Waiting Impatiently

[WestOzCali2022]

I have been reading the forum for the past 12 months but thought it was time to dive in.
As West Australians living in Perth we had low expectations for a quick delivery anyhow. We bit the bullet and ordered our Cali in October last year and have recently been notified that our delivery date has been shifted to September from June. I know the wait will be worthwhile but is very frustrating. We have ordered the two tone white over copper bronze and aside from heated seats (not needed here) it will be a fully optioned TDI450 4 Motion. To our knowledge there are only 30 VW California's driving around Australia at the moment so they are pretty hard to spot on our roads. It is very expensive but will be a rare commodity so expect it will hold its value down here well.

 

[ThomasHJ]

Congratulations! Wow, imagine not only owning a Cali, but getting to use it in Australia! I'm so jealous!
Hope the waiting passes by fast and wish you a lot of great times with your van!

 

[Perfectos]

WOC22

 

[WestOzCali2022]

Thank you for the welcome, I will have a lot of questions but will save up until i get first notification that it is on the line. My wife and I were looking for a van 40 years ago until life got in the way so now we are in na position to pick up where we left off.
Picked up on a local news thread yesterday which indicated that we would normally see 4 ships vehicle cargo ships arrive in Australia each week that is now down to 2 for various reasons which is adding to the delays. It.s certainly not just VW, friend of mine has been waiting 6 months for his Toyota Prado due to the chip shortages and they are put together a lot closer to home.

 

[sapto]

Welcome! Look forward to hear more about your upcoming trips around your beautiful country!

 

[Ozzy Pete]

I have been reading the forum for the past 12 months but thought it was time to dive in.
As West Australians living in Perth we had low expectations for a quick delivery anyhow. We bit the bullet and ordered our Cali in October last year and have recently been notified that our delivery date has been shifted to September from June. I know the wait will be worthwhile but is very frustrating. We have ordered the two tone white over copper bronze and aside from heated seats (not needed here) it will be a fully optioned TDI450 4 Motion. To our knowledge there are only 30 VW California's driving around Australia at the moment so they are pretty hard to spot on our roads. It is very expensive but will be a rare commodity so expect it will hold its value down here well.

Living in Perth you know it’s renowned for being the most remote city on Earth so as I have found out in the past nothing gets to you very quickly. Give us an idea how much you are going to pay for your vehicle? Is the TDI450 a beach? I would hazard a guess at around $110k with all the bits. Which would be around the same as here in the UK around £60k with all the bits.

 

[WestOzCali2022]

Yes Perth is remote but we also have a local saying here in that WA stands for wait awhile.
As to price for our TDI450, I try not to think or talk about it much it gives me indigestion. All up we are forking out $130686. It would have been a little more but the factory couldn't supply the underbody protection so saved $1727. In Australia we get slugged luxury car tax for passenger vehicles above $68740, which is calculated at 33% on the amount above that threshold. In our case we are paying an additional $12596, without that the price would have been $118100 including stamp duty.
There is a growing business here fitting out Transporters, predominantly long wheel base, some have VW factory backing. They avoid the Luxury Tax but every one I looked at was costing the same amount of money as the brand new Cali, and the waiting time was going to be the same. I will be able to spend another $5000 grand on Seikel off road kit and will have saved money. We obviously don't have a kitchen in our Beach, but we are happy with the full size bed instead. We are currently researching our options for kitchens etc, Van Essa has a very enthusiastic distributor operating out of Sydney, "Kombi Life", supplying and fitting the VW aftermarket. We will likely just slowly spread our wings and figure out what we need along the journey.

Living in Perth you know it’s renowned for being the most remote city on Earth so as I have found out in the past nothing gets to you very quickly. Give us an idea how much you are going to pay for your vehicle? Is the TDI450 a beach? I would hazard a guess at around $110k with all the bits. Which would be around the same as here in the UK around £60k with all the bits.

 

[66tim99]

Yes Perth is remote but we also have a local saying here in that WA stands for wait awhile.
As to price for our TDI450, I try not to think or talk about it much it gives me indigestion. All up we are forking out $130686. It would have been a little more but the factory couldn't supply the underbody protection so saved $1727. In Australia we get slugged luxury car tax for passenger vehicles above $68740, which is calculated at 33% on the amount above that threshold. In our case we are paying an additional $12596, without that the price would have been $118100 including stamp duty.
There is a growing business here fitting out Transporters, predominantly long wheel base, some have VW factory backing. They avoid the Luxury Tax but every one I looked at was costing the same amount of money as the brand new Cali, and the waiting time was going to be the same. I will be able to spend another $5000 grand on Seikel off road kit and will have saved money. We obviously don't have a kitchen in our Beach, but we are happy with the full size bed instead. We are currently researching our options for kitchens etc, Van Essa has a very enthusiastic distributor operating out of Sydney, "Kombi Life", supplying and fitting the VW aftermarket. We will likely just slowly spread our wings and figure out what we need along the journey.

Is it an option to import a nearly-new from Europe?

 

[Perfectos]

Hi WOC

regarding modular kitchen units, have a look at slide pods website, they have some neat ideas, but not cheap.

may help with some inspiration

Campervan Conversions Specialist's for Transporters VW vans

Bespoke campervan conversions and removable camping kitchen systems for VW Transporters, Caddy Maxi, Citroen Dispatch, Ford Transit, Mercedes Vito, Vauxhall Vivo and many more.

www.slidepods.co.uk

use the search function to find some discussions regarding other units. (Top right, spy glass)

here is a general search result to get you going

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/search/298266/?q=Kitchen+pod&o=relevance

 

[Ozzy Pete]

Yes Perth is remote but we also have a local saying here in that WA stands for wait awhile.
As to price for our TDI450, I try not to think or talk about it much it gives me indigestion. All up we are forking out $130686. It would have been a little more but the factory couldn't supply the underbody protection so saved $1727. In Australia we get slugged luxury car tax for passenger vehicles above $68740, which is calculated at 33% on the amount above that threshold. In our case we are paying an additional $12596, without that the price would have been $118100 including stamp duty.
There is a growing business here fitting out Transporters, predominantly long wheel base, some have VW factory backing. They avoid the Luxury Tax but every one I looked at was costing the same amount of money as the brand new Cali, and the waiting time was going to be the same. I will be able to spend another $5000 grand on Seikel off road kit and will have saved money. We obviously don't have a kitchen in our Beach, but we are happy with the full size bed instead. We are currently researching our options for kitchens etc, Van Essa has a very enthusiastic distributor operating out of Sydney, "Kombi Life", supplying and fitting the VW aftermarket. We will likely just slowly spread our wings and figure out what we need along the journey.

The only other option I would go for is extra strong air filters.. The only way we could keep red dust out of our T2 kombi was to tape up any aperture that wasn’t used. Imported vehicles have never been cheap in Australia unless you bought one used it and lived overseas for a period. That was a long time ago so rules have now probably changed. We think we have it bad over here. I’d hate to think how much an ocean would be with all the bits?

 

[WestOzCali2022]

Is it an option to import a nearly-new from Europe?

Imports are possible so long as it meets the regulation and you can get it onto a boat. The reason we don't get the inside kitchen is because they all come from the factory with entry/exit door only opening on the right. Road Safety have determined the need for the entry/exit on the left. Obviously the Beach Tourer and Multivans have double doors so get in. All of the Transporters that arrive have doors on the left. I understand VW have teamed with a local to produce a home grown Grand California announced recently.

 

[WestOzCali2022]

The only other option I would go for is extra strong air filters.. The only way we could keep red dust out of our T2 kombi was to tape up any aperture that wasn’t used. Imported vehicles have never been cheap in Australia unless you bought one used it and lived overseas for a period. That was a long time ago so rules have now probably changed. We think we have it bad over here. I’d hate to think how much an ocean would be with all the bits?

Great tip thanks, it is something we are very mindful of. In part that is reason for buying from the factory, in that we have heard about the conversions not being well sealed and sucking in the dust in. Prevention is always better than the cure.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

The extra tax you pay was first devised to protect the home market from cheap imports excluding Japanese. Considering that you now don’t have a home market with Holden going it’s just another nice little earner for the government. I can always remember thinking that in the UK you could afford to buy a prestige imported car but couldn’t afford to run it. In Australia you couldn’t afford to buy a prestige imported car anyway.