Roof damage - Am I being unreasonable?

[SusiBus]

I'm finding our O6S bellows fold in much more effectively than any previous ones, but they still leaked in heavy rain!

 

[Blanco]

Don't rely on bellows bungee to stop the sides inflating outward in a breeze - the elastic along the centre of its its length is way too weak to exerpt any meaningful restraining power.

When the same thing happened after I hadn't been paying enough attention thinking the bungee was going to do what it claimed, what I did was sew a loop of thread to the inside of the fabric at the point where the two reinforcing strips kink and just before lowering the roof I connect the two using an offcut from the end of bellows bungee with a plastic hook on each end.

Stretched between the two loops the elastic has just sufficient tension to ensure the strips always start folding inwards, and by the time the roof is half way down its done its job and has gone slack.

All that's needed next time I put the roof up is remember to check if one or other hook already freed itself - sometimes one end will unhook itself once the roof is fully down - and if not just hop up and disconnect it.

 

[brabrady]

Don't rely on bellows bungee to stop the sides inflating outward in a breeze - the elastic along the centre of its its length is way too weak to exerpt any meaningful restraining power.

When the same thing happened after I hadn't been paying enough attention thinking the bungee was going to do what it claimed, what I did was sew a loop of thread to the inside of the fabric at the point where the two reinforcing strips kink and just before lowering the roof I connect the two using an offcut from the end of bellows bungee with a plastic hook on each end.

Stretched between the two loops the elastic has just sufficient tension to ensure the strips always start folding inwards, and by the time the roof is half way down its done its job and has gone slack.

All that's needed next time I put the roof up is remember to check if one or other hook already freed itself - sometimes one end will unhook itself once the roof is fully down - and if not just hop up and disconnect it.

View attachment 148709

Calis should ship from the factory this way. This is exactly how my Maggiolina rooftop tent addressed the issue. I intend to perform exactly this mod, but have not yet as I couldn't devise a satisfying way to sew the loops to the tent interior. If you're willing to share a close-up of your attachment method, it would be appreciated by many, I'm sure.

In the meantime, having a manual roof, I lower the roof a good bit, then use the semi-vacuum to my advantage by giving the roof a quick pop up (pun intended I suppose) of a few cm. Done quickly enough this will suck the edges inward the way the straps are supposed to but often don't... especially if they've bent the wrong way at least once.

My particular crime was pretty gruesome. Probably the 5th or 6th time I had operated the roof, I neglected to lower the bedframe before closing the roof. Highly un-recommended. Short of a contact-based buzzer system, I don't know how to guard against that kind of mental lapse. The problem is that the left bellows strip is pretty passive now.

As to VW warranty service: some of you will recall that back in the day of the VW Phaeton, Audi's Axel Mees was sacked for saying the quiet part out loud, saying among other things that he wouldn't buy the Phaeton himself, because he'd have to buy it from a VW dealership. I've loved many VWs and I love my Cali so far... but it does appear that VW's warranty folks are poached from U.S. health insurance companies.

-Brady

 

[Blanco]

No prob ..

Loop the cord through the inner fabric layer and tie with a figure of 8 knot. This is taken looking from below, me holding the hook out of the way from above. Looping across the weave spreads the strain and should hopefully prevent fraying - seems to work.



You'll need these. Curved needle and needle threader, from Dunelm or the missus . Woven cord may be more difficult .. the one I used is about 1mm or slightly less diameter. Sorry, can't remember where had it from. Whipping cord is possibly thin enough and would do the trick if you can find a chandlery selling it by the metre, otherwise even buying a roll might work out cheaper than a snagged roof.

 

[Lambeth Cali]

Don't rely on bellows bungee to stop the sides inflating outward in a breeze - the elastic along the centre of its its length is way too weak to exerpt any meaningful restraining power.

When the same thing happened after I hadn't been paying enough attention thinking the bungee was going to do what it claimed, what I did was sew a loop of thread to the inside of the fabric at the point where the two reinforcing strips kink and just before lowering the roof I connect the two using an offcut from the end of bellows bungee with a plastic hook on each end.

Stretched between the two loops the elastic has just sufficient tension to ensure the strips always start folding inwards, and by the time the roof is half way down its done its job and has gone slack.

All that's needed next time I put the roof up is remember to check if one or other hook already freed itself - sometimes one end will unhook itself once the roof is fully down - and if not just hop up and disconnect it.

View attachment 148709

One great way to nacker your roof is storing stuff up there.

You say “I hadn't been paying enough attention thinking the bungee was going to do what it claimed.” What happens next time you’re not paying attention and forget to attach the silly bit of elastic? This is one of the daftest ideas I’ve read on this forum ever. You half lower the roof and then clamber inside? Or do you use a Victorian child chimney sweep?

Paying attention has meant in 17 years this has never happened to me. No elastic required.

 

[Glenn Blundell]

Hi Glenn, sorry to hear of your roof problems. My 2 year old T6.1 has had similar issues with the roof not seating fully following repeated lopsided events with the hydraulics. Bristol were not interested and claimed it was operator error despite me providing photo and video evidence of the roof trying to close at alarming angles. VW customer care suggested a second opinion and Breeze in Poole eventually sorted the problem for us but only after they had replaced front and rear scissors. This was completed under warranty but involved a lot of visits and hassle we could have done without. I’m not sure how bad yours is and whether you have learned to live with it, but replacement scissors maybe the answer

View attachment 148708

Thanks for the information, it's very useful to know about a solution. I have reluctantly learned to live with it but will never be happy. Thanks again.

 

[Blanco]

One great way to nacker your roof is storing stuff up there.

You say “I hadn't been paying enough attention thinking the bungee was going to do what it claimed.” What happens next time you’re not paying attention and forget to attach the silly bit of elastic? This is one of the daftest ideas I’ve read on this forum ever. You half lower the roof and then clamber inside? Or do you use a Victorian child chimney sweep?

Paying attention has meant in 17 years this has never happened to me. No elastic required.

If snagging the roof buckled the plastic strip and can't be straightened, without a some method of encouragement it has in my unexpert experience a tendency thereafter to fold outwards.

I can indeed watch carefully and if I see it folding the wrong way go outside, push it back with a stick or something in one hand while lowering the roof with the other, but as my anatomy doesn't lend itself to such feats I devised something else, and clambering up with the roof half down wasn't part of it.

Personally I thought it an easy alternative to replacing the roof fabric.

The observation about storing stuff I do agree with. The photo is from last year and although I judged if arranged carefully there was sufficient gap above the matress for the net and blinds we dispensed with them and only put the fly screens there now.

 

[brabrady]

No prob ..

Loop the cord through the inner fabric layer and tie with a figure of 8 knot. This is taken looking from below, me holding the hook out of the way from above. Looping across the weave spreads the strain and should hopefully prevent fraying - seems to work.

View attachment 149121

You'll need these. Curved needle and needle threader, from Dunelm or the missus . Woven cord may be more difficult .. the one I used is about 1mm or slightly less diameter. Sorry, can't remember where had it from. Whipping cord is possibly thin enough and would do the trick if you can find a chandlery selling it by the metre, otherwise even buying a roll might work out cheaper than a snagged roof.

View attachment 149122

Thanks for posting the closeups!

 

[Haves1979]

I've not had any experience with VW (our van is well out of warranty now), but we did have an ongoing issue with Jaguar where our car was back in the dealer about ~10 times. Ultimately we ended up going via the manufacturer, who resolved the issue in conjunction with the dealer.

Not sure if that route might provide more leverage.

 

[jts46]

My wife walks around van with hiking stick to make sure everything is folding inwards never had a problem in 20yrs of ownership

 

[Ksar-el-kebir]

Having owned my California Ocean from new since April 2022 and have used it on many occasions without any problem, I was horrified on my last trip at what happened to the roof.

I had already been made aware how fragile the roof assembly was on California's by the person handing the vehicle over to me upon collection from Liverpool Van centre. He told me that a £10 bungee would be the best money spent, and after doing research I decided that was the case. So I purchased and fitted one even before my first outing. I was also made aware of the importance of making sure windows or doors were open before lowering the roof. And without fail I have always done this.

On the 2nd February 2025 at around 10am, after one night staying at Meadow Springs Country and Leisure Park, we packed away our cali, doing the usual checks of making sure there was nothing left up in the pop-top before dropping the bed and lowering the roof. I was stood outside with the sliding door fully open and my wife lowered the roof using the overhead panel button. I watched the roof fully lower and my wife waited for the green tick on the panel to say that the roof had fully closed. All appeared successful and we set off. Important note: it was a calm day and we were sited on a level hardcore pitch.

Before we left the site, someone waved us down to say that the roof was not down properly. I immediately pulled over and to my horror, the passenger side of the roof was raised by around 150mm. And worst of all, there was a clear bend down the middle section of the roof. I cannot tell you how sick me and my wife felt.

We tentatively raised the roof back up, and I checked for any reason why it had become stuck. I noticed that the rear scissors mechanism had fouled on itself, therefore not allowing the back end to fully lower, and fighting against the front power mechanism, thus causing the bend in the middle.

As we were two hours from home, I decided that we should try and close the roof again (as usual ensuring the windows or door was open) to get home in order to get over this ordeal.

Once home, I raised the roof once more (with the usual checks) to try and identify the reason and take photographs (see attached). My only thought is, thank goodness I purchased a VW California and the manufacturers warranty which goes with it. Why else pay all that money??

On Monday the 3rd Feb I phoned up the service team at Liverpool Van Centre and told them what had happened. They seemed extremely sympathetic and said I could bring it in and leave it with them for their California specialist to look at. I dropped it off on 8th Feb and on the following Monday morning I had a phone call to say that their technician had said that the bellows had been trapped in the mechanism and that basically it was my fault and therefore not covered by the warranty.

I could not believe what I was hearing. I asked to speak to the technician directly, who basically suggested it was mis-use. I got absolutely nowhere.

My blood was boiling. We had followed all the guidelines when lowering the roof, and the weather conditions were perfect. WHAT MORE COULD WE HAVE DONE??

On the 10th Feb I contacted VW customer care who again were extremely sympathetic and said that they would liaise with the van centre to resolve the situation. Since then we have been back and forth on calls, with VW and Swansway basically calling me a liar. Their word against mine - them suggesting mis-use and me saying we did everything we should.

The latest situation with VW customer care is that they are recommending that I take the van to another VW van centre and get a second opinion. But I get the feeling this will be a total waste of time and effort.

Whilst being in this mess, I obviously have done some online searching. I did find a post on https://thevwcalifornia.com/buying-a-volkswagen-california/ suggesting

"Check that the roof is in alignment when raised, and look for any signs of damage on the canvas, especially behind the metal “scissor” mechanism at the rear sides of the pop top.

There is an area; a type of band or spine that naturally folds inwards when the roof is lowered, and if the canvas has been caught this is usually the place where damage occurs. This is the result of user error and failure to observe the roof bellows closing inwards especially in windy conditions. This is not uncommon, so if there is any damage assess whether you can live with it or not; the damage is usually minimal in this section and only usually affects the outside."

AND

"Look down the profile of the roof sides to check for any kinks or bends. A small kink can indicate the canvas has been trapped regardless of whether damage has been done to the canvas or not. It could also be that someone has closed the roof with bedding or objects still in the top. Most people are happy to live with a small amount of kinking, so it is up to you to decide if this is an issue or whether it has been reflected in the purchase price."

SO - my ultimate question to this forum is: Am I being unreasonable expecting VW to fix this under warranty? After all, we followed all guidelines when lowering the roof. The sliding door was fully open, the bed was down, there was nothing left up-top and the weather was an extremely calm day.

I am at a total loss. At this point I feel the van is not fit-for-use. And so much for the false-security of having a manufacture warranty.

I regret the day I ever purchased it.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

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In my experience it depends on the dealer. My local one is not very good, however the one I bought the California from would lean over backwards to help a customer and resolve issues.

 

[Vantastic2]

Having owned my California Ocean from new since April 2022 and have used it on many occasions without any problem, I was horrified on my last trip at what happened to the roof.

I had already been made aware how fragile the roof assembly was on California's by the person handing the vehicle over to me upon collection from Liverpool Van centre. He told me that a £10 bungee would be the best money spent, and after doing research I decided that was the case. So I purchased and fitted one even before my first outing. I was also made aware of the importance of making sure windows or doors were open before lowering the roof. And without fail I have always done this.

On the 2nd February 2025 at around 10am, after one night staying at Meadow Springs Country and Leisure Park, we packed away our cali, doing the usual checks of making sure there was nothing left up in the pop-top before dropping the bed and lowering the roof. I was stood outside with the sliding door fully open and my wife lowered the roof using the overhead panel button. I watched the roof fully lower and my wife waited for the green tick on the panel to say that the roof had fully closed. All appeared successful and we set off. Important note: it was a calm day and we were sited on a level hardcore pitch.

Before we left the site, someone waved us down to say that the roof was not down properly. I immediately pulled over and to my horror, the passenger side of the roof was raised by around 150mm. And worst of all, there was a clear bend down the middle section of the roof. I cannot tell you how sick me and my wife felt.

We tentatively raised the roof back up, and I checked for any reason why it had become stuck. I noticed that the rear scissors mechanism had fouled on itself, therefore not allowing the back end to fully lower, and fighting against the front power mechanism, thus causing the bend in the middle.

As we were two hours from home, I decided that we should try and close the roof again (as usual ensuring the windows or door was open) to get home in order to get over this ordeal.

Once home, I raised the roof once more (with the usual checks) to try and identify the reason and take photographs (see attached). My only thought is, thank goodness I purchased a VW California and the manufacturers warranty which goes with it. Why else pay all that money??

On Monday the 3rd Feb I phoned up the service team at Liverpool Van Centre and told them what had happened. They seemed extremely sympathetic and said I could bring it in and leave it with them for their California specialist to look at. I dropped it off on 8th Feb and on the following Monday morning I had a phone call to say that their technician had said that the bellows had been trapped in the mechanism and that basically it was my fault and therefore not covered by the warranty.

I could not believe what I was hearing. I asked to speak to the technician directly, who basically suggested it was mis-use. I got absolutely nowhere.

My blood was boiling. We had followed all the guidelines when lowering the roof, and the weather conditions were perfect. WHAT MORE COULD WE HAVE DONE??

On the 10th Feb I contacted VW customer care who again were extremely sympathetic and said that they would liaise with the van centre to resolve the situation. Since then we have been back and forth on calls, with VW and Swansway basically calling me a liar. Their word against mine - them suggesting mis-use and me saying we did everything we should.

The latest situation with VW customer care is that they are recommending that I take the van to another VW van centre and get a second opinion. But I get the feeling this will be a total waste of time and effort.

Whilst being in this mess, I obviously have done some online searching. I did find a post on https://thevwcalifornia.com/buying-a-volkswagen-california/ suggesting

"Check that the roof is in alignment when raised, and look for any signs of damage on the canvas, especially behind the metal “scissor” mechanism at the rear sides of the pop top.

There is an area; a type of band or spine that naturally folds inwards when the roof is lowered, and if the canvas has been caught this is usually the place where damage occurs. This is the result of user error and failure to observe the roof bellows closing inwards especially in windy conditions. This is not uncommon, so if there is any damage assess whether you can live with it or not; the damage is usually minimal in this section and only usually affects the outside."

AND

"Look down the profile of the roof sides to check for any kinks or bends. A small kink can indicate the canvas has been trapped regardless of whether damage has been done to the canvas or not. It could also be that someone has closed the roof with bedding or objects still in the top. Most people are happy to live with a small amount of kinking, so it is up to you to decide if this is an issue or whether it has been reflected in the purchase price."

SO - my ultimate question to this forum is: Am I being unreasonable expecting VW to fix this under warranty? After all, we followed all guidelines when lowering the roof. The sliding door was fully open, the bed was down, there was nothing left up-top and the weather was an extremely calm day.

I am at a total loss. At this point I feel the van is not fit-for-use. And so much for the false-security of having a manufacture warranty.

I regret the day I ever purchased it.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

View attachment 132916

View attachment 132917

View attachment 132918

View attachment 132919

Having owned my California Ocean from new since April 2022 and have used it on many occasions without any problem, I was horrified on my last trip at what happened to the roof.

I had already been made aware how fragile the roof assembly was on California's by the person handing the vehicle over to me upon collection from Liverpool Van centre. He told me that a £10 bungee would be the best money spent, and after doing research I decided that was the case. So I purchased and fitted one even before my first outing. I was also made aware of the importance of making sure windows or doors were open before lowering the roof. And without fail I have always done this.

On the 2nd February 2025 at around 10am, after one night staying at Meadow Springs Country and Leisure Park, we packed away our cali, doing the usual checks of making sure there was nothing left up in the pop-top before dropping the bed and lowering the roof. I was stood outside with the sliding door fully open and my wife lowered the roof using the overhead panel button. I watched the roof fully lower and my wife waited for the green tick on the panel to say that the roof had fully closed. All appeared successful and we set off. Important note: it was a calm day and we were sited on a level hardcore pitch.

Before we left the site, someone waved us down to say that the roof was not down properly. I immediately pulled over and to my horror, the passenger side of the roof was raised by around 150mm. And worst of all, there was a clear bend down the middle section of the roof. I cannot tell you how sick me and my wife felt.

We tentatively raised the roof back up, and I checked for any reason why it had become stuck. I noticed that the rear scissors mechanism had fouled on itself, therefore not allowing the back end to fully lower, and fighting against the front power mechanism, thus causing the bend in the middle.

As we were two hours from home, I decided that we should try and close the roof again (as usual ensuring the windows or door was open) to get home in order to get over this ordeal.

Once home, I raised the roof once more (with the usual checks) to try and identify the reason and take photographs (see attached). My only thought is, thank goodness I purchased a VW California and the manufacturers warranty which goes with it. Why else pay all that money??

On Monday the 3rd Feb I phoned up the service team at Liverpool Van Centre and told them what had happened. They seemed extremely sympathetic and said I could bring it in and leave it with them for their California specialist to look at. I dropped it off on 8th Feb and on the following Monday morning I had a phone call to say that their technician had said that the bellows had been trapped in the mechanism and that basically it was my fault and therefore not covered by the warranty.

I could not believe what I was hearing. I asked to speak to the technician directly, who basically suggested it was mis-use. I got absolutely nowhere.

My blood was boiling. We had followed all the guidelines when lowering the roof, and the weather conditions were perfect. WHAT MORE COULD WE HAVE DONE??

On the 10th Feb I contacted VW customer care who again were extremely sympathetic and said that they would liaise with the van centre to resolve the situation. Since then we have been back and forth on calls, with VW and Swansway basically calling me a liar. Their word against mine - them suggesting mis-use and me saying we did everything we should.

The latest situation with VW customer care is that they are recommending that I take the van to another VW van centre and get a second opinion. But I get the feeling this will be a total waste of time and effort.

Whilst being in this mess, I obviously have done some online searching. I did find a post on https://thevwcalifornia.com/buying-a-volkswagen-california/ suggesting

"Check that the roof is in alignment when raised, and look for any signs of damage on the canvas, especially behind the metal “scissor” mechanism at the rear sides of the pop top.

There is an area; a type of band or spine that naturally folds inwards when the roof is lowered, and if the canvas has been caught this is usually the place where damage occurs. This is the result of user error and failure to observe the roof bellows closing inwards especially in windy conditions. This is not uncommon, so if there is any damage assess whether you can live with it or not; the damage is usually minimal in this section and only usually affects the outside."

AND

"Look down the profile of the roof sides to check for any kinks or bends. A small kink can indicate the canvas has been trapped regardless of whether damage has been done to the canvas or not. It could also be that someone has closed the roof with bedding or objects still in the top. Most people are happy to live with a small amount of kinking, so it is up to you to decide if this is an issue or whether it has been reflected in the purchase price."

SO - my ultimate question to this forum is: Am I being unreasonable expecting VW to fix this under warranty? After all, we followed all guidelines when lowering the roof. The sliding door was fully open, the bed was down, there was nothing left up-top and the weather was an extremely calm day.

I am at a total loss. At this point I feel the van is not fit-for-use. And so much for the false-security of having a manufacture warranty.

I regret the day I ever purchased it.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

View attachment 132916

View attachment 132917

View attachment 132918

View attachment 132919

Looking at that roof picture was like looking at our roof...It happened to us (2013-2020) might have happened in the early years of owning van and at that time we thought we had done something wrong, but we did not and did everything to the manual.
It is a typical VW fault just like when they messed up the front roof over the front windscreen.
If you operate the roof coming down do it a bit at a time and have another person outside, watching to see that roof is not going on one side. STOP straight away take up and try again is what we use to do after the 'bad experience'
Sorry to say but VW take your money but don't care about there customers after.