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Volkswagen California road tests and consumer car reviews

Volkswagen California

3.5 stars - average customer rating
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The California is a real home from home. Everything you need for cooking is ready and waiting. An impressive standard safety package means you can rest assured the California's occupants and load will be safe. For times when more seating is needed, the optional fifth seat can be placed in the living area, and removed when no longer needed. No matter what your personal tastes are you will find a colour to suit.

Volkswagen California consumer reviews by year of make: 2007  2010 

Road tests

Volkswagen California

T5 - Volkswagen has successfully been building camper vans for over 50 years, with the iconic split-screened T1 and bay-windowed T2 from the 60s and 70s now fetching big bucks in the used market. The current-generation T5, despite not quite having the cult status of earlier campers, is still popular amon [...]

Road Test Reports Says 5 star rating Full Report
An image of the Volkswagen California T5

Volkswagen California

The California is the modern incarnation of the classic VW camper. Based on the Transporter van/Caravelle MPV, it is a full factory-designed and produced vehicle (rather than a conversion) and is powered by VW's 2.5-litre TDI engine with two different power ratings, 128 and 171bhp. It's not cheap – [...]

Road Test Reports Says 4 star rating Full Report
An image of the Volkswagen California
What Do You Say...?

Responses

  • A response has been made to Doug Milne (24/05/2011 08:50:29)

Questions

  • "We have a brand new California with a fab 4 bike carrier attached to the rear of the vehicle which we got from Volkswagen. We have however lost the ar..." (Michelle Birch, 12/08/2011 08:42:01)
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  • "I have a 1973 camper with a pancake engine and I want to put a 1971 upright engine in it. What do I have to do and what about rear engine mount bar? C..." (Kimber Van Oeveren, 08/08/2011 09:20:33)
    Can you help? Read the question in full and provide an answer

Volkswagen California consumer car reviews

Doug Milne, New Zealand

Volkswagen California 2007

2 star review

I purchased my California camper from a dealer here in Auckland NZ. It had 40,000km . I have since had it in the garage for a lot of its life, 3 months. The manifold has had to be replaced, cracked. Appaerntly they are defective in this 2.5TDI 175 BHP model. Not according to the VW company though. The electric side sliding door is in the workshop for about the 4th time now and again tomorrow to try to get it sorted out from not opening and closing properly. So far the dealer is footing the bill and should do so at this low kilometers. I have lost total faith in it and will sell it on and finally go to an Asian, Korean, Or Japanese made vehicle. I am getting sick and tired of buying European and having things always going wrong with them . I love the way they drive but Reliability is non existant. I have owned 19 European cars in 18 years and most were very unreliable. This is my third VW Transporter. THe first Autosleeper, bought in Britain and was shipped around the World with us on our 80,000 mile travels. Fantastic except the Harmonic Balancer was defective at 80,000 km. The 4 Motion VW 2.5 tdi I last had approx 4 months ago was good but only had 3500km on it before I sold that, only in the Garage once for a fault. Good luck all you Transporter and European owners.

Responses to this review

Well here I am back again. I have sold the California, all repairs were done thanks to Giltrap Auckland. Probably nothing will go wrong with it now. I have tried out lots of Asian vehicles but I am now the proud owner of a BMW 320D 5 year young Estate, 2006, with 35,000 km on the clock. Excellent conditioned vehicle. I just can not go past the drive of a European vehicle. I am always moaning about the reliability of the European vehicles but the Asian vehicles do not put a smile on my face after driving them like the BMW and others have. Once they get their reliability act together, they are back in the running for the best all round road handling and best vehicles out there. Now that I have that off my chest, I am out to enjoy the fantastic drive of my BMW 320D Estate and as my mate Murray says: "It puts a smile on one’s face". Thanks Muzza - Doug Milne from New Zealand

Submitted: 08/02/2011 21:35:09 | ID: 7037

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Jerry Rylands, Essex

Volkswagen California SE 4Motion TDI 2007

4 star review

Being outdoor nuts my girlfriend and I decided that we would fit our vehicle around our lifestyle and have spashed out on the California. It’s a beaut of a camper van and has everything you need (no toilet or shower though). Perfect for just chucking in the essentials on a Friday night after work and heading off to the coast for a very comfortable camping weekend, whatever the weather. Nice to drive, but be careful when cornering, you do get used to this but you can’t just throw it around corners like a car. I think Volkswagen have done an excellent job of updating the old Camper van and make weekends something to look forward to.

Responses to this review

I’m a first timer torn between the California and the Autocruiser. Not a frivolous question, but how do you cope on a trip without showering and loo facilities? - John Jarvis from Sussex

Submitted: 20/11/2007 08:10:22 | ID: 642

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