Sacrilege to many, but honest advice sought

[gatvol]

I have a love hate relationship with my Cali.

I love the way it drives, the intelligent design, fact I can stand up in it and sleep in it when I am 6' 5" tall. The sliding bench seat and sliding table are a wonderful concept

I hate the build quality and the enormous bills that will inevitably result from long term ownership. Mine is 2.5 yrs old and has had too much warranty work already. New radio, new main instrument cluster, new water gauge, new iPod connection, 4 new alloys, new electric window switch, new camper control unit. It is awaiting the roof corrosion repair. And in 11,000 miles when it lives in a garage. I have wasted so much time travelling to and from vw dealerships to sort this lot. Over an hour, each way, to get to the nearest Cali franchise.

When I compare this build quality to my 1999 Volvo v70 with 120k miles. And my 1994 merc sl 500 with 32k miles I feel stupid and a mug for continuing to own a Cali. Indeed, like a battered wife that comes back for more because I get some good times too, and change is always difficult. The Cali build quality is an absolute joke. Neither of my other cars have required ANY time in garages during my Cali ownership period save tyres, MOTs and a loose wire on the Volvo that took minutes to sort.

I see it as inevitable that this Cali will give dpf problems, injector problems, continued electrical problems, steering column problems etc.

Are there any alternatives to the Cali that are properly built and consistent with being 6' 5" tall, and have a similar vehicle size pls ? An older vw perhaps when they were properly made ?

With the warranty expiry on the horizon I need to make a decision on what to do with this vehicle. If there is no suitable alternative vehicle I will probably keep the Cali, but I would love to get something else that does not repeatedly abuse me.

Thanks

 

[777111]

Tales of serious woe.
I just don't get this, and would prefer to not to for sure, but why is it that standard items (ie non-Cali specific) are failing thick & fast when generally T5's are reliable? My last self-conversion had no problems at all and I felt assured it was not going to take me to and from a service centre too often. We are all aware of some standing item faults like the roof and the ******* windows but the base vehicle too? Grim.

For me I love driving / using it too. I don't like the lower bed so much (uncomfortable but splendid mechanism!) and I cant help but notice the stuff I got right with my own build but that's difference in custom re factory. Its far beyond criticism but if it starts becoming unreliable I wont be keeping it. maybe you got especially unlucky - that would be unfortunate and I would feel similarly miffed too.

Simon