Where is the T5 California ?

[BrianJ]

I thought the British drove on the left hand side of the road, same as Australia. Isn't it the Americans who drive on the right, so I think the steering would be correct, and our sliding doors are generally on the left side of the van but I don't know if that would be a problem.

As stated by others there is diesel fuel everywhere, the only occasional problem is that the kombi has a small low flow fuel filler entry hole in Australia so the high flow nozzle will not fit. Fortunaletly most garages have both now except in some small country towns.

The kombi beach is the simplified version of the fully kitted california I think, and is based on the multivan even though it is called a kombi. That name was forced on VW by the Australian VW distributers who wanted to gain through using the nostalgic name of kombi.

All T5 parts supplied through the official VW parts centres should be ok if its based on the multivan, but the special parts for the camper furniture may need to imported if anything breaks.

I can't think of any other problems at this time.

Brian

[jets]

[QUOTE=BrianJ;380867]I thought the British drove on the left hand side of the road, same as Australia.

They do, but unlike Aust. they can purchase LHD in mainland Europe, bring it across the water & register it in the UK. In fact what I can see a lot of the campers[in the UK] are LHD. I think the T4 Westfalia was only built in LHD form.



]

[adeybruce]

Thanks for the replies so far. Thought I'd better clear up a few things ...

VW never produced the California in RHD until 2005, so many have been imported. Even when it was available New, there is no second-hand stock so many have gone to Europe to pick one up, especially when the exchange rate was a little more reasonable (you could pick up quite a bargain), especially when the price new was around AU$80,000 (£40K).

Even in its RHD form, it was not really a full conversion as it was deemed too expensive to produce an entire new camper fit to allow the sliding door to be moved over to the other side, hence even on the RHD version the door opens out onto the traffic (I have found no problems with this, just requires a little pre-thought when the kids are on board).

I bought mine New when I was living in Germany. I had 'tax exile' status over there, so paid a measly £27K for it and have owned it now for 5 years. It's been brilliant, though would agree that the fridge at 30 litres would be on the small side for a hot climate. As for the dealer network, despite an increasing number of these things appearing in UK, the dealers are awful! In UK there are is a separate VW Commercial dealer network and they are too used to dealing with the bloke who drives a van on behalf of a company rather than owner/drivers (if that makes sense).

I would dearly love to bring it with me, but the cost of moving the steering wheel would be prohibitive.

[ROVA]

Thanks for the replies so far. Thought I'd better clear up a few things ...

VW never produced the California in RHD until 2005, so many have been imported. Even when it was available New, there is no second-hand stock so many have gone to Europe to pick one up, especially when the exchange rate was a little more reasonable (you could pick up quite a bargain), especially when the price new was around AU$80,000 (£40K).

Even in its RHD form, it was not really a full conversion as it was deemed too expensive to produce an entire new camper fit to allow the sliding door to be moved over to the other side, hence even on the RHD version the door opens out onto the traffic (I have found no problems with this, just requires a little pre-thought when the kids are on board).

I bought mine New when I was living in Germany. I had 'tax exile' status over there, so paid a measly £27K for it and have owned it now for 5 years. It's been brilliant, though would agree that the fridge at 30 litres would be on the small side for a hot climate. As for the dealer network, despite an increasing number of these things appearing in UK, the dealers are awful! In UK there are is a separate VW Commercial dealer network and they are too used to dealing with the bloke who drives a van on behalf of a company rather than owner/drivers (if that makes sense).

I would dearly love to bring it with me, but the cost of moving the steering wheel would be prohibitive.

Someone may be able to verify this, but many years ago, you could register a LHD vehicle in the A.C.T. or N.T. I've been out of the loop/country for quite a while so I'm not sure what the go is these days.
I do know though that import duties and customs etc are pretty expensive so it becomes cost prohibitive. Some people do it though so it's worth looking into.
I owned a T4 Weekender (same as California I think) in the States and it suited our family of 4 plus dog extremely well as a people mover (7 seats) and family camper. So much so that I found the same fitout in an older T4 here done by Trakka.
For the everyday family vehicle that has a split personality, the Weekender or California is an unbeatable option. SWB for parking in the city is ideal.
If I hadn't found this vehicle, I'd have bought a Transporter or Caravelle and had a company install a roof and worked the rest out later.
My 2 cents FWIW.

[jets]

Hi Rova, are you the guy that inquired about my white LWB T4 [Trakka conversion] in Adelaide when I had it for sale at the start of the year?
I would love to see pics of your purchase.

[ROVA]

Hi Rova, are you the guy that inquired about my white LWB T4 [Trakka conversion] in Adelaide when I had it for sale at the start of the year?
I would love to see pics of your purchase.

Quite possibly. I'll post some pics in the photos section. Just bought some new tyres on Seano's recommendation and was going to post some pics of those anyway.
Ultimately I would have loved a combination of your van and this one, but life's a compromise right?

[Zanza]

Just 2 add my 2 cents.

The Westfalia California is fitted with a full camping outfit. Compression fridge, 2 burners, cabinets, stove and water and poptop to sleep at 4 people



The Westfalia Weekender (is the US name for the Westfalia Multivan) is only fitted with basic camping outfit. Poptop to sleep at 4 and a Peltier fridge and that's all: no cabinets, no stove and no burner to cook some meal.


The commonly mistake made by US people is to call Westfalia every single bit of VW T4 Transporter with a poptop fitted on it.

For example the Winnebago EV which is basically a clone of the Westfalia California on LWB T4, but which is definately not a Westfalia

[jets]

Anyone noticed the view count on this thread? Certainly a lot of interest in the California.

[Tonz]

Its only a model. Minichamps. Being released on the VW stand at Frankfurt now. Come off Minichamp website.

http://www.minichamps.de/index.php?iex=&s=en&m=1&a=5&b=2&c=0

sorry cant download attachments yet this will have to do.

[GTI-VW]

T5 California is coming......

I'd forgotten I'd even started this thread way back but there is certainly a lot of interest. In the meantime I've sold my 2001 LHD T4 California (225,00kms 18,000 euros) and bought a 2007 RHD T5 California (35,000 euros 30,000km). The T5 California will get a year's usage in Europe before coming to Oz next year as a personal import. Planning a big trip to the Balkans next June as I've never been further than Croatia.

Not sure if there are many other T5 Californias in Oz but would be good to know how people went about importing them. I've imported a Golf GTI 8v Mk2 before and it was no real hassle though a lot of paperwork.

Will post some pics when I pick up the van

[ClubCoconut]

Save your money and get a kombi beach they have everything you need

[MultiplexMan]

Not sure if there are many other T5 Californias in Oz but would be good to know how people went about importing them. I've imported a Golf GTI 8v Mk2 before and it was no real hassle though a lot of paperwork.

I have not seen one in Oz but they are in NZ. Definitely a nice alternative to our local outfitters. The factory finish is very nice!

[jimby]

they had the california at barloworld in mascot a few years ago, it was very very nice and wayyyyyy nicer finish than a trakkadu.

[GTI-VW]

Save your money and get a kombi beach they have everything you need

5 seats (one bench, one removable and two swivel types), electric roof, 4 berths, fridge, stove, fresh and waste water tanks, awning, heaps of storage, insulated and glazed privacy glass, integrated blinds, integrated table, outside table and chairs which stow in tailgate, built-in leisure battery with inverter for 12 & 240v supplies, overhead computer panel for monitoring all camping functions, diesel fired night heater with remote control, chic and luxurious fitout with 8 speaker audio system and all of this contained within a top spec T5 complete with all parking sensors and cruise control.

I need all this.


The California will also double as my office since I work from home and like some peace and quiet. I can stop by the beach or in a nice park, put up the table, fire up my portable wifi router, plug into the 240v inverter, run some heating if it's a chilly morning and listen to some tunes while I work. As a 4 seater it's perfect for dropping the kids to school but with our extra seat (fixes into rails) we can carry an extra friend too. Most importantly (for me), unless you look inside it's very difficult to tell its a camper.

We owned a T4 California for 6 years in Europe which we also used as a daily driver . We covered 110000kms including eastern europe and north africa (we got bogged twice in the Sahara). For a family of 4 they're perfect. Even in countries where the California isn't sold VW can still order the parts if they have the part number (did this a few times in the UK for the T4). The 30 litre fridge is bigger than you think as it's a chest fridge. This makes it more energy efficient too. Again, for a family of 4 we never found it wanting.

[jets]

I would love to see one of these in the metal rather than on paper. The only thing that I can see that I think is better on my Trakka [T4] is the cut out over the cab doesn't go so far forward. We sit our portable TV & lots of odds & ends up there.