what engine would you get?
I'm seriously looking at buying one to replace my California. They offer petrol, diesel and Hybrid models in the multivan. Most of my driving is urban shortish journeys because I use the Cali as my main car so really the Hybrid would suit me best but they seem to be plagued with problems according to owners on the facebook owners group. They also have a small fuel tank which would be a pain on the longer journeys we do. I don't want to buy a hybrid one and it end up being in the garage a lot.
Would i regret getting a petrol model? MPG Claims seem to vary between 23 to 30 for this model but as i don't do a huge amount of mileage (10k a year of which between 3-5k is long journeys abroad) and my current diesel one isn't very economical anyway because of the weight of it and the short journeys, I guess that doesn't really matter and a nice powerful petrol engine would be preferable to a diesel one right?
Or should i be looking a the diesel model? Slower than the others, more frugal on long journeys but with that annoying dull diesel engine around cities on the short journeys i do. I don't really enjoy the hum of my current diesel Cali engine when driving around in it and diesel is a dirty word now isnt it.
Any advice is welcome!
Can you test drive them ?
I've just bought a diesel van (people carrier). I do less miles than you but I'm not doing too many local trips in it, unless it's going to be driven for an hour. We've another petrol car. I do a few 2-3 hour drives in it each month, but nothing really long distance. I picked the most powerful diesel with an 8 speed auto box and it's really nice to drive, and pretty quiet - you'll find things may have moved on. It pulls like stink even fully loaded with camping gear.
I'd see if you can test drive the different options and see which suits best. My diesel returns around 38mpg of mixed driving.
I’ve test driven one already, the hybrid one. I really liked it.
My California is the latest model (2022 model) and has the 150bhp diesel engine and 7 speed dsg which I found ok but I think it’s noisy and pretty slow. Very van like basically.
i suppose my actual question was would people risk buying the hybrid, which is my preferred model, that might have the technical issues a lot of people seem to have and end up being a pain or would you go with the petrol model instead that seems to work just fine.
I think I’m done with diesel engines for now.
So I'm not in the market for a new van....
But if I was I would buy the hybrid.
Yes, a lot of people have issues, but how many more do not have issues? How many people who do not have issues take to the internet to say 'everything is fine' vs the people who do have issues?
Other question, do you need to change a 2022 vehicle ? Or is it at the end of the lease ? It's obviously not a 'hammered vehicle' and should last a long time. Don't forget, any problems will be covered by a warranty. I bought cash for my 2021 Van six months ago, but decided to have a two year service/warranty package just in case. Lot's of internet noise about ad-blue issues for the Stellantis vans (but isn't there for any diesel vehicle) but mine has been fine - just wanted the piece of mind !
If I was getting one I would go for the hybrid.
I had a plug in Hybrid Octavia iV for three years without any issues. There are about twenty others on our fleet still and there have been no mechanical problems so I would be confident.
We were in a similar shaped boat, and in the end went for an ID.Buzz - just to throw a curveball that it is very worth considering.
18 months in now, brilliant. After 10yrs previously of Caravelle T5 and T6 ownership, wouldn't go back (although I grant it was neither the sheer internal space, nor the rear seating flexibility).
HTH 🙂
Other question, do you need to change a 2022 vehicle ? Or is it at the end of the lease ?
It's owned outright so no lease to consider. Its just hit 40,000 miles (I realised its a 2021 model not 2022 as I said previously). I've sold the previous Californias I've owned when they got to between 40-60k miles as that seemed to be the right time to sell before the mileage starts to put buyers off and the van still holds a decent price hence me looking to change it now. I'm not looking to buy a new California this time (first time for 15 years!) because they're really pricey now and I rarely use the camping part of it which just end up squeaking and rattling constantly and annyoing me.
some good advice above from seriousrikk above - I'm sure there's plenty of happy hybrid owners around, it is just the problem ones that post online but there is a hell of a lot of them in the Facebook owners group!
ID buzz I've considered but I think its too small and the seating isn't as flexible as the multivan so that put me off. There's also the range - if I'm driving 1000 miles somewhere i don't fancy stopping to charge it 5 times.
thanks for all the replies.
The internet's full of people who moan about stuff. Literally no-one sits on their sofa thinking they need to start a new facebook thread about how they haven't had an issue with their car recently.
I'd get the hybrid. When our diesel gets replaced it'll be hybrid, although we run our cars for ages so by that point we may well be using hydrogen, have sorted the teleportation thing out so won't need a car or humanity will have been wiped out because the world is on fire.
Honestly? Hybrid.
I have a diesel now and have had them before and a hybrid makes more sense. I'd also consider an iD.Buzz, but they seem very expensive and, as has been said before, they are quite small inside. The lack of range is not a deal breaker for me (I rarely do a 1000km trip and, if I have to, I'll plan around charging), but the space is given how much I sleep in my current van.
Hybrid also means access to town and lower tax here in Sweden.
Curved ball number 2.
small petrol 1.0 litre used car or used ev. VW up, fox, whatever instead of a new T7 and keep the current Cali for longer and euro stuff
I've sold the previous Californias I've owned when they got to between 40-60k miles as that seemed to be the right time to sell before the mileage starts to put buyers off and the van still holds a decent price hence me looking to change it now
So you've got a camper now but really don't need one anymore?
Not yet, still dithering over here.
currently leaning towards the new California beach to replace my t6.1 beach. The new one is multivan based anyway, that might be the answer depending on whether bikes can fit inside easily enough. I’ve read some stuff saying the internal roof height is lower despite the van being wider and longer.
I’ll update if/ when I get something new.
As with pretty much everything, there is a California forum and its a pretty helpful place to be. https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/forums/
As with pretty much everything, there is a California forum and it's a pretty helpful place to be. https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/forums/
Ok we're all sorted now.
After 17 years of owning VW Californias I've taken a different route this time and ordered a new VW Transporter Shuttle.
I decided the multivan was a little bit too car based and reminded me of school mums driving round in Ford Galaxy and Seat Alhambras. It's also quite low heightwise in the rear compared to the commercial based vans which could have been a problem for us as we have long travel enduro and DH bikes to get in there.
The shuttle I've ordered is LWB so with the third row of seats out I can get bikes in with wheels on. Also, the new shuttle is way better specced than the old "Airport taxi" models. The second row are all individual seats so i can run 1, 2 or 3 of those at anytime, it comes with leather, 3 zone climate, parking assist and loads more, I've even specced a full length pan roof and Harmon Kardon on it so it's not like driving a basic van anymore, its almost luxury (for a van).
Should be here in April apparently.
Think VW have dropped a bollock on their vans.
Buzz is all out electric, but it's tiny on the inside.
Multivan has less space than the Transporter. The cab and bonnet is much longer. If you want the same load space as a Transporter you need an XLWB.
Transporter is the same body as the Ford Transit which is supposedly more spacious in the cab and cheaper.
Have a multivan as a courtesy car while the buzz is in. I can't really recommend it given how expensive they are! The road noise is worse than our oud caddy life and the interior is just van like but with seats in; so you may as well just get a van with seats in?