Which options?

[Tony1971]

Hi All

Sorry, I know the 'which options' question has been asked before, but it looks like it was some time ago and I'm not sure how relevant it is to the a new California Ocean that we are just about to order.

So far we have chosen the 'Bed extension with comfort sleeping mat'.

Are there other options that are considered essential?

Also we're unsure whether to go for the powered door - any thoughts?

If we want roof bars, do they need to be specified and does the awning come as standard?

Sorry for the basic questions!

Many thanks

Tony

 

[66tim99]

Hi All

Sorry, I know the 'which options' question has been asked before, but it looks like it was some time ago and I'm not sure how relevant it is to the a new California Ocean that we are just about to order.

So far we have chosen the 'Bed extension with comfort sleeping mat'.

Are there other options that are considered essential?

Also we're unsure whether to go for the powered door - any thoughts?

If we want roof bars, do they need to be specified and does the awning come as standard?

Sorry for the basic questions!

Many thanks

Tony

Hi Tony,
No problem, happy to offer my view. Many will tell you theirs that an Ocean needs no options, but I think 'in for a penny', and didn't want to regret not spec'ing something, so ticked most boxes (and justified the cost with a Drive The Deal 9%ish discount).
- The larger 80L fuel tank seems a cheap no-brainer - you may be covering long distances and the heater also draws diesel.
- Towbar is useful even if you don't tow, but want to carry bicycles or more luggage. Enables you to open the tailgate relatively easily with bikes in place.
- The (cold) shower is useful for cleaning dirty dogs and boots, rinsing off after a dip etc.
- Dynamic Chassis Control enables you to firm up the wallowy ride when pressing on on winding roads. After market anti-roll bars (£600 fitted) also help.
- Driver Assistance Package includes the excellent lane keeping (and other things such as auto headlight dipping and speed limit recognition).
All boxes I ticked (plus the sports pack, upgraded infotainment, and wood floor that aren't of course essential, as are none of the above, but will make me feel good living with it so...)
Colour is subjective of course, but the free colours are great. And if you want a two-tone you could spec white (for £300) and wrap the bottom half (in precisely the colour you want) for c.£1200, saving you £1500 and protecting the white paint too.
Enjoy the anticipation during the long wait.

 

[Alan Andrews]

We have had our T6 ocean for just over 3 years now.

Monitoring this site, there is probably a 50/50% view that the Comfort mattress is not suitable for some people....it is rather hard. So ends up being replaced with after market versions. We have stuck with the standard mattresses and find they are ok.

We have a heated windscreen but find it useless. Compared to our Ford it is next to useless and use the in-built aircon/heater/Max fan options. If sleeping downstairs and using the standard window blinds, we find the inside of the windscreen gets a lot of condensation, which can be slow to clear. Instead we use a windscreen + front door outer wrap now, and this stops the condensation.

I think that the view for a powered door is that can be problematic and not really needed. But accept that individual circumstances may dictate that a powered door opening/closing option is a must. We do not have this and find that the soft close on the main door and tailgate work very well. We have just come back from a couple of nights away and had a converted Transporter alongside. The constant slamming of the doors and clonk of the man door was very annoying.

Roof bars are an after market option - Many go for Thule or vw variants. Remember that driving with unladen roof bars may add 10% to your fuel consumption.

You'll find that the Ocean is very well spec'd already. Try to hire one for a couple of days to discover what you use and what you may want to add.

And as you are doing, chat with other Ocean owners to gain opinions. Good luck.

 

[Tony1971]

Really appreciate your useful input.

Love the idea of wrapping the bottom half - would never have thought of that!

 

[yossarian]

Start here https://www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk/en/configurator.html

 

[66tim99]

Really appreciate your useful input.

Love the idea of wrapping the bottom half - would never have thought of that!

Yes, wrapping the bottom half looks like a great idea. Love some of the combinations I've seen. Use the magnifying glass top right to search for anything. Some good pics on this thread.
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/show-us-your-two-tone-california.22368/
Sorry I didn't answer some of your specific questions directly - I didn't have a view.
The awning though IS standard. You can spec it to be silver rather than black (at a price) if it suits your van better.

 

[SusiBus]

Electric side door is a marmite thing. We had one on SusiBus T5. 1, and it gave us constant grief. Doing the side door Hokey Cokey i.e half closing, then reopening, flattening the leisure battery if not careful. Door getting damaged during repairs. Never again!
The manual door on the T6.1 is a dream. Slides quietly, has electric soft close, so no slamming. Can be left half open easily. Yes OK, on the electric door you can disenabled it. Manual for me.

 

[BigJohn]

we added the 4 keys option so that when we're camping as a family we can all have a key and not have to all arrive back at the van together... as well as some protection against losing ourselves out which seems to be a bit of an issue!

 

[two-saabs]

Hi All

Sorry, I know the 'which options' question has been asked before, but it looks like it was some time ago and I'm not sure how relevant it is to the a new California Ocean that we are just about to order.

So far we have chosen the 'Bed extension with comfort sleeping mat'.

Are there other options that are considered essential?

Also we're unsure whether to go for the powered door - any thoughts?

If we want roof bars, do they need to be specified and does the awning come as standard?

Sorry for the basic questions!

Many thanks

Tony

Hi Tony, welcome to the forum, do you have a budget in mind? Have you reached it or you have say 500 left for some nice options?

 

[CampervanTime]

Hi All

Sorry, I know the 'which options' question has been asked before, but it looks like it was some time ago and I'm not sure how relevant it is to the a new California Ocean that we are just about to order.

So far we have chosen the 'Bed extension with comfort sleeping mat'.

Are there other options that are considered essential?

Also we're unsure whether to go for the powered door - any thoughts?

If we want roof bars, do they need to be specified and does the awning come as standard?

Sorry for the basic questions!

Many thanks

Tony

Great questions - and a lot comes down to your own personal circumstances and use of the van.

Powered door - remember it beeps as it closes, which does put some people off having it.

Awning comes as standard. Roof bars, they are just accessories you can buy at any time. The rails are in all of the Cali roofs to be able to slot them in.

In terms of other popular options that people pick (even on the new Ocean spec);

Towbar - some might already have a bike rack that fits one, or want to tow something in particular.

Wooden Floor - although hard wearing, the standard floor is a bit tricky to clean (think lots of scrubbing). Wooden floor makes it more of a wipe and brush out.

Different wheels - personal choice really

ArtVelours Interior - MUCH easier to clean and keep clean than the standard cloth. If you are planning on seat covers anyway then this might not bother you. We like it in ours as it gives it a bit more of a luxury feel as well as being more durable

Different coloured roof bellows - depends what colour scheme you are going for

Shower - if you have dogs, muddy/sandy shoes/feet etc, could be handy

Hope this all helps. There are more options than these obviously (larger satnav, driving assistant things, two tone paint, sports pack etc etc) but I've covered the main ones I think.

 

[Velma's Dad]

- Driver Assistance Package includes the excellent lane keeping (and other things such as auto headlight dipping and speed limit recognition).

Can you set the lane-keeping to default off? I only ask because I have a Toyota that has lane assist, which defaults to 'on' whenever the car is started. Complete PITA on smaller roads so I have to remember to switch it off whenever I re-start the engine. Stupid.

 

[two-saabs]

Start here https://www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk/en/configurator.html

I believe the question is not, what options are available, but, what is our feedback on having these options?

 

[yossarian]

I believe the question is not, what options are available, but, what is our feedback on having these options?

Sure, but if one is unsure if the awning is standard then one has probably skipped step 1.

 

[66tim99]

Can you set the lane-keeping to default off? I only ask because I have a Toyota that has lane assist, which defaults to 'on' whenever the car is started. Complete PITA on smaller roads so I have to remember to switch it off whenever I re-start the engine. Stupid.

Not got my Cali yet, but understand the electronic settings work with each key. So if the Mrs wants it on and you want it off it’ll be set when you turn the key(s)

 

[two-saabs]

Hi All

Sorry, I know the 'which options' question has been asked before, but it looks like it was some time ago and I'm not sure how relevant it is to the a new California Ocean that we are just about to order.

So far we have chosen the 'Bed extension with comfort sleeping mat'.

Are there other options that are considered essential?

Also we're unsure whether to go for the powered door - any thoughts?

If we want roof bars, do they need to be specified and does the awning come as standard?

Sorry for the basic questions!

Many thanks

Tony

Some more questions to get an idea:

Budget?
What's important to you?
Driving at night? (Upgrade lights)
Got kids and a dog or just you and partner? (Former, stick to cloth interior perhaps)
Do you typical go camping with bikes? (Towbar question)
Are you fit and able or any health issues? (thinking about the powered door) otherwise I wouldn't bother

Will the Cali be your daily driver or just for camping weekends, or big longer trips?

Just having a play with the configurator, I'd say these are really interesting options to get:

- Driver Assistance Package Plus
- Bigger tank

I personally added the art velor seats for a really luxurious feel, but they are not cheap.

 

[two-saabs]

Sure, but if one is unsure if the awning is standard then one has probably skipped step 1.

Fair point

 

[two-saabs]

Some more questions to get an idea:

Budget?
What's important to you?
Driving at night? (Upgrade lights)
Got kids and a dog or just you and partner? (Former, stick to cloth interior perhaps)
Do you typical go camping with bikes? (Towbar question)
Are you fit and able or any health issues? (thinking about the powered door) otherwise I wouldn't bother

Will the Cali be your daily driver or just for camping weekends, or big longer trips?

Just having a play with the configurator, I'd say these are really interesting options to get:

- Driver Assistance Package Plus
- Bigger tank

I personally added the art velor seats for a really luxurious feel, but they are not cheap.

One more question, after driving back from the city just now... What are you switching from? As in what's your usual drive? Nothing fancy cars? Top end? Big motorhome?

For me I'm switching from a fully loaded Volvo XC60, and the Cali will be our daily driver, so whilst trying not to tick every box, we are kitting it out with all the assistance features which made our current ride awesome.

 

[Tony1971]

Hi Tony, welcome to the forum, do you have a budget in mind? Have you reached it or you have say 500 left for some nice options?

Hi, we don’t have a particular budget in mind. As we intend to keep the camper indefinitely we just didn’t want to miss an option that we would regret not having later on.

 

[Tony1971]

I believe the question is not, what options are available, but, what is our feedback on having these options?

Yes, exactly! Thanks

 

[Tony1971]

Great questions - and a lot comes down to your own personal circumstances and use of the van.

Powered door - remember it beeps as it closes, which does put some people off having it.

Awning comes as standard. Roof bars, they are just accessories you can buy at any time. The rails are in all of the Cali roofs to be able to slot them in.

In terms of other popular options that people pick (even on the new Ocean spec);

Towbar - some might already have a bike rack that fits one, or want to tow something in particular.

Wooden Floor - although hard wearing, the standard floor is a bit tricky to clean (think lots of scrubbing). Wooden floor makes it more of a wipe and brush out.

Different wheels - personal choice really

ArtVelours Interior - MUCH easier to clean and keep clean than the standard cloth. If you are planning on seat covers anyway then this might not bother you. We like it in ours as it gives it a bit more of a luxury feel as well as being more durable

Different coloured roof bellows - depends what colour scheme you are going for

Shower - if you have dogs, muddy/sandy shoes/feet etc, could be handy

Hope this all helps. There are more options than these obviously (larger satnav, driving assistant things, two tone paint, sports pack etc etc) but I've covered the main ones I think.

Regarding the wheels, there isn’t a great choice. Does anyone just go for the cheapest and then change them to eg 20” wheels after delivery?

 

[two-saabs]

Hi, we don’t have a particular budget in mind. As we intend to keep the camper indefinitely we just didn’t want to miss an option that we would regret not having later on.

I think the driving assistance package plus and the extra fuel tank, you get so much in that pack that you'd benefit from every day, and the larger fuel tank is a super cheap hassle-reducer

 

[CampervanTime]

Regarding the wheels, there isn’t a great choice. Does anyone just go for the cheapest and then change them to eg 20” wheels after delivery?

Yes, lots of people do this - BUT... if going down the 20" wheel route you may well want to consider some form of suspension change too - either the genuine VW lowering springs (cheap and warranty friendly) or coilovers to improve the ride and lower the van appropriately too.

I've only driven a kombi on 18s and lowering springs and it was quite harsh. I suspect the extra weight of the Cali would help with the ride, but 20s will be harsher still. Others on here will have experience of all of this better than me.

 

[Joker 1299]

Powered door - all day every day

 

[Erbster]

We’ve had a T6 Ocean for 4 years now and though I felt the stock van was very well equipped, I specced a number of options (some of which are now standard).
The awning is a meh item for me - kind of glad I have it, but not often used.
Towbar was a given, but has not been trouble free. I might be inclined to get the prep only next time.
We did not opt for the comfort mattress, but bought a duvalay (which didn’t do the job for us) and then a folding memory foam mattress (second hand off this forum), which is great.
I bought the extra drawer in the sliding seat, which I think is great use of space.
I thought the shower was way too expensive, so I bought the one that fits to the tap from the club shop, and find that very useful.
The electric sliding door was a definite no - fewer things to go wrong and the beep would drive me mad (I always need to get up in the night, so this would irritate the family).
I like the ACC very much (but this is now standard, I think). Not sure what I think about the lane assist - probably a useful safety feature for long journeys.
I thought the sat nav was ridiculously expensive, so opted for larger screen and CarPlay, which is awesome.

 

[ArunAlec]

Powered door, got one but wouldn’t spec one!

Added complexity.
Bleeping safety warning.
Heavy to open/close in manual mode
Temperamental safety “bounce”
and
draws power from starter battery so you need to be careful not to flatten it.