That fridge!, storage space and other doubts

[NickE]

Great forum!
My wife and I have just got back from a month's camping with a tent (Croatia and back) and are now considering buying a Cali having seen so many sur le Continent. Lots of brilliant advice here but I need a bit of reassurance before committing so much dosh on a glorified van.
My concerns (in no particular order) are:

1. Isn't that fridge a nightmare? No front door, so difficult getting at stuff when full. No ice box/freezer. Top loading, so everything has to be moved off that valuable work surface every time it's used. I intend to cook meals in the Cali not just put my feet up and drink Cotes du Rhone!

2. Driving blind spot caused by nearside furniture fittings at back? Obviously this is a right hand drive issue only. Having done such a lot of European motorway driving recently I'm sensitive to good vis out the back and passenger side. I'm guessing this isn't an issue as I haven't seen it mentioned.

3. Awning. Yuk, ugly. Spoils the lines of a good looking vehicle driving around with a length of drainpipe stuck to your roof. However, in use, especially in southern Europe, the ability to produce such a large area of shade so quickly looks brilliant.

4. Storage space. Looks pretty limited to me. Enough for two people for a comfortable two months travelling?

Also, we've decided on a 140 manual unless somebody tells me it's a big mistake.

Sorry about the length of this post, all advice most welcome.

 

[Stu]

Welcome Nick,

My best advice would be to speak to Oli at BMVS and hire a Cali for a weekend or a week away before you go balls deep into a big investment.

I don't have a blindspot issue with the furniture but I do with the left hand rear headrest however the simple solution is to fold it down so I do.

Fridge is excellent. Of course it's small but where do you stop when space is limited. Moving stuff from the 'work surface' can be a pain but you get used to it. The table also comes with a strap to 'hang it' from the rear bench seat to create more work top space.

The amount of stuff you take depends on your needs really but with the Cali, much like a tent, you learn to pack accordingly.

 

[Freeley]

The fridge is a good size with a small cage at the top for smaller items but yes can be a bit of a pain getting at stuff and having to clear the workshop all the time. Forward planning is essential. I solved the problem by delegating the missus to fridge duty :rofl

There's no real blind spot due to the side furniture you can still see out of the windows apart from where the wardrobe is but its never been a problem to me.
The back window is a bit limited visibility wise due to the overhead locker and the rear headrests but you get used to it.

I've never been away for more than 2 weeks but yes space is a bit limited. We've got a tent awning that we use for keeping stuff in when on sites. Don't know how we'd do it for a couple of months though? There are members on here who do it though so hopefully they could advise on that

Stu can type faster than me!

 

[Californiaman]

The simple answer with any lack of rear visibility is to get the 180 DSG. You've only got to worry about what is in front of you then.

Just buy one. You'll love it.

 

[NickE]

Thank you Stu, Freeley and Californiaman!
Good that rear vis sounds OK. You're right Stu, packing can turn into an art form. In my case it was wife and me + two daughters + tent + enough stuff to do cold (Alps at 2000m) and hot (Croatia in August) all in a Passat. Cali is planned for just the two of us.

 

[Custardtart]

I think the drainpipe is pretty easy to remove (instructions in the manual) if you want to only put it on when you're expecting to need it.

140 manual is great - good balance between fuel economy and performance. I get 37mpg on a long journey if I stick at 70mph and 34mpg if I stick at 80mph - that's on a brand new engine, fully loaded so expect it to improve as it breaks in.

 

[KernowLad]

They are very easy to move around - just watch the lower rear panels in front of the rear wheels. My wife and our mates have both stoved theirs/ours in (both now fixed!) on low walls. Massive wing mirrors mean almost no blind spots.

The fridge is great - front loaders are okay but seem less efficient and like to fling stuff about. In the Cali fridge, it just stays there. Very quiet too.

The awning IS an eyesore - I don't like it either but it's so handy, I can forgive it!

We've managed a week with two young kids and a dog and we all LOVE IT! Just do it!

140 manual is the best for mpg - to make it slightly worse add DSG. To make it worse again get a 180. To make it even worse than that get 4Motion.

 

[Iain&Shani]

"Glorified van" :rofl

Most of the points seem to be covered here. We're back from our first big adventure in France and I can't say I had any blind spot issues. As has been said, big door mirrors more than make up for the extra visibilty you may be used to. I drive a Sprinter minibus so maybe I'm just used to using my mirrors.

The fridge is excellent and chills down to as much as you'll need unless of course you need ice.

We had more than enough room for our 3 weeks away. We actually felt we had too much stuff with us and are looking to minimise next year. We did use the awning occasionally and had a Kyham Motordome drive away also. We are planning to leave that and take an Event Shelter instead.

Interestingly we did little cooking in the 'van. The outdoor equipment we took more than made up for that. It can be a pain if you clutter the worksurfaces with stuff but with a little discipline that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[KernowLad]

We cook a lot in ours - amazing what can be done on two rings!

 

[MKRW]

Just back from France and with a rear bike carrier on the back the visibility is even more reduced. So I just packed from floor to ceiling when we were travelling...as has been said the mirrors are huge and the driving position high, so I had no noticeable blind spot.

Although most of our driving was on French Peage's.

We just went ahead and bought the 180 and have not regretted it for a minute.

I did find it frustrating using the fridge with the other half as we both loaded it slightly differently. My Wine and beer kept getting buried under baby food and green stuff. Although again when we discussed it we agreed she could use the cage and then I was free to stack the drinks in the rest. Plenty big enough for really cold beers at lunchtime and in the evening

 

[NickE]

Thanks Custardtart, KernowLad, Iain&Shani and MKRW,
OK, the fridge gets a tick and the big mirrors sound like they should help a lot on the autoroute.
That's good mpg data, Custardtart. I've got the same (140) engine in the Passat. I reckon I was doing 40mpg at 80mph, so that makes the Cali pretty impressive.
KernowLad, you should see what I produced on ONE ring!
I must say, Iain&Shani, the awning is the one thing I'm undecided about. Driveaway awnings sound good. The instant shade produced by the VW awning is super cool, but the campsites I visited in hot climates all had nice shady trees.
MKRW, the 180 sounds good, but on our (3,500 mile) trip, the only time I really felt I needed HORSEPOWER was on the entry slip roads to motorways in Italy. Were they trying to save tarmac when they built those?

 

[Johnconwy]

Just back from Euro Trip

Fridge is great only problem we found was items placed against the back wall tended to freeze? not a big problem though.don't know if any body else has had this.
We always take a small portable camping fridge I think I got from Halfords years ago plugs into 12v socket on rear seat and handy to put your feet up when your travelling in the back, we just leave it outside the van when were at a pitch. This fridge is only used for refreshments

 

[NickE]

Thanks for that, John, good info. I certainly don't want to freeze things as part of the need for the fridge is to store my wife's medication which must be kept cold but not frozen. I also have a (Campingaz) 12v coldbox but, as I'm sure you've discovered if yours is the same, only gets to around 16C below ambient so is not brilliant in 40 degree heat.

 

[Paulro]

I also found that some things froze on the back wall but never when they are in the wire bit. Fridge is fine, no problem.
Just returned from Spain, Portugal and France. No blind spot issues but rear bike carrier restricts view considerably, in fact it's hard to rely on it at all.
I am thoroughly delighted with ours, our only vehicle apart from a Vespa and have cooked some historic food in it too.
It's versatile and seemingly invisible where wild camping is concerned.
Brilliant.

 

[James]

They do originate from panel vans which obviously have no windows down the side (as a rule) so the mirrors are designed to accomodate for this.

James

 

[KernowLad]

I also found that some things froze on the back wall but never when they are in the wire bit. Fridge is fine, no problem.
Just returned from Spain, Portugal and France. No blind spot issues but rear bike carrier restricts view considerably, in fact it's hard to rely on it at all.
I am thoroughly delighted with ours, our only vehicle apart from a Vespa and have cooked some historic food in it too.
It's versatile and seemingly invisible where wild camping is concerned.
Brilliant.

I'm intrigued by the historic food? Did you drink mead and cook pottage?

 

[Paulro]

No not quite but beautiful fresh turbot with potatoes with garlic, fresh French beans and crist white Sancerre sounds pretty good to me.

 

[KernowLad]

No not quite but beautiful fresh turbot with potatoes with garlic, fresh French beans and crist white Sancerre sounds pretty good to me.

That does sound pleasant - love Turbot and a huge fan of Sancerre. Is the crist version made by Jesus?

Italian chicken casserole in ours last night overlooking the Fal estuary after a nice (ish!) 1km sea swim after which I admittedly nearly shivered my limbs clean off. No wine as I was driving - dammit!

 

[NickE]

... rear bike carrier restricts view considerably

Right, that's my flirtation with the idea of a bike rack over! (I never liked them anyway, or roof racks.) I want to carry a bike so it's going inside, and then maybe into a pop-up tent when stopped.

 

[KernowLad]

... rear bike carrier restricts view considerably

Right, that's my flirtation with the idea of a bike rack over! (I never liked them anyway, or roof racks.) I want to carry a bike so it's going inside, and then maybe into a pop-up tent when stopped.

I carry ours inside - we cycle a lot!

 

[AndyandLiz]

Do people actually use their rear view mirror? I have heard this said a few times on here that the bike rack restricts view but I never use my mirrror, I rely on my wing mirrors as even with unrestricted rear view you still can see much

 

[Californiaman]

I pretty much never use it. When I do, I don't find the rack really gets in the way that much. After all you aren't really needing to see much detail - rather 'is there a truck there' (actually I do use the mirror to check the bikes are still there!)

 

[Freeley]

I drive a panel van with no rear window day to day so lack of rear visibility isn't an issue for me - certainly i would have no qualms about putting a bike rack on, shame i haven't got any bikes
You soon get used to relying on the door mirrors instead of the rear view one.

 

[KernowLad]

I use the mirror a lot. I know this because I hate having the headrests up!
Use all three mirrors and you have as good visibility as pretty much any car.

 

[ChrisandPenney52]

Long term travelling is no problem. We have done a couple of five weekers and feel we could easily have kept going longer. We take an 8-ish day cycle of clothes so acknowledge we will need to do a load of washing every so often. We are gradually cutting clothes down to the essentials as we learn what we can leave out. We expect to buy locally and cook either on a Cobb BBQ, on an electric frying pan which we plug in through the van mains plug, or on the van gas. We normally carry a spare 907 gas cylinder, but this way we reckon on 20 days from each one.

The external mirrors are great, but I have fitted a stick on convex mirror to check the overtakes and especially the cars on the outside at rond-ponts.

We have an older 130 manual, and power is never an issue even fully loaded.