Who originally ordered my ‘17 Beach?

[jimmywease]

Whilst reading a few threads from people agonising over options packages on new Cali orders, as well as some confusion over parking heater /coolant heater, I started to wonder how my ex-demonstrator Beach started its life.

It was a reflex silver / moonrock ‘17 Beach from Beadles Dartford, with loads of options but NO parking heater (was there some confusion here, leading to customer cancellation?)

I attach the build date info, supplied by the dealer before purchase. Did someone on this forum order this vehicle in Jan’17 but cancel in April’17? I’d love to know.

 

[Volkywagen]

Sometimes the dealers spec and order up themselves to sell them. If yours was an ex demo then it was most probably the dartford dealer who optioned it up at order

 

[larrylamb]

Its easier to retrofit the heater than the Led headlights you have. A lot of Beaches came with no heater.

 

[Esandar#1]

We had a new indium Grey 16 plate Beach delivered in August 2016 without the aux diesel heater as the factory had failed to build it in despite it being on the order form accepted by factory. We loved having ‘WOMble’ for 6 months and even felt sad handing her back when our new replacement van arrived (it felt disloyal having had our first adVANtures with her)... but whoever now owns that van got a van that had been well looked after in those 6 months!

The ridiculous thing was that even though the error was a factory error, our new order went to the back of the build queue. As it turned out for us, this actually meant we had a ‘free van’ for 6 months as the residue at end of lease was same even though the van we were now buying was 6 months younger! The dealership were very good about it, though they hadn’t even spotted the lack of the heater until the handover demo.

We insisted on having the heater only because the dealer ( during the spec taking) had said we should... but then we barely used it in the first year and have not used it that many times in 3 years since! We do mainly summer camping though and if you go to colder climes I can see how invaluable it is.

 

[Amarillo]

We went to Beadles Dartford soon after making the decision to buy and found them to be utterly clueless about the California and Beach in particular, so much so that we walked out of the dealership and went to SMG Tonbridge instead. Martin was fantastic, not because of any great knowledge of the Beach but because if he didn’t know something he found out the answer instead of blustering. Laine at SMG is the real California guru.

 

[jimmywease]

Sometimes the dealers spec and order up themselves to sell them. If yours was an ex demo then it was most probably the dartford dealer who optioned it up at order

Yes - I suppose it had a lot of stuff to make it drive nicely, as a demonstrator.

 

[jimmywease]

Its easier to retrofit the heater than the Led headlights you have. A lot of Beaches came with no heater.

Indeed it is - I took the plunge and love the parking heater, although the dog doesn’t...

 

[jimmywease]

We had a new indium Grey 16 plate Beach delivered in August 2016 without the aux diesel heater as the factory had failed to build it in despite it being on the order form accepted by factory. We loved having ‘WOMble’ for 6 months and even felt sad handing her back when our new replacement van arrived (it felt disloyal having had our first adVANtures with her)... but whoever now owns that van got a van that had been well looked after in those 6 months!

The ridiculous thing was that even though the error was a factory error, our new order went to the back of the build queue. As it turned out for us, this actually meant we had a ‘free van’ for 6 months as the residue at end of lease was same even though the van we were now buying was 6 months younger! The dealership were very good about it, though they hadn’t even spotted the lack of the heater until the handover demo.

We insisted on having the heater only because the dealer ( during the spec taking) had said we should... but then we barely used it in the first year and have not used it that many times in 3 years since! We do mainly summer camping though and if you go to colder climes I can see how invaluable it is.

Sounds like the mistake was to your advantage. You must be made of stronger stuff than our family though - we frequently use the parking heater, even during day-trips!

 

[jimmywease]

We went to Beadles Dartford soon after making the decision to buy and found them to be utterly clueless about the California and Beach in particular, so much so that we walked out of the dealership and went to SMG Tonbridge instead. Martin was fantastic, not because of any great knowledge of the Beach but because if he didn’t know something he found out the answer instead of blustering. Laine at SMG is the real California guru.

Yes, Beadles were a mess. Upon handover, I asked how to remove the seats and the dealer started gouging at the wrong end of the plastic trim, with a key! I could see it was causing damage, so told him that I’d figure it out.
Another couple were collecting a brand new Ocean at the same time and I swear the dealer hit the van with the metal awning handle at least three times! I think it was white, with reg WTF!!!

 

[Amarillo]

Yes, Beadles were a mess. Upon handover, I asked how to remove the seats and the dealer started gouging at the wrong end of the plastic trim, with a key! I could see it was causing damage, so told him that I’d figure it out.
Another couple were collecting a brand new Ocean at the same time and I swear the dealer hit the van with the metal awning handle at least three times! I think it was white, with reg WTF!!!

Martin at SMG was very patient with me over seat removal. He did one then stood to one side while I did the other.

He later informed me that the Beach bed could not be made with all seven seats, but on a subsequent visit apologised for his mistake and went on to demonstrate how to make the long Beach bed.

 

[Tarquers]

Martin at SMG was very patient with me over seat removal. He did one then stood to one side while I did the other.

He later informed me that the Beach bed could not be made with all seven seats, but on a subsequent visit apologised for his mistake and went on to demonstrate how to make the long Beach bed.

Ok I have to ask, long beach bed? What and how?

 

[Billywizz]

Ok I have to ask, long beach bed? What and how?

 

[Amarillo]

Ok I have to ask, long beach bed? What and how?

7 seat Beach bed

Converting my Beach from 5 seat camping mode to 7 seat MPV mode, I decided to play around with the options for making the lower bed with all five rear seats. For size reference, the mattress photographed is 150 x 200 cm. Remove all five headrests #1 short bed: shortened multiflex, bench seat...

vwcaliforniaclub.com