[FONT="]This was paisted from a VW California forum and being a Cali owner makes interesting reading. It was prompted by a visit to the NEC and an absence of the California at the show. [/FONT]
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[FONT="]I agree - the show this year was poor, either desperate caravan stands trying to unload last year's left over’s on finance, overpriced big motorhomes (Niesmann and Bischoff/Burstner/IH etc) seriously affected by the £/Euro rate, or shoddy VW conversions. I hope no-one takes offence at this comment but why on earth would anyone buy a B+Q/Homebase conversion for mid £30k's when a California starts at £37 ish ?. As someone whose whole life at the moment is affected by the exchange rate being in the 1.06 territory with no prospect of recovery buying a California at anything discounted or near to the price of the last year or so has to be the bargain of the century. VW must be blowing their brains out and making a loss on any California they sell, in which case for us owners the less they sell the better. It will help to support the values of those that are already in the UK, and the new model while being a bit kinder on CO2 is not a 5 cylinder 174 (if it's the 4 cylinder Audi engine I think it is it'll be like a tractor compared to the 5 pot). Is it surprising they aren't promoting it ? Not at all. It wouldn't surprise me if the new 5.2 California is actually not imported to the UK, the maths don't work. I also don't believe any converters are going to be able to make the numbers stack on importing the Kombi base.....suspect many of the VW conversions on the new van will be £40k plus in the New Year.
There should be some comfort for us current owners that when we bought it was a rare product but we bought into a very very exclusive club, just ran back my old spreadsheet from when we bought ours at 1.4 Euro to £ and at the current exchange rate it would be a mind altering £49,588 !!!!! At the time I couldn't reconcile that a Caravelle 174 was only £4000 less than a California, so either they were making a fortune on Velles or we have all had a result !
Anyone out there who would pay £50k to replace their Cali please put your hand up ? !! - Or shall we just stick with (what could be) the collectors items that we have already !? Allegedly there are under 500 RHD Californias in the UK, if the Euro goes 1=1 with the pound there might not be many more......at that rate a new 180 with a few toys could well be £52,500 - would you ?
Jack (with all respect) if VW have no interest in promoting a motorhome right now then good thing too ! Anyone looked at what a brand new car is worth after 3 years, normally somewhere between 34 and 40% of new price - so our £35k 3 year old Californias should be worth £13k on that basis ? Again I ask would you buy a £52.5k new California if your existing 3 year old was worth £12.5k ?
Apart from funding the cost the California is probably one of the slowest depreciating vehicles you can buy, so the less that VW sell moving forward the better for all of us.....
I thank you..
After that rant I need to put the heater on, it's freezin - Monday night in a California ? No not on holiday regrettably....[/FONT]
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[FONT="]I agree - the show this year was poor, either desperate caravan stands trying to unload last year's left over’s on finance, overpriced big motorhomes (Niesmann and Bischoff/Burstner/IH etc) seriously affected by the £/Euro rate, or shoddy VW conversions. I hope no-one takes offence at this comment but why on earth would anyone buy a B+Q/Homebase conversion for mid £30k's when a California starts at £37 ish ?. As someone whose whole life at the moment is affected by the exchange rate being in the 1.06 territory with no prospect of recovery buying a California at anything discounted or near to the price of the last year or so has to be the bargain of the century. VW must be blowing their brains out and making a loss on any California they sell, in which case for us owners the less they sell the better. It will help to support the values of those that are already in the UK, and the new model while being a bit kinder on CO2 is not a 5 cylinder 174 (if it's the 4 cylinder Audi engine I think it is it'll be like a tractor compared to the 5 pot). Is it surprising they aren't promoting it ? Not at all. It wouldn't surprise me if the new 5.2 California is actually not imported to the UK, the maths don't work. I also don't believe any converters are going to be able to make the numbers stack on importing the Kombi base.....suspect many of the VW conversions on the new van will be £40k plus in the New Year.
There should be some comfort for us current owners that when we bought it was a rare product but we bought into a very very exclusive club, just ran back my old spreadsheet from when we bought ours at 1.4 Euro to £ and at the current exchange rate it would be a mind altering £49,588 !!!!! At the time I couldn't reconcile that a Caravelle 174 was only £4000 less than a California, so either they were making a fortune on Velles or we have all had a result !
Anyone out there who would pay £50k to replace their Cali please put your hand up ? !! - Or shall we just stick with (what could be) the collectors items that we have already !? Allegedly there are under 500 RHD Californias in the UK, if the Euro goes 1=1 with the pound there might not be many more......at that rate a new 180 with a few toys could well be £52,500 - would you ?
Jack (with all respect) if VW have no interest in promoting a motorhome right now then good thing too ! Anyone looked at what a brand new car is worth after 3 years, normally somewhere between 34 and 40% of new price - so our £35k 3 year old Californias should be worth £13k on that basis ? Again I ask would you buy a £52.5k new California if your existing 3 year old was worth £12.5k ?
Apart from funding the cost the California is probably one of the slowest depreciating vehicles you can buy, so the less that VW sell moving forward the better for all of us.....
I thank you..
After that rant I need to put the heater on, it's freezin - Monday night in a California ? No not on holiday regrettably....[/FONT]
oh: And I am now on my 2nd California both with a perfectly serviceable porta loo. :thumb: