Factory Order Lead Times

Robert&Catherine · Jul 28, 2023

Ryanrunsfar123 said:
I'm thinking the same - I know I shouldn't have to but something like the Rainbow Screens thermal cover which would give me piece of mind re waterproofing, and some thermal insulation and a bit of noise suppression etc. I'm not totally against that..I just don't know how much space I'm going to have in the van (1st time owning one!). Hoping for some kind of recognition of the issue from VW and a fix in the pipeline, as are all owners impacted I'm sure.

I am a new to a California as well, just hired one for a few days (including a very wet windy night on the coast with the new pop top material). Didn’t get any ingress but gave up sleeping in the pop top at about 2am due to the noise/buffeting….hoping that a cover will make it less noisy. Was thinking about a Purcel rather than Rainbow screen as it is a bit cheaper (not sure if one is any better re sound / waterproofing?)

Ryanrunsfar123 · Jul 28, 2023

Robert&Catherine said:
I am a new to a California as well, just hired one for a few days (including a very wet windy night on the coast with the new pop top material). Didn’t get any ingress but gave up sleeping in the pop top at about 2am due to the noise/buffeting….hoping that a cover will make it less noisy. Was thinking about a Purcel rather than Rainbow screen as it is a bit cheaper (not sure if one is any better re sound / waterproofing?)

Just looked those up - look good! Thanks :thumb

Maidment_Ocean · Jul 28, 2023

Robert&Catherine said:
Hoping to pick mine up in a few weeks and not sure if I need to buy a pop top cover so that mine is protected from the start…pending VW issuing a fix (would need to rely on a reliable weather forecast to know when to put it on though).

I am waiting for mine also but have bought a Comfortz wrap just in case, not letting this issue stop me!

Brodger3 · Jul 29, 2023

Ordered for a Beach Tour went into system 1-May. Into build 5-June. Arrived in UK 29-Jul. Expected collection mid-August

Brodger3 · Aug 11, 2023

Order for a Beach Tour went into system 1-May. Into build 5-June. Arrived in UK 29-Jul. Expected collection mid-August. 11-Aug I called for an update, it is still at the UK port where they are experiencing a backlog of some sort. Might be here for next week.

Brodger3 · Aug 15, 2023

Order for a Beach Tour went into system 1-May. Into build 5-June. Arrived in UK 29-Jul. Arrived at dealer 15-Aug. Collection tomorrow 16-Aug.
They sent me a video of it on the transporter, screenshot below:

Brodger3 · Aug 16, 2023

Order for a Beach Tour went into system 1-May. Into build 5-June. Arrived in UK 29-Jul. Arrived at dealer 15-Aug. Collection 16-Aug.

What a hassel with the bank paying. I did not realise I had a 5k limit. I was able to increase this online to 25k. I thought then I will just make multiple payments. The first 25k was sent. Then I tried another, it was flagged as fraudulent and I was blocked from my account. I waited an hour in the phone queue only for them to hangup on me. Second time forty-five minutes to speak to someone. At least they knew what to do and unblocked me and put through the payment for me.

A lady met me outside the dealers and bought my Caravelle from me. A couple of thousand more than the dealer was offering. I was pleased she turned up after a time waster let me down yesterday.

Handover was smooth. No issues with the van. Five day drive away insurance arranged easily.

Can't help comparing it to the Caravelle I had for 8 years. Sad to part with that this morning. Happy to have my first California. First impressions are all positive.

andyinluton · Aug 16, 2023

Brodger3 said:
What a hassel with the bank paying. I did not realise I had a 5k limit. I was able to increase this online to 25k. I thought then I will just make multiple payments. The first 25k was sent. Then I tried another, it was flagged as fraudulent and I was blocked from my account. I waited an hour in the phone queue only for them to hangup on me. Second time forty-five minutes to speak to someone. At least they knew what to do and unblocked me and put through the payment for me.

I hate the banks when they do this - I ended up with a £200 bank charge from HSBC for going £25k overdrawn just because they recalled a payment of £50k from my sister as being possibly fraudulent. It was in neither of our accounts for nearly a month. My sister was at the time a fraud investigator for HSBC…..

ParachuteMan · Aug 17, 2023

I’m interested in this thread as I am Trying before Buying (rental basically) with VW Manchester at the end of August. If all goes well, I want to press the order button in very early September. Sales tell me that is likely to be a November delivery “possibly earlier”. It will be an Ocean, Ascot Grey, 150 hp diesel, only option being the 80L fuel tank. I’m very surprised at this lead time, almost suspicious. Am I right to be ?

Oceandrive2023 · Aug 17, 2023

Hi, If it helps I placed my order/paid a deposit for a new Ocean with Breeze Poole on 31st July. I now have a confirmed build slot for September 6th but they don't expect to receive it until early November ( which is what they have always told me when I was looking at ordering )

teeboy · Aug 17, 2023

ParachuteWoman said:
I’m interested in this thread as I am Trying before Buying (rental basically) with VW Manchester at the end of August. If all goes well, I want to press the order button in very early September. Sales tell me that is likely to be a November delivery “possibly earlier”. It will be an Ocean, Ascot Grey, 150 hp diesel, only option being the 80L fuel tank. I’m very surprised at this lead time, almost suspicious. Am I right to be ?

We ordered on 23rd April and picked up the van on 10th August. So 3 and a half months. I think this is pretty standard at the moment and some have been even quicker, so Novemeber may be possible.

We didn't bother with the fuel tank upgrade, but did a few options - don't think that has much of a difference on the build time.

ParachuteMan · Aug 17, 2023

teeboy said:
We ordered on 23rd April and picked up the van on 10th August. So 3 and a half months. I think this is pretty standard at the moment and some have been even quicker, so Novemeber may be possible.

We didn't bother with the fuel tank upgrade, but did a few options - don't think that has much of a difference on the build time.

Thanks - appreciated.

ParachuteMan · Aug 17, 2023

Oceandrive2023 said:
Hi, If it helps I placed my order/paid a deposit for a new Ocean with Breeze Poole on 31st July. I now have a confirmed build slot for September 6th but they don't expect to receive it until early November ( which is what they have always told me when I was looking at ordering )

Thanks - I’ll factor the time lag in.

The Little Red Cali · Aug 17, 2023

We ordered 20th May from Liverpool. Van being built end of August and was told should be with us roughly 4/6weeks after that (October). So approx 5 months for us.

Carabiner · Aug 17, 2023

We ordered our Ocean on the 12th May from Eurovans Crawley through Drive the Deal. The only extra option was the 80l fuel tank. If we could've sorted funds and work/domestic commitments, we could have potentially picked up on 11th August. As it turns out, we can't get down until 24th. Must confess getting twitchy now.
Ordered a Scorpion Tracker Plus from trackershop, on the 14th. It's being fitted tomorrow (with a bit of luck). Hope that's helpful to folk, I know I was keen to hear about timings and others experiences. Will post a photo after pickup next week.

ParachuteMan · Aug 17, 2023

TerryLansdown said:
We ordered our Ocean on the 12th May from Eurovans Crawley through Drive the Deal. The only extra option was the 80l fuel tank. If we could've sorted funds and work/domestic commitments, we could have potentially picked up on 11th August. As it turns out, we can't get down until 24th. Must confess getting twitchy now.
Ordered a Scorpion Tracker Plus from trackershop, on the 14th. It's being fitted tomorrow (with a bit of luck). Hope that's helpful to folk, I know I was keen to hear about timings and others experiences. Will post a photo after pickup next week.

Thanks and best wishes for next week.

Robert&Catherine · Aug 30, 2023

Anyone in my situation counting down the days until delivery you may need to factor in the current industrial action which has resulted in my Cali waiting 3 weeks to get from the port to the dealer. More strike action scheduled apparently

really frustrating when you have sold your car after being told it would arrive any day now (and it is still nowhere to be seen).

Press release below…

https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2023/august/strike-action-targets-penny-pinching-porsche-and-audi-deliveries-firm/