Finalising our order and advice needed please.

[vw14cal]

Hi, :hello

we have been lurking for a while and found this forum very helpful and friendly - thank you. We are about to order our new Beach and have our list:
Olympian Blue, Thunders, Zenons, 2 extra seats, 3 seat Rear bench, Privacy Glass, Removable Tow Bar, Front and Rear Parking Sensors, Programmable Parking Heater (added after reading a discussion on here about retrofitting heaters). Premium Bluetooth.
Our question is about Driveaway awnings. We do not plan on having the pull out awning. The Cali will be my husbands main vehicle for everyday use. We have not been big campers up until now but with two small children we plan to do weekends in Cornwall, Week in France etc and we love our watersports. So do we need an Awning Rail with tent adaptor (Local van centre not sure what it is) Is it something that you should have if you have a pull out awning or is it something that a driveaway tent attaches to?
Also have we missed anything?

We may look at a kitchen pod at a later date but will leave that fo another discussion.

Thanks for your help.

 

[david white]

Hello and welcome
The Cali should have an awning rail attached all you should need is some kador strip and
Figure of eight strip to attach a drive away awning

 

[choplee]

The Cali will come with black awning strips on both sides as standard to attach other types of awnings unless this has changed since i got mine ...

nice spec not sure you have much left to add .... :lol:

 

[James]

Hi, :hello

we have been lurking for a while and found this forum very helpful and friendly - thank you. We are about to order our new Beach and have our list:
Olympian Blue, Thunders, Zenons, 2 extra seats, 3 seat Rear bench, Privacy Glass, Removable Tow Bar, Front and Rear Parking Sensors, Programmable Parking Heater (added after reading a discussion on here about retrofitting heaters). Premium Bluetooth.
Our question is about Driveaway awnings. We do not plan on having the pull out awning. The Cali will be my husbands main vehicle for everyday use. We have not been big campers up until now but with two small children we plan to do weekends in Cornwall, Week in France etc and we love our watersports. So do we need an Awning Rail with tent adaptor (Local van centre not sure what it is) Is it something that you should have if you have a pull out awning or is it something that a driveaway tent attaches to?
Also have we missed anything?

We may look at a kitchen pod at a later date but will leave that fo another discussion.

Thanks for your help.

Great spec - add Climtronic if you can

 

[Ma77sc]

Monster mats are great. The rear bumper protector (for loading / unloading protection) is good. Ask about a 12v bendy light to go in the roof (not obvious whether the Beach includes this). Also with kids some seat covers are great but aftermarket unless you can convince the dealer to discount the Brandrup ones which act as a second skin to the standard seats with a price to match. Lastly do you have any fridge plans? I and others have the VW Climabox - nothing special but it does attach to the rails and does the job but others have fitted Waecos and other makes.

Nice spec you gave there. I'm not jealous about the heater...

Matt

 

[Goldie]

Given the specification you are going for and all the extras I think it would be a mistake not to include the factory fitted awning at £385. It will protect the door area in the rain and give you somewhere to take off boots etc before getting into the Cali. Also some shade in the sun.

I admit I haven't used mine much, but I wouldn't have bought mine without it and it was a good selling point. Also would be a real plus point if you want to sell at some stage.

I'm in the market for a second awning on the left side (see other posts on here), but talking to a few people the strip/slot is much wider than the slot on the fitted awning and more difficult to find awnings to fit.

Andy

 

[muttley]

Given the specification you are going for and all the extras I think it would be a mistake not to include the factory fitted awning at £385. It will protect the door area in the rain and give you somewhere to take off boots etc before getting into the Cali. Also some shade in the sun.

Andy

+1 from me. If you plan to stay at one site for a while with a driveaway awning, then there is possibly no need for the factory awning. For short trips, or tours where you are moving on each day, we have found the factory awning a really useful addition.

 

[Goldie]

Given the specification you are going for and all the extras I think it would be a mistake not to include the factory fitted awning at £385. It will protect the door area in the rain and give you somewhere to take off boots etc before getting into the Cali. Also some shade in the sun.

Andy

+1 from me. If you plan to stay at one site for a while with a driveaway awning, then there is possibly no need for the factory awning. For short trips, or tours where you are moving on each day, we have found the factory awning a really useful addition.

And when you think about it, an awning at £385 is less than 1% of the average Cali cost. I'm sure if you negotiate hard enough the dealer will through it in for free if a final deal breaker.

Andy

 

[vw14cal]

Thanks everyone for your great replies.

James is climatronic that good? Maybe we are just thinking about keeping warm in this awful weather and not thinking about a hot summer?!

I can see the pull out awning would be good to shade under but we wondered it some of you might use the tailgate for that?

Fridge wise we have a cool-box which plugs in and thought we would make do with that for a while. Kind of hoped the beer and wine inside would anchor it down!

Have seen the Brandrup second skin cover which looks great so maybe we will try for a freebie with the dealer.

Thanks again for all your helpful replies.

 

[InternetMan]

Sorry if I'm hijacking the thread, but I'm in the same boat as the OP regarding 'tent adapter' and would appreciate a heads-up.

We have a driveaway awning and plan to order the roll-out factory awning too -- I gather the one can attach to the other. Do we need to additionally order the 'Awning rail (silver) with tent adapter', or is that for those that don't order the roll-out?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Barefoot62]

Given the specification you are going for and all the extras I think it would be a mistake not to include the factory fitted awning at £385. It will protect the door area in the rain and give you somewhere to take off boots etc before getting into the Cali. Also some shade in the sun.

Andy

+1 from me. If you plan to stay at one site for a while with a driveaway awning, then there is possibly no need for the factory awning. For short trips, or tours where you are moving on each day, we have found the factory awning a really useful addition.

And when you think about it, an awning at £385 is less than 1% of the average Cali cost. I'm sure if you negotiate hard enough the dealer will through it in for free if a final deal breaker.

Andy

Correct me if I'm wrong but when I ordered mine in June last year, if you had the camping pack you got the silver awning and mattress topper.

Alasdair :cool

 

[James]

Thanks everyone for your great replies.

James is climatronic that good? Maybe we are just thinking about keeping warm in this awful weather and not thinking about a hot summer?!

I can see the pull out awning would be good to shade under but we wondered it some of you might use the tailgate for that?

Fridge wise we have a cool-box which plugs in and thought we would make do with that for a while. Kind of hoped the beer and wine inside would anchor it down!

Have seen the Brandrup second skin cover which looks great so maybe we will try for a freebie with the dealer.

Thanks again for all your helpful replies.

I think Climtronic is that good - also, when you come to sell the van, it's an attractive option to have.

There's two features I like, the 3 zone climate control - separate controls in the back and the residual heat option.

James

 

[Cuba]

I'd urge anyone buying a three seat bench to get the Comfort mattress or an aftermarket equivalent. The 3 seat bench is far from a bed without it. Unlike the 2seat bench it's very uneven when reclined and the seat belts have no where to go.

I was mighty relieved I added the CM to my Beach spec.