S
stoobthealien
Having learnt a huge amount from this forum - I thought I'd try and consolidate a bit of a review for the benefits of those looking into one place:
Vehicle: California Beach Diesel T7
Place purchased: VW Liverpool (Oscar) - discount pretty much equal to Poole and DTD but closer so chose there
Colour: Florida Beach blue with black roof
Options chosen: Towbar, 3 zone climate, advanced keyless, soft close tailgate, art velours seats, parking package
Options I shouldn't have bothered with: soft close tailgate (it's so heavy that it slams itself shut anyway!)
Options I regret not ordering: Camper lighting package - interior is a bit dark at night
Insurer: LV - £395 a year for 2 mid 40s drivers in a nice suburb of Newcastle (as at Jan 2026)
Modification #1: Changed with DVLA to 6 seater and declared to insurance. Bought a 6th multivan middle seat second hand and use it in the rear (minus the mattress) for when we've got visiting parents etc so we can all be in one van
Modification #2: Removed rigid inners of storage bags and used a quick unpick to undo a few stitches so they are one large space which fits 2 packing cubes in each side perfectly with room to spare!
Storage solution: 2x dometic go boxes which fit perfectly into the space in the tailgate
Fridge solution 1: Alpicool x40 - fits between the rear seats perfectly when 1 is removed, too tall to go under bed when made though (ours lives outside at night)
Fridge solution 2: for 1-2 nights away we use the coolbag that comes with the go boxes which lasts long enough with good ice packs
Water solution: Stanley fastflow 7.5L water barrel (insulated)
Awning solution: Vango sunshade for other side as needed, Decathlon base arpenaz fresh (not driveaway) for main awning
Chair solution: Supplied VW chair for me, 3x vango micro lux chairs (which fit in the tailgate space where the other chair would go!) for the family
Mattress topper solution: None needed on top (the springs are good enough), Decathlon Ultim double comfort 200x136 for bottom (on top of VW mattress)
Bike rack solution: Atera Strada DL3 (with extra bike adaptor) - fully tilts to get the tailgate open
Battery issues: none
Vehicle is a daily driver for us in a suburb of Newcastle as well as our camper van - we've found it to be an excellent practical vehicle and despite the length 90% of the time have had no issues with supermarket car parks, multi storeys etc. The odd old multi storey has caused an issue (like the spiral of Eldon Square in Newcastle) but it's honestly few and far between. Despite being the diesel and used in a suburb for club runs, commuting, etc - even in winter where it's not getting used for any distance every week we've had no DPF issues (unlike my previous Jaguar epace which was always at the garage!). We've found that shopping normally goes in the back rather than the tailgate so it's been super practical and removing the seats has resulted in a huge space for the tip as needed. Having dual sliding doors really helps when picking up / dropping off and in tight spaces as needed. The drive is like a car and despite my inability to tow our previous caravan I've had no issues with the size or the drive - the digital "shift by wire" auto box is easy to use and the automatic predictive cruise control works really well and makes long journeys effortless (I didn't specify the travel assist pack so the lane assist doesn't hold you in the middle but with the "captains chair" on the Cali it's easy to hold the wheel)
I wouldn't be without the 3 zone climate (as others have said it can get very hot in the back without it!) or the parking package in such a large vehicle. The art velours are a luxury but if you're spending nearly £60k on a car, the base beach seats do feel very cheap and I worry they would be hard to clean. Keyless is handy if it's a daily driver and you're used to it!
For camping it's been great, top is easily big enough for our 2 teens or indeed as 2 adults we've slept up there perfectly well - the big panoramic top is a nice touch and the manual roof has been no bother, pops up in seconds and once you get use to it getting it away takes less than a minute (although I'm sure the electric is better!) We always leave the middle seat at home so have plenty of space and don't have the turning round the middle one at night. Note that whilst you can fit a Thetford 345 at the end of the bed with it down, there's not room to sit on it! We just flap the first bit of the bed up but in reality we've only needed to do this once at a britstop.
The base heating is good - it will run continuously (no options needed!!) and even with the beach not having thermal blinds or me having any sort of thermal screen, we've still be pretty hot downstairs in sub zero temperatures. Top is of course a bit chilly but with decent sleeping bags the kids have been totally fine.
On the downside, the downstairs bed is simply too hard - we've had to get a topper (see above). The rear pullout kitchen is nicely sheltered from rain but very prone to wind interference so you need a wind shield for it sometimes but even then it's not very powerful. We normally use a backpacker stove inside our awning when we're away or we've used an induction hob if on hookup but it's been handy to just pull out when out and about (see pictures below!).
It's honestly the best thing I've ever bought (leased) and due to the value retention, it cost less than £100 a month more than the Skoda Karoq I was leasing before (until I sold our caravan which this replaced and paid £9000 towards the lease and now it's a lot less!). For that delta on a monthly, you'd almost be mad not to in my view!
We've had no issues with storage / space for a family of 4 - the ability to move the rear seats about independently makes huge amounts of space for awnings, camp kitchens, toilets, etc and going away for 2 weeks (as we're about to shortly!) is not an issue at all.
Hopefully that's helpful - I've posted a few pictures as well below to hopefully give a sense of the versatility and fun!
Vehicle: California Beach Diesel T7
Place purchased: VW Liverpool (Oscar) - discount pretty much equal to Poole and DTD but closer so chose there
Colour: Florida Beach blue with black roof
Options chosen: Towbar, 3 zone climate, advanced keyless, soft close tailgate, art velours seats, parking package
Options I shouldn't have bothered with: soft close tailgate (it's so heavy that it slams itself shut anyway!)
Options I regret not ordering: Camper lighting package - interior is a bit dark at night
Insurer: LV - £395 a year for 2 mid 40s drivers in a nice suburb of Newcastle (as at Jan 2026)
Modification #1: Changed with DVLA to 6 seater and declared to insurance. Bought a 6th multivan middle seat second hand and use it in the rear (minus the mattress) for when we've got visiting parents etc so we can all be in one van
Modification #2: Removed rigid inners of storage bags and used a quick unpick to undo a few stitches so they are one large space which fits 2 packing cubes in each side perfectly with room to spare!
Storage solution: 2x dometic go boxes which fit perfectly into the space in the tailgate
Fridge solution 1: Alpicool x40 - fits between the rear seats perfectly when 1 is removed, too tall to go under bed when made though (ours lives outside at night)
Fridge solution 2: for 1-2 nights away we use the coolbag that comes with the go boxes which lasts long enough with good ice packs
Water solution: Stanley fastflow 7.5L water barrel (insulated)
Awning solution: Vango sunshade for other side as needed, Decathlon base arpenaz fresh (not driveaway) for main awning
Chair solution: Supplied VW chair for me, 3x vango micro lux chairs (which fit in the tailgate space where the other chair would go!) for the family
Mattress topper solution: None needed on top (the springs are good enough), Decathlon Ultim double comfort 200x136 for bottom (on top of VW mattress)
Bike rack solution: Atera Strada DL3 (with extra bike adaptor) - fully tilts to get the tailgate open
Battery issues: none
Vehicle is a daily driver for us in a suburb of Newcastle as well as our camper van - we've found it to be an excellent practical vehicle and despite the length 90% of the time have had no issues with supermarket car parks, multi storeys etc. The odd old multi storey has caused an issue (like the spiral of Eldon Square in Newcastle) but it's honestly few and far between. Despite being the diesel and used in a suburb for club runs, commuting, etc - even in winter where it's not getting used for any distance every week we've had no DPF issues (unlike my previous Jaguar epace which was always at the garage!). We've found that shopping normally goes in the back rather than the tailgate so it's been super practical and removing the seats has resulted in a huge space for the tip as needed. Having dual sliding doors really helps when picking up / dropping off and in tight spaces as needed. The drive is like a car and despite my inability to tow our previous caravan I've had no issues with the size or the drive - the digital "shift by wire" auto box is easy to use and the automatic predictive cruise control works really well and makes long journeys effortless (I didn't specify the travel assist pack so the lane assist doesn't hold you in the middle but with the "captains chair" on the Cali it's easy to hold the wheel)
I wouldn't be without the 3 zone climate (as others have said it can get very hot in the back without it!) or the parking package in such a large vehicle. The art velours are a luxury but if you're spending nearly £60k on a car, the base beach seats do feel very cheap and I worry they would be hard to clean. Keyless is handy if it's a daily driver and you're used to it!
For camping it's been great, top is easily big enough for our 2 teens or indeed as 2 adults we've slept up there perfectly well - the big panoramic top is a nice touch and the manual roof has been no bother, pops up in seconds and once you get use to it getting it away takes less than a minute (although I'm sure the electric is better!) We always leave the middle seat at home so have plenty of space and don't have the turning round the middle one at night. Note that whilst you can fit a Thetford 345 at the end of the bed with it down, there's not room to sit on it! We just flap the first bit of the bed up but in reality we've only needed to do this once at a britstop.
The base heating is good - it will run continuously (no options needed!!) and even with the beach not having thermal blinds or me having any sort of thermal screen, we've still be pretty hot downstairs in sub zero temperatures. Top is of course a bit chilly but with decent sleeping bags the kids have been totally fine.
On the downside, the downstairs bed is simply too hard - we've had to get a topper (see above). The rear pullout kitchen is nicely sheltered from rain but very prone to wind interference so you need a wind shield for it sometimes but even then it's not very powerful. We normally use a backpacker stove inside our awning when we're away or we've used an induction hob if on hookup but it's been handy to just pull out when out and about (see pictures below!).
It's honestly the best thing I've ever bought (leased) and due to the value retention, it cost less than £100 a month more than the Skoda Karoq I was leasing before (until I sold our caravan which this replaced and paid £9000 towards the lease and now it's a lot less!). For that delta on a monthly, you'd almost be mad not to in my view!
We've had no issues with storage / space for a family of 4 - the ability to move the rear seats about independently makes huge amounts of space for awnings, camp kitchens, toilets, etc and going away for 2 weeks (as we're about to shortly!) is not an issue at all.
Hopefully that's helpful - I've posted a few pictures as well below to hopefully give a sense of the versatility and fun!
