Excited !!

[The JRM Cali Crew]

Hi everyone,
Just about to get our first California. Had a Mazda Bongo a few years back, which was great back then, with a community of Bongo owners out there that is much like California owners. We were interested in getting a campervan last year but then hired a Transit campervan last year, which put us off the idea of getting a campervan. Then we hired a California Ocean from Road Surfer last month for a trip to Scotland and we thought it was brilliant. It persuaded us to buy one. We want a 4motion Ocean. It was what we had from Road Surfer (who were brilliant BTW) and it just ticked all the boxes. We stayed at a camp site on Ardnamurchan on which the 4 wheel drive came in very handy, or at least it was very reassuring, so we decided that if we were to get one a 4motion would be good. There are so few 4motion Ocean's out there though but, as i write this, we are off to Northampton tomorrow (a 3 hour drive!) to look at one at VW dealership, so fingers crossed! We missed out on a couple of really good looking ones at another dealership so they do get snapped up quickly. No room for procrastination!

 

[Stargazing]

Hi and hopefully, welcome to the CaliClub. Exciting time viewing a potential candidate.
Go with your head not your heart, check over everything carefully including the roof bellows and check it does everything you want it to.
Main dealers will potentially only sell the well maintained ones, but any doubts / red flags then keep looking.
Good luck and feedback to the forum on your thoughts and decision as it is helpful to others.

 

[Perfectos]

Be exited, very exited

Photos required, or it never happened

 

[Wannabecamperman]

Hi everyone,
Just about to get our first California. Had a Mazda Bongo a few years back, which was great back then, with a community of Bongo owners out there that is much like California owners. We were interested in getting a campervan last year but then hired a Transit campervan last year, which put us off the idea of getting a campervan. Then we hired a California Ocean from Road Surfer last month for a trip to Scotland and we thought it was brilliant. It persuaded us to buy one. We want a 4motion Ocean. It was what we had from Road Surfer (who were brilliant BTW) and it just ticked all the boxes. We stayed at a camp site on Ardnamurchan on which the 4 wheel drive came in very handy, or at least it was very reassuring, so we decided that if we were to get one a 4motion would be good. There are so few 4motion Ocean's out there though but, as i write this, we are off to Northampton tomorrow (a 3 hour drive!) to look at one at VW dealership, so fingers crossed! We missed out on a couple of really good looking ones at another dealership so they do get snapped up quickly. No room for procrastination!

To be fair, there are very few times for 99% of UK campers that the Haldex 4 motion ever kicks in to aid traction. And though it's peace of mind, it's a substantial increase in cost (like £80k rather than £68k for the 2WD) for something you'll likely almost never use.

If you have the pennies to spare, then sure - it's piece of mind, but personally the cost-benefit analysis I did for our usage case meant it was prohibitively expensive.

 

[sticky1]

To be fair, there are very few times for 99% of UK campers that the Haldex 4 motion ever kicks in to aid traction. And though it's peace of mind, it's a substantial increase in cost (like £80k rather than £68k for the 2WD) for something you'll likely almost never use.

If you have the pennies to spare, then sure - it's piece of mind, but personally the cost-benefit analysis I did for our usage case meant it was prohibitively expensive.

If you think you’ll need 4 motion I think I would also be checking that it has the diff lock option, haldex alone on very slippy wet grass may not get you going.

 

[mr pg]

We were considering a 4motion, but gives you I think 110kg less payload, which when I totted things up soon disappeared so stuck with 2wd. Not many around with diff lock either.

 

[The JRM Cali Crew]

Hi and hopefully, welcome to the CaliClub. Exciting time viewing a potential candidate.
Go with your head not your heart, check over everything carefully including the roof bellows and check it does everything you want it to.
Main dealers will potentially only sell the well maintained ones, but any doubts / red flags then keep looking.
Good luck and feedback to the forum on your thoughts and decision as it is helpful to others.

Thank you. Good advice! Watch this space!

 

[The JRM Cali Crew]

A bit last minute but what are the most important questions to ask/things to look for at the dealership?
It’s a 2022 Ocean 4motion.

 

[Wannabecamperman]

A bit last minute but what are the most important questions to ask/things to look for at the dealership?
It’s a 2022 Ocean 4motion.

Service history and remaining transferable. Also diff lock as above or walk away

 

[AdamsFamily]

Hope you got on ok today... As Stargazing said, head over heart, its easy to get sucked in.
I remember a few bad visits to dealers that put us off buying from them even though we loved what we saw. Rather deal will someone decent and get something close than a bad attitude.

Hopefully you had a good experience and are on the way to a purchase.