Buying an Ocean

[Hill2]

Hi I’ve just joined and been considering a campervan for a few years so decided to get an Ocean Vs one of the many conversions available. Many of these sellers say the conversions have a better spec and look but what’s the experience of those who have owned both?
Any advice welcome !! Thanks

 

[larrylamb]

Hi I’ve just joined and been considering a campervan for a few years so decided to get an Ocean Vs one of the many conversions available. Many of these sellers say the conversions have a better spec and look but what’s the experience of those who have owned both?
Any advice welcome !! Thanks

Hi and welcome. I see you're from Liverpool which has a large VW van centre selling Californias. One of their guys has an informative youtube channel "Californiachris" with many videos to explain the workings of an Ocean. I'd recommend watching some.
The Ocean is built on a top spec base van and includes a huge amount of options as standard, you'd be hard pressed to find a better specced conversion. Generations of vw campers have evolved to the Ocean as it is now, probably the best quality and designed side kitchen vw campervan.

 

[flying banana]

your going to get a biased opinion, but for me,the ocean has built in chairs,outdoor table. built in heating,factory roof (not cut open a van) 3 zone air con (not seen many conversions with that), top loading fridge (access with bed down,unlike some conversions you can't get the fridge door open with downstairs bed made up. kitchen behind the passenger seat gives unlimited driver seat adjustment where as conversion kitchens are all behind the driver. usually higher power engines (some convertors use 102ps base van. proper awning mounts bolted into the roof (some conversions i've seen them rivetted to the van body,and without a rain seal. gas bottle built into the water tank and sealed with factory gas drop out. more storage in the boot. i'm sure theres more i missed.
a mate of mine paid 30k for a van and another 30k to convert it,that doesn't make sense to me either,plus can have insurance issues.
the only up side i see of a conversion is you get bigger range of colour options and can have a lwb for more room.and if it really bothers you the sliding door is on the other side,but unless you camp in p1ssy litter strewn laybys thats not an issue.
good luck in your hunt,
god i'm bored today. lol
edit,not owned a conversion

 

[Mehdime]

I’ve not owned a conversion so take my world with a grain of salt.

But a few things I think are facts:
- conversions are based on the Transporter van, which isn’t available to buy in the spec of the Ocean. You can’t get the digital cockpit, Discovery Media Pro and and bunch of other stuff in a Transporter (they’re not super important mind you but it’s disingenuous at best, if not a straight up lie to claim that a conversion will have better specs)
- there are a million and one conversions. Most are nowhere near the spec of an Ocean (even when ignoring the base van specs). Those that match or exceed the Ocean won’t be cheap (but may be cheaper than an Ocean, granted).
- most conversions are built on entry level trims of the Transporter (small engine, manual gear box) to make the final camper look cheap. Those built on the fully-loaded highline Transporter trim (the closest to the Ocean, but still not as well spec’d as an Ocean) are rare and will most likely cost as much or more than an Ocean.

 

[CaliforniaSeb]

Also, you can take out a 5 year warranty with VW. Anything that goes wrong , inside or outside, is VW's problem. I would be surprised if any third party conversions would offer more than two years warranty. What if you have an electrical issue? Is it VW's problem or the converters?

There are lots of replacement VW parts.

Companies invest in making lots of nice (if pricey) accessories for the California because there is a large enough market.

There are a bunch of experts and forum users with shared experiences. I recently got bailed out by the forum on a Sunday morning in the French Pyrenees when my control panel was in a loop and we could not put the soft top down.

 

[Kayleigh]

Also, you can take out a 5 year warranty with VW.

Did all the last Californias come with a 5 year warranty as standard?

 

[CaliforniaSeb]

Did all the last Californias come with a 5 year warranty as standard?

Not sure if its a Breeze thing. 5+, 5 years warranty, five years servicing , plus 2 MOTs.

 

[Kayleigh]

Not sure if its a Breeze thing. 5+, 5 years warranty, five years servicing , plus 2 MOTs.

Hopefully, VW find a solution to bellowsgate in that time!

 

[CaliforniaSeb]

Hopefully, VW find a solution to bellowsgate in that time!

Not holding out much hope. However, should get through quite a few replacements in five years.

Just read the small print. There is a limit of 20 bellows replacements over the 5 years.

 

[Hill2]

Hi and welcome. I see you're from Liverpool which has a large VW van centre selling Californias. One of their guys has an informative youtube channel "Californiachris" with many videos to explain the workings of an Ocean. I'd recommend watching some.
The Ocean is built on a top spec base van and includes a huge amount of options as standard, you'd be hard pressed to find a better specced conversion. Generations of vw campers have evolved to the Ocean as it is now, probably the best quality and designed side kitchen vw campervan.

Thanks for your advice

 

[Hill2]

your going to get a biased opinion, but for me,the ocean has built in chairs,outdoor table. built in heating,factory roof (not cut open a van) 3 zone air con (not seen many conversions with that), top loading fridge (access with bed down,unlike some conversions you can't get the fridge door open with downstairs bed made up. kitchen behind the passenger seat gives unlimited driver seat adjustment where as conversion kitchens are all behind the driver. usually higher power engines (some convertors use 102ps base van. proper awning mounts bolted into the roof (some conversions i've seen them rivetted to the van body,and without a rain seal. gas bottle built into the water tank and sealed with factory gas drop out. more storage in the boot. i'm sure theres more i missed.
a mate of mine paid 30k for a van and another 30k to convert it,that doesn't make sense to me either,plus can have insurance issues.
the only up side i see of a conversion is you get bigger range of colour options and can have a lwb for more room.and if it really bothers you the sliding door is on the other side,but unless you camp in p1ssy litter strewn laybys thats not an issue.
good luck in your hunt,
god i'm bored today. lol
edit,not owned a conversion

Thanks for the reply and all the others which really appreciate . It’s a big decision but know quality is built into the California

 

[Californication69]

And………. You’ll own a “California”
Like owning an actual part of California.
Or something like that.
And other cali’s with awning & door on the correct side, usually wave at you.

True what others have said.
By the time you buy a van and have it converted.
It’s £60 / 70k
But it ain’t a Cali.

You pays your money and takes your choices.

 

[Hawthorn37]

The best advice I can offer is to hire a California for a few days, so you can get to know it’s capabilities, then take a look at some conversions to compare. This is the route we took, and I think that practical experience is much better than comparing specs on paper. A campervan has much more going on than a car. You need to find out which features you really value.

We’d looked at a few converted Transporters, and larger vans (Fiats and Peugeots), and took advice from friends who were buying a conversion. At that point we were quite sold on a Camperking conversion. Then we went to a VW van centre in Leicester to see some Cali’s. On the basis of that visit we agreed to hire one for 6 days, as an extended try-before-buy. When we got back, we looked at the conversions through a different lens. We’d had our Cali epiphany !

Good luck in your deliberations !

 

[Soton Campers]

The best advice I can offer is to hire a California for a few days

Excellent idea! Give us a try www.southamptonvwcamperhire.co.uk. We've also got some for sale, the ones without the leaky bellows!

 

[Californication69]

Excellent idea! Give us a try www.southamptonvwcamperhire.co.uk. We've also got some for sale, the ones without the leaky bellows!

lol !
Got a GC600 for rent ?
I might have to try one out for a week.

 

[Norfolk Jim]

We had a 2007 T5 Leisuredrive conversion for 9 years and just sold it and bought a California. I know my Cali is 15 years newer than the conversion but to me at least the difference is night and day. The Cali feels and drives like a car; the T5 felt and drove like a van. The Cali doesn't have carpet up all the inside, it has properly fitted panels like a car.

When we got ours and started putting our stuff in my wife said the cupboard isn't as big as our previous but I explained we have 2 now so we'll just have to adjust where we put things. She has now agreed there's far more storage room in the Cali but for me it's the sinch at setting the lower bed up!!

Lastly I've found the Cali is actually cheaper to insure!!!!! My T5 cost in region of £600 on value of £21k. My Ocean is £536 on value of £67k........................

 

[Soton Campers]

lol !
Got a GC600 for rent ?
I might have to try one out for a week.

Yes. We do have the GC600.

 

[The Little Red Cali]

Hi I’ve just joined and been considering a campervan for a few years so decided to get an Ocean Vs one of the many conversions available. Many of these sellers say the conversions have a better spec and look but what’s the experience of those who have owned both?
Any advice welcome !! Thanks

Go with the California. I went to see many conversions before I bought mine and they didn’t quite match the Cali for quality, warranty and refinement. I did like some conversions but they were at the high end and some costing way more than the California. There’s plenty on the market at present so might be a good time to start your search.

 

[scottk]

Also some conversions will have lower speed limits as they were vans. The info will be on the V5. The Cali warranty covers all parts of the car, conversions will have the habitation and vehicle separate for warranty isssues.

 

[PurpleLizC789]

In addition to what others have said about the high spec of the van itself and the benefit of having a factory built camper rather than conversion, I think there are a couple of other points - to my mind the storage space seems to be well above any conversion we’ve looked at. In a small van, storage space is really important and the fact that you don’t have to accommodate an outside table and chairs in the boot makes quite a big difference plus there feels like there is much more cupboard space than any conversion I’ve looked at (the under bench drawer is huge). The cupboards that you have are also very accessible as the doors open fully rather than those cut-out doors you get in most conversions. I’m always amazed at just how much we can fit in to our Cali.
One other point - I believe that it’s been crash tested as a camper, so this is a safety consideration.
For us, the fact that we can take it to VW for everything, whether it’s camper or van related is also a big bonus.

We did hire one first and that’s definitely the way to go (although we didn’t hire it with a view to buying one, we just hired it so we could do a touring holiday, but then we fell in love with it and ordered one a week after getting back from holiday and have never regretted it).

 

[2into1]

In addition to what others have said about the high spec of the van itself and the benefit of having a factory built camper rather than conversion, I think there are a couple of other points - to my mind the storage space seems to be well above any conversion we’ve looked at. In a small van, storage space is really important and the fact that you don’t have to accommodate an outside table and chairs in the boot makes quite a big difference plus there feels like there is much more cupboard space than any conversion I’ve looked at (the under bench drawer is huge). The cupboards that you have are also very accessible as the doors open fully rather than those cut-out doors you get in most conversions. I’m always amazed at just how much we can fit in to our Cali.
One other point - I believe that it’s been crash tested as a camper, so this is a safety consideration.
For us, the fact that we can take it to VW for everything, whether it’s camper or van related is also a big bonus.

We did hire one first and that’s definitely the way to go (although we didn’t hire it with a view to buying one, we just hired it so we could do a touring holiday, but then we fell in love with it and ordered one a week after getting back from holiday and have never regretted it).

The major space saving comes from the Cali's fresh and waste water tanks being expensively moulded into otherwise wasted space, so the 2nd undersink cupboard becomes available for storage instead of the usual 2 plastic gerry cans you find in most conversions.

 

[Dell]

Hi I’ve just joined and been considering a campervan for a few years so decided to get an Ocean Vs one of the many conversions available. Many of these sellers say the conversions have a better spec and look but what’s the experience of those who have owned both?
Any advice welcome !! Thanks

I have had both and the Cali is the best all round, as mentioned the transporter base vehicle on conversions has no extra bits that the Cali has being a higher spec base vehicle, plus if things go wrong with a Cali VW tales care of it, in a conversion you have ten or more different brands that can go wrong and can create headaches.
The California is your best bet by far.

 

[Mehdime]

Nice example of a conversion with a better spec than an Ocean starting at 33:30 in this video:

Based on the fully loaded highline Transporter trim. With solar panels, water heater, underfloor heating, fancy wheels, air suspensions and few other things. But that’ll set you back £140k. As for the look, inside or out, it’s…questionable