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Cali for business and pleasure....will it work?

C

californiachiz

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Mid Wales
I have just ordered a 4motion 180 which will be funded by the sale of my Freelander and 2007 T5 conversion. This means the Cali will become my do it all vehicle - business and pleasure. The initial thought was this would give me the saving of running, taxing, insuring and maintaining one vehicle and the fuel economy wouldn't be much different to my Freelander, but in reality I would need a third vehicle to cover the initial purchase cost!! My business mileage allowance will run and hopefully maintain the van, and if I'm lucky cover a bit if depreciation. My concern is that I currently do about 40k business miles (mainly motorway and A road) per annum so after 3 years I will be looking to potentially sell on a 3 year old Cali, well out of warrenty, with 150k on the clock. I am also concerned about the reliabilty issues which seem to surround the Cali and can not afford the inconvenience of it going in and out of the garage. The question I have therefore asked myself several times over the last few weeks is even given the amount of enjoyment I am sure the Cali will give us as a family.....am I mad when thinking about how much the high mileage will depreciate this very expensive vehicle? If anyone has been through a similar dilemma or has any views on my concerns then I would welcome your thoughts.
 
Life's too short, what's the worst that can happen?

Go for it!
 
Do you mean 150k or 120k?

I think a 3 year old Cali with 150k will be difficult to sell.

You sound price sensitive so I would carefully consider all the alternatives and not let your heart rule your head in this instance.

Is it the van space that you need for these journeys? If so, I think a rock bottom priced van makes much more sense than a £50k vehicle.

However, you do only live once :shocked
 
If you've already ordered it, there is probably little point in asking if you are mad in retrospect. We'll all be interested to see how you get on...!
 
The mileage piece will be a challenge, it'll hit the depreciation and also the desirability of the used van given the fact there are more and more available out there. I've yet to see a used Cali with that amount of miles on it after three years, I'm sure they are out there but they will be VERY few and far between.

I'd ask myself what amount of the mileage and how much use is going to be "Cali" recreation related and how much is going to be business, chomping the motorway miles.

40k is a lot of miles whatever way you look at it and the 30 mpg or so that you are likely to get is going to be quite punishing, as is the 3 or 4 hours a business day you're likely to spend in it to hit those mileages.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Cali and drive it out of preference but it's not as relaxing or comfortable to drive as most "normal" cars. (Did you do the business mileage in the T5 previously?)

Also, I'd think carefully about how you plan on using it. If you are loading it up with business related kit, get the right protection for the interior. The Cali is cleverly thought out but can be a little fragile when compared to a normal vehicle interior (in fact even when compared to a conversion) and the standard of this after 3 years hard work will be a major influencer on the value and saleability. 150k worth of wear and tear is likely to be significant.

So, work out how you are going to maintain the vehicle to retain its conditon and value.

It can be done, but I suspect the depreciation will be significant compared to other Calis out there, I'd suggest worst case similar in percentage terms to a normal caravelle, possibly a little better. The trade give these around 52% of their value after 3 years based on 36k... so undoubtedly a lot less for 120k. Don;t expect the crazy residuals that normal Cali's seem to be achieving.

I may be wrong, but if you go in with that as a broad expectation then you won't b in for a nasty surprise in 3 years. I wouldn't want to be in a situation where the future value of my bus stopped me enjoying it to the full. Life is indeed to short...

Keep us up to date on how things go and what decisions you make along the way. It's a very useful perspective.

Rgds
M
 
I concur with what simplydubs posts, I run too many cars into the ground with high % being work miles - from what you say the % work is the largest part of the vans useage do you really want to do that sort of miles for work in a campervan? good luck with what ever you do.
 
You could run small city car that does 60mpg almost for free with mileage expenses etc.

You could also plan to run the Cali for 5/6 years and then throw it away! (if you're going to do 150k then you may as well do 300k!)
 
SimplyDubs said:
The mileage piece will be a challenge, it'll hit the depreciation and also the desirability of the used van given the fact there are more and more available out there. I've yet to see a used Cali with that amount of miles on it after three years, I'm sure they are out there but they will be VERY few and far between.

I'd ask myself what amount of the mileage and how much use is going to be "Cali" recreation related and how much is going to be business, chomping the motorway miles.

40k is a lot of miles whatever way you look at it and the 30 mpg or so that you are likely to get is going to be quite punishing, as is the 3 or 4 hours a business day you're likely to spend in it to hit those mileages.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Cali and drive it out of preference but it's not as relaxing or comfortable to drive as most "normal" cars. (Did you do the business mileage in the T5 previously?)

Also, I'd think carefully about how you plan on using it. If you are loading it up with business related kit, get the right protection for the interior. The Cali is cleverly thought out but can be a little fragile when compared to a normal vehicle interior (in fact even when compared to a conversion) and the standard of this after 3 years hard work will be a major influencer on the value and saleability. 150k worth of wear and tear is likely to be significant.

So, work out how you are going to maintain the vehicle to retain its conditon and value.

It can be done, but I suspect the depreciation will be significant compared to other Calis out there, I'd suggest worst case similar in percentage terms to a normal caravelle, possibly a little better. The trade give these around 52% of their value after 3 years based on 36k... so undoubtedly a lot less for 120k. Don;t expect the crazy residuals that normal Cali's seem to be achieving.

I may be wrong, but if you go in with that as a broad expectation then you won't b in for a nasty surprise in 3 years. I wouldn't want to be in a situation where the future value of my bus stopped me enjoying it to the full. Life is indeed to short...

Keep us up to date on how things go and what decisions you make along the way. It's a very useful perspective.

Rgds
M

I'd agree with that - you've raised a key point which is often glossed over - driving the Cali is not like driving a car and anyone who tells you otherwise is fibbing. I remember on the Club 80/90 forum people would say their T25 was like driving a car, really? What kind of car do you drive?

i use my Beach for business and pleasure and it's fine for that. But it is not as comfortable as say my Volvo C30 which was amazing. A van will always be a van...

I too love the Cali and for a a couple of months I run a 140 full Cali as my business vehicle - not to be recommended - it's quite hard work for stop start trips - much more suited to the long runs :)

I think the milage you're planning will leave your Cali with poor residuals - have you considered a Beach?

James
 
We occasionally use ours for business but funding it through the business was financially insane; huge BIK costs, crazy tax. We just claim mileage.

Agree with James about the non car bit; sure they are very comfy- for a van. But they are harder to park, noisier and thirstier than any half decent car so we tend to use our compact estate much more for work stuff.
 
Wow...very helpful and constructive feedback...thanks. No big surprises but has certainly got me thinking about a few other options. I love the first post, and I suspect that the 'you only live once' mentality has got me to this point! Just to answer a few of the questions. 150k comes from 40k business and then 10k private, which is what I did in my T5 last year. I haven't used my T5 for business and really it lacks the power and driver comforts which the well spec'd Cali offers. My business driving is generally all home to office, or home to carparks, and journeys are generally 100 mile plus. I do not carry any work kit, just me and a laptop. I absolutely love driving my LWB T5 and at weekends it is the preference over 1 year old freelander - but accept the comments that this could be very different when banging out day to day business mileage. I think the comment made about depreciation concerns over-riding the enjoyment of driving a Cali is the key one for me, and the one I need to consider most. Given that I have got this far I am sure I will find a way to make it work, and get the best enjoyment from the Cali - not sure how I would explain a u turn to the kids now anyway!!!! Thanks again for your comments and I will keep you posted on progress.
 
Californiaman said:
You could run small city car that does 60mpg almost for free with mileage expenses etc.

This is interesting. After still failing to actually buy a Beach yet, I have been seriously thinking about doing similar myself. I get a reasonable co car allowance which would fund a 1.0 VW Up for use around town (office is close) and still leave me some spare plus massive BIK saving (over current co car) to fund Beach incl depreciation. I also dont't want to use a Beach fulltime, as my journey profile shouts "dpf problems". Seems like a no brainer really.... Cheers, J
 
I have to agree with the consensus that you probably wouldn't want to do 50K a year in a Cali. Having said that, I would assume that is mostly motorway mileage, which is where the Cali is most at home (despite the low mpg).

I do quite a lot of miles on little country lanes, and the Cali just feels too big and cumbersome in that environment. I've had to fold in the mirrors on many occasions, just to avoid them being knocked off by Range Rovers or vans squeezing past. I ended up buying an old 4wd Golf as a daily driver in the end, and I keep the Cali for weekends and trips away. Somehow we have still managed to do 14,000 miles in our first year though!

Simon
 
I do 85 mile a day round trip to and from work. Currently around 30k with other business trips, other than when I lose my keys or the occasional Friday for a change or early get away I use an Audi A3.

I love the Cali and walked past it last night and had already planned to use it today for the journey. Using it occasionally (mostly motorway driving) still brings a big smile to my face. I rack up about 10k in it a year currently. So overall 40k miles a year in total.

I would not consider the Cali every day as whilst I love driving it, and I find it a really easy drive its just not as flexible when commuting (either as fast or as easy to move when the motorways are stop start).

I'm not worried about re-sale as we plan on keeping the Cali, its part of the family, and my A3 is now an '09 so in a couple of years will have paid for itself.
 

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