Prospective T6 owner in northern Sweden

[jamesbrownontheroad]

Hi everyone!

A couple of weeks ago, for the first time, we rented a T6.1 from Heathrow (delivered to the terminal by Kamper Hire) and spent a weekend with it. It confirmed my suspicion that I would love to own one. (It also attracted a lot of attention from other people, mostly middle-aged dads! - at the festival we attended.)

We live in a rural location on the east coast of northern Sweden, about an hour from Umeå. We are close to some amazing landscapes in northern Norway, Sweden and Finland, where there is very limited or affordable accommodation and which we need to explore more.

I have a lot of doubts about the new T7 California Ocean, and besides, the retail cost of one in Sweden (with 25% VAT) is very high. So a 2-5-year-old T6.1 Ocean might be our entry point to this happy club. Blocket has around 10 T6.1 Oceans right now, around about 800,000SEK. That's close to the price of the new one, but I think I feel more comfortable with the design + mechanicals of the T6/6.1.

But that's more than what I paid for our house in rural Sweden; that's still quite a sum, but based on the good residuals and opportunities it would give us, I think it can be justified.

Are there any other members of the forum in the Nordic countries? VW don't appear to have offered any Nordic equipment packages (which they do with some passenger cars), so I'm interested to hear if others have modified or insulated their vehicles for year-round use.

Also, for everyone, how did you make the maths work on the cost of the van? Is there a good point on depreciation curve to buy and then to sell? And do you have a number of nights per year that you feel justify the cost?

Thanks for your warm welcome and tips.

 

[Hawthorn37]

I can’t offer advice on Nordic spec Cali’s I’m afraid. In terms of the maths, for us it was a question firstly about desire to go and stay where we wanted. After looking at 6.1 conversions for a while, we then hired a Cali, and this made it an imperative to make the “maths” work for us. At the time, the 6.1 Cali was the slowest depreciating car on UK roads by some margin; when we bought ours in 2022 we could have immediately sold it for £10k more than we bought it for; our family have always had at least one VW, so we trusted reliability.

In terms of use, we’ve used our Cali for lengthy tours in the UK and Ireland that would have cost a fortune to do and stay in hotels; this year to date we’ve had 45 nights away in campsites, average cost £40/night, hotels would be minimum £80/ night and often £100 - £250/ night in popular places such as cities and beauty spots. So the Cali is actually saving us lots of money!!

I guess there’s Maths and then there’s “Maths”. But you can be assured that when you’re finished wandering in your Cali, there will be many wanting to take it off your hands

 

[jamesbrownontheroad]

Thanks @Hawthorn37 - you remind me of the special variety of maths I seem to use whenever justifying a large purchase

At least for the beginning, I can’t see us doing long trips. But I can see 25-45 nights a year either together or on solo trips. (Our work makes it possible to be on the road, which is quite appealing.)

 

[Hawthorn37]

We have met many people who work (away from) home, and change their “office” view every few days.

You also might be surprised how useful a home away from home can be! We currently camp in our van each 2 weeks so we can be local to my son’s family and look after our granddaughter - to be involved in her early years. Last year I used the van for a month, local to a hospital (4 hours from our home) where I was receiving some treatment. Even trips to cities for culture and music events (in our case mostly to London) to stay on the outside at a campsite and use public transport to move round.

I think you’re talking yourself into a Cali !

 

[SanderR72]

Since when does a man actually buy anything with wheels rationally (doing the math)?

It doesn’t matter how you look at it, but buying a campervan isn’t some kind of investment that will actually return. That only works when you have the money to buy something exotic and old.

Saving money on expensive hotels - as you said, when even present - is something that works if you want to use it long term and relatively often.

I can’t recommend on anything that is Nordic specific. If the van doesn’t come with additional insulation and you need to do it yourself afterwards, prepare for a hell of a job (many places can’t be reached without taking everything apart). I know because I’m trying to add insulation to my T5 Cali (not only for cold climate, also to keep out heat).

Given the Nordics I presume you are looking for a 4Motion. Based on what I read, a T5/T6/T6.1 has at least more space than a T7.

For the rest, if you can afford it, follow your heart and enjoy the freedom a Cali gives. The only thing I miss is the ability to take a shower in it.

But that freedom is priceless…