpoint and other retailers selling relatively poor spec 6 month old Beaches for £38k, which at the time was £6k or so cheaper than the approved dealers were asking. Some have responded, some haven't.
Well specced Beaches are rare so pricing is more of a lottery.

Thanks, yeah the 2018's with a few extras and 5-10k milage seem to be in the £40-45k ball park from a dealer.

 

[WelshGas]

Hi all

Going to be having a look over a couple of 'approved used' Beaches this week so all very exciting. Are there any particular things on a used van I should be looking out for that folk have had issues with in the past? Prob going for a 2018 one.

Also, have any of you had luck getting any 'extras' thrown in on a used Cali, or are the dealers quite hard to get anything out of? Don't ask don't get I guess!

Thanks, looking forward to joining this great community!

Really depends on if you plan on using the vehicle all year round for camping and/or as a daily driver.
On the camping side of things;
Diesel Parking Heater. Very useful outside the summer season but can be retro fitted.
External Mains electric hookup including mains charger. Once again can be retro fitted.
Lower bed mattress. A must for the 3 seater as it has contoured seats and the VW Comfort mattress is contoured to give a flat surface. Expensive.
On the 2 seater Beach the rear seat/bed is not contoured so not so much a problem.
On the Driving side things like DSG or manual is upto you. ACC, Climate Control 3 Zone Heating/Air Con and LED headlights are sort after and very, very expensive to retro fit if they even can be. I think only LED headlights can be at about £3500.
It all depends what you are prepared to compromise on.

 

[Roc1]

Really depends on if you plan on using the vehicle all year round for camping and/or as a daily driver.
On the camping side of things;
Diesel Parking Heater. Very useful outside the summer season but can be retro fitted.
External Mains electric hookup including mains charger. Once again can be retro fitted.
Lower bed mattress. A must for the 3 seater as it has contoured seats and the VW Comfort mattress is contoured to give a flat surface. Expensive.
On the 2 seater Beach the rear seat/bed is not contoured so not so much a problem.
On the Driving side things like DSG or manual is upto you. ACC, Climate Control 3 Zone Heating/Air Con and LED headlights are sort after and very, very expensive to retro fit if they even can be. I think only LED headlights can be at about £3500.
It all depends what you are prepared to compromise on.

Thanks. It will be used for everything, daily drive, camping both short and long breaks. There are a couple listed with a night heater but it will be something I can add later if needs be if I find a Beach that ticks most boxes.

 

[2haw]

If it hasn’t got one already, I would recommend you play hard ball and then suggest to seal the deal they throw in a VW Comfort Mattress.
They are £600 to buy after and the lower bed isn’t great without one!!

 

[2haw]

Also, make sure it at least has the H7 headlights. The standard Beach ones are useless.

The H7s are easy to spot as they are the same as the standard Ocean headlights.

Are you planning to look at the Edition at SMG?

 

[Roc1]

If it hasn’t got one already, I would recommend you play hard ball and then suggest to seal the deal they throw in a VW Comfort Mattress.
They are £600 to buy after and the lower bed isn’t great without one!!

Thanks yeah the one I like comes with a ‘sleeping mat’ and a ‘comfort pack’, wonder if that means it has this mattress already? Going to see it tomorrow so I’ll find out soon enough!

 

[2haw]

I’m sure they all come with the sleeping mat. I’m fairly sure they mean the pad on top of the multiflex board. You need the full Mattress that covers the whole rear bench.

 

[Roc1]

Also, make sure it at least has the H7 headlights. The standard Beach ones are useless.

The H7s are easy to spot as they are the same as the standard Ocean headlights.

Are you planning to look at the Edition at SMG?

Yes it ticks a lot of boxes for me and I live 10 mins away from SMG! Used them for my kombi and can’t fault them. Never considered white before but think it looks great with dark windows and black alloys.

 

[BeagleMum]

Yes it ticks a lot of boxes for me and I live 10 mins away from SMG! Used them for my kombi and can’t fault them. Never considered white before but think it looks great with dark windows and black alloys.

Good luck.
We have always favoured white vehicles, when we went for a Beach it had to be white, we love it.

 

[2haw]

Yes it ticks a lot of boxes for me and I live 10 mins away from SMG! Used them for my kombi and can’t fault them. Never considered white before but think it looks great with dark windows and black alloys.

Found this on my phone... it maybe of interest.

All Editions came with the same spec.. For some reason VW decided to list some items as ‘options’ but they were all made with them. Apparently 40 Beach Editions were released.

 

[Roc1]

Good luck.
We have always favoured white vehicles, when we went for a Beach it had to be white, we love it.

Thanks! I'll post here on how I get on!

 

[Roc1]

Found this on my phone... it maybe of interest.

All Editions came with the same spec.. For some reason VW decided to list some items as ‘options’ but they were all made with them. Apparently 40 Beach Editions were released.

That's great thanks handy to read through that. Only 40, wow thats not many.

Seems the comfort matt was an optional extra, but if it doesn't have it I'll just get one of those "comfortz' ones that folk here rate https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/shop/product/vw-t5-t6-beach-cabin-mattress-topper

 

[2haw]

That's great thanks handy to read through that. Only 40, wow thats not many.

Seems the comfort matt was an optional extra, but if it doesn't have it I'll just get one of those "comfortz' ones that folk here rate https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/shop/product/vw-t5-t6-beach-cabin-mattress-topper

Don't do that!

Only the VW one irons out the undulation in the 3 seater bench.

The 2 seat Beach is a flatter base when folded down.

You also have to be careful that they order you the correct one.. I’ve done a lot of investigations on this!

 

[Billywizz]

I have a beach and I wish I had the factory night heater, I would go for one with this, I would never have one retro fitted by anyone!

 

[Roc1]

Don't do that!

Only the VW one irons out the undulation in the 3 seater bench.

The 2 seat Beach is a flatter base when folded down.

You also have to be careful that they order you the correct one.. I’ve done a lot of investigations on this!

Oh ok! I’ll have to research the mattress solution further.

 

[Perfectos]

Hi Roc,

If you want to sleep in the beach the full comfort matress is a must, it r3moves the profile from the seat and provides a fully flat bed ( not just padding for the multiflex board) if it does not have one insist on one as part of the deal, (you cannot sleep on the three seat bench without one)
The comfort mat that cover# the multi flex only, is as much use as a chocolate tea pot.

The things I like about mine best are :
Led lights
Comfort dash
Power locking side door and tailgate
Cruise control.
Full Comfort mattress
Night heater
Rear AC
Lights and vision pack (additional lights in the internal tail gate panel)

You may ask if the dealer will throw in two services, normally about 380 quid. You may have to take out finance, to get these free, but you can pay this of within 14 days, no penalty.

I asked for a full tank of fuel and some monster matts, if your going to ask, be cheeky and ask for something that the dealer has plenty of margin in and is tangible,

Ask for 1 litre of Oil ( mine didn’t come with it) and it’s about £14 for a litre bottle !

Depending on if there are four of you, you could ask for two additional camping chairs. ( same as the two in the tailgate) , so peeps find them uncomfortable, I’m fine with mine, and got two additional when a couple of warranty issues became multiple visits.

Drive the bargain you want and get what And is important to you

Good luck

Post some piccy’s when the deed is done.

 

[westfalia]

If you want to sleep in the beach the full comfort matress is a must

How much is one of those?

Roughly.

 

[Billywizz]

If you ask for all of the they will laugh at you and go fo a brew

 

[Perfectos]

If you ask for all of the they will laugh at you and go fo a brew

You clearly haven’t been to a dealer recently, they are sitting on massive stock of T6 and sales are ( we’re) very poor before lock down.
If you don’t ask you don’t get.
A sales is a sale, some margins are better than others, but let’s be sure, they must sell to hit targets and get bonuses.

 

[Perfectos]

How much is one of those?

Roughly.

Priceless !

 

[Perfectos]

3 seat beach bed... sorry!

How much of your £1200 voucher did they steal for that mattress? I find it hard to believe that is even the correct mattress for the 2 seat bench Beach - perhaps someone can confirm. I'd love someone with a 2 seat Beach to be able to confirm if mine is indeed the same ad theirs.

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Long read

 

[Roc1]

Bonkers that these campers at the price they go for don’t come with the comfort mattress as standard.

 

[Billywizz]

You clearly haven’t been to a dealer recently, they are sitting on massive stock of T6 and sales are ( we’re) very poor before lock down.
If you don’t ask you don’t get.
A sales is a sale, some margins are better than others, but let’s be sure, they must sell to hit targets and get bonuses.

Oh I’m sorry perfect os, I have and you get f@k all from them