VW California T7 as a daily?
Discussion
Tempted by one of the new California lease deals as our current lease goes back later this year and we’ve got a 4 week Europe road trip planned in August.
Trying to get my head round what they’re actually like to live with as your main family car rather than a weekend toy.
Most of our driving is just local stuff, school runs, kids clubs etc with the odd longer trip. We live in the Lakes so I can absolutely see the appeal of chucking bikes, dog, wet gear etc in the back and just heading off somewhere for the day or the odd overnight stop.
But equally I can also picture it just being used for supermarket runs and reversing off the drive in the rain on a Tuesday morning 😆
Looking at the trims I actually think the Beach makes more sense for us than the Ocean. Feels more like a really flexible people carrier/day van that can also do the odd camping trip rather than trying to be a compact motorhome.
Realistically I think it would mostly be:
• stopovers on longer trips
• occasional nights away
• family wagon
• somewhere to make a brew and get out the weather
rather than spending 3 weeks living in a field.
Interested to hear from people who actually use them as their only/main car. Does the novelty wear off or do they genuinely work day to day?
Trying to get my head round what they’re actually like to live with as your main family car rather than a weekend toy.
Most of our driving is just local stuff, school runs, kids clubs etc with the odd longer trip. We live in the Lakes so I can absolutely see the appeal of chucking bikes, dog, wet gear etc in the back and just heading off somewhere for the day or the odd overnight stop.
But equally I can also picture it just being used for supermarket runs and reversing off the drive in the rain on a Tuesday morning 😆
Looking at the trims I actually think the Beach makes more sense for us than the Ocean. Feels more like a really flexible people carrier/day van that can also do the odd camping trip rather than trying to be a compact motorhome.
Realistically I think it would mostly be:
• stopovers on longer trips
• occasional nights away
• family wagon
• somewhere to make a brew and get out the weather
rather than spending 3 weeks living in a field.
Interested to hear from people who actually use them as their only/main car. Does the novelty wear off or do they genuinely work day to day?
I daily my Transporter, have done for nearly 10 years, I’ve got other cars on the drive/in the garage, but prefer my van.
It has slipped slightly down the pecking order as my space in the company car park has moved and I’m closer to door bangers so I mostly take my old Range or Landcruiser.
The new California is based on the T7 Multivan, I’m sure you know this so it’s more refined and ‘car like’ than a Transporter.
I think the new Cali is under 2m so should get in most multi-story car parks.
You should be able to get a 24 hour demo, I got one when my van was in for a service, I could have kept it for a few days, but I don’t plan on changing my 6.1 anytime soon.
It has slipped slightly down the pecking order as my space in the company car park has moved and I’m closer to door bangers so I mostly take my old Range or Landcruiser.
The new California is based on the T7 Multivan, I’m sure you know this so it’s more refined and ‘car like’ than a Transporter.
I think the new Cali is under 2m so should get in most multi-story car parks.
You should be able to get a 24 hour demo, I got one when my van was in for a service, I could have kept it for a few days, but I don’t plan on changing my 6.1 anytime soon.
Ed Boon II said:
I daily my Transporter, have done for nearly 10 years, I ve got other cars on the drive/in the garage, but prefer my van.
It has slipped slightly down the pecking order as my space in the company car park has moved and I m closer to door bangers so I mostly take my old Range or Landcruiser.
The new California is based on the T7 Multivan, I m sure you know this so it s more refined and car like than a Transporter.
I think the new Cali is under 2m so should get in most multi-story car parks.
You should be able to get a 24 hour demo, I got one when my van was in for a service, I could have kept it for a few days, but I don t plan on changing my 6.1 anytime soon.
Cheers. I'm trying to find a dealer near by but there don't seem to be any commercial dealers near by. It has slipped slightly down the pecking order as my space in the company car park has moved and I m closer to door bangers so I mostly take my old Range or Landcruiser.
The new California is based on the T7 Multivan, I m sure you know this so it s more refined and car like than a Transporter.
I think the new Cali is under 2m so should get in most multi-story car parks.
You should be able to get a 24 hour demo, I got one when my van was in for a service, I could have kept it for a few days, but I don t plan on changing my 6.1 anytime soon.
I'd just about pulled the trigger and then realised the reversing camera is an optional extra on this model. Our drive is a bit awkward to get on. First world problems as the current car is the first we've had with a 360 degree camera. It's as long as the Californina but makes it pretty effortless for parking it.
We have a 2025 T7 California Ocean
I’ve used it daily for the past two weeks while my Range Rover Sport was being repaired.
The drive and ride are both good, visibility is excellent, and there are very few rattles (although the pop-top can squeak occasionally).
It’s a big vehicle at 5.2 metres long and quite tall, but having sliding doors on both sides is really useful. Need to be mindful that the awning stick out.
The tech is good too, with features like heated seats & steering wheel, front and rear parking cameras, night heater, liding windows in the rear doors and outside shower.
I had no problems parking it anywhere I’d normally park the RRS, apart from multi-storey car parks.
I definitely wouldn’t buy one new without a substantial discount, we explored selling ours recently (12 months old) and were offered around £18k below list price (we got a £5k discount when we bought new but I understand much bigger discounts available now).
Nights away are only ever done with wife and dogs, so we take the rear seats out and this give us much more room.
I’ve used it daily for the past two weeks while my Range Rover Sport was being repaired.
The drive and ride are both good, visibility is excellent, and there are very few rattles (although the pop-top can squeak occasionally).
It’s a big vehicle at 5.2 metres long and quite tall, but having sliding doors on both sides is really useful. Need to be mindful that the awning stick out.
The tech is good too, with features like heated seats & steering wheel, front and rear parking cameras, night heater, liding windows in the rear doors and outside shower.
I had no problems parking it anywhere I’d normally park the RRS, apart from multi-storey car parks.
I definitely wouldn’t buy one new without a substantial discount, we explored selling ours recently (12 months old) and were offered around £18k below list price (we got a £5k discount when we bought new but I understand much bigger discounts available now).
Nights away are only ever done with wife and dogs, so we take the rear seats out and this give us much more room.
Wilmslowboy said:
We have a 2025 T7 California Ocean
I ve used it daily for the past two weeks while my Range Rover Sport was being repaired.
The drive and ride are both good, visibility is excellent, and there are very few rattles (although the pop-top can squeak occasionally).
It s a big vehicle at 5.2 metres long and quite tall, but having sliding doors on both sides is really useful. Need to be mindful that the awning stick out.
The tech is good too, with features like heated seats & steering wheel, front and rear parking cameras, night heater, liding windows in the rear doors and outside shower.
I had no problems parking it anywhere I d normally park the RRS, apart from multi-storey car parks.
I definitely wouldn t buy one new without a substantial discount, we explored selling ours recently (12 months old) and were offered around £18k below list price (we got a £5k discount when we bought new but I understand much bigger discounts available now).
Nights away are only ever done with wife and dogs, so we take the rear seats out and this give us much more room.
That’s really useful thanks. Interesting what you say about it still feeling manageable day to day as that’s probably my biggest concern really. We’d be replacing our main family car with it rather than having it as a second vehicle so it would need to do everything from school runs to supermarket trips as well as the fun stuff.I ve used it daily for the past two weeks while my Range Rover Sport was being repaired.
The drive and ride are both good, visibility is excellent, and there are very few rattles (although the pop-top can squeak occasionally).
It s a big vehicle at 5.2 metres long and quite tall, but having sliding doors on both sides is really useful. Need to be mindful that the awning stick out.
The tech is good too, with features like heated seats & steering wheel, front and rear parking cameras, night heater, liding windows in the rear doors and outside shower.
I had no problems parking it anywhere I d normally park the RRS, apart from multi-storey car parks.
I definitely wouldn t buy one new without a substantial discount, we explored selling ours recently (12 months old) and were offered around £18k below list price (we got a £5k discount when we bought new but I understand much bigger discounts available now).
Nights away are only ever done with wife and dogs, so we take the rear seats out and this give us much more room.
Think the double sliding doors are a genuinely brilliant idea on these too, especially for kids and awkward parking spaces. The more I look at them the more the Beach probably makes more sense for us than the Ocean as we’d likely use it more as a flexible family/day van that can also camp rather than trying to properly live in it.
What’s putting a bit of a dampener on things is the entry level Beach doesn’t seem to have a reversing camera and on something over 5m long that does feel a bit of an odd omission these days. I’ve driven LWB vans etc before but not as a daily or doing school runs and supermarket runs every day. We do have a second car so we’d manage, but this would still be the main family wagon most of the time.
The Ocean would probably have been a bit of a no brainer as it had all the bells and whistles. The lease deal I nearly jumped on was about £12k all in over 2 years which felt like quite a low risk way of scratching the camper van itch.
Ed Boon II said:
The reverse camera is only £396, but yeah it s weird to have that omitted.
Best to spec a VW at build stage, you can retrofit everything but costs can be crazy.
Example my 6.1 led lamps were about £1400, to retrofit they are over £4k.
Yeah they quoted around £400. Best to spec a VW at build stage, you can retrofit everything but costs can be crazy.
Example my 6.1 led lamps were about £1400, to retrofit they are over £4k.
They are quoting July for a factory order but I think thats wildly optimistic.
a311 said:
The lease deal I nearly jumped on was about £12k all in over 2 years which felt like quite a low risk way of scratching the camper van itch.
Sounds an expensive way to scratch the itch IME. I’ve had 3 Cali Oceans and 1 Beach. Total depreciation was next to zero. You just need to buy and sell well. Drive the deal usually offer good discounts on them (not that I’ve used them). LWB High Top camper daily driver here.
I've spent half my life driving LWB Transits and LDV's with trailers on round small country lanes. With that in mind, I don't find the Transporter too much of an issue.
Out on the road it's fine. It's parking in supermarkets or towns that need a bit more thinking. It's picked up some door marks....
They are expensive to run - fuel, VED, insurance, tyres compared to a 'cheap' car, but still manageable.
I'm not sure I buy the 'no / low depreciation ' so much when second hand ones are not as reliable or cheap to run as folk think. Try £1300 for an alternator on mine last year...
Last thought: I use mine a LOT for weekend getaways and main holidays. It's reasonable value due to that. However, do the maths and it's not any cheaper than a b&b or coffee shops if you are only using it a few times a year.
I've spent half my life driving LWB Transits and LDV's with trailers on round small country lanes. With that in mind, I don't find the Transporter too much of an issue.
Out on the road it's fine. It's parking in supermarkets or towns that need a bit more thinking. It's picked up some door marks....
They are expensive to run - fuel, VED, insurance, tyres compared to a 'cheap' car, but still manageable.
I'm not sure I buy the 'no / low depreciation ' so much when second hand ones are not as reliable or cheap to run as folk think. Try £1300 for an alternator on mine last year...
Last thought: I use mine a LOT for weekend getaways and main holidays. It's reasonable value due to that. However, do the maths and it's not any cheaper than a b&b or coffee shops if you are only using it a few times a year.
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