Total newbie wanting to buy a modern vw california

[RozeePozee]

Hi, Help please! We've been thinking about buying a campervan for a while now and I've been unable to get to grips with what we need as there seem to be so many options. We're looking for something we can use as our main vehicle.

We've looked at buying a van that's converted by an independent but wonder if this is a bit like buying a fake Rolex and perhaps it's better to buy something fitted out by the manufacturer? We're seriously considering buying a fairly new California and are spurred on by the fact that I've just discovered I'm having twins so we need a bigger vehicle! All the sites I've seen so far have been geared to the more classic vws, rather than the modern ones and our local vw dealer seems only interested in selling us a brand new vehicle - which our budget won't stretch to!

Can anyone help by setting out some basic advice or just pointing us in the direction of some more info? I've bought MMM a few times but a lot of is about HUGE motorhomes which hold no interest for us.

Thanks so much in advance!

[David Eccles]

The VW California is very expensive for what it is really. Plus the RHD versions still have the load doors on left so passengers exit onto the road. My advice is to consider buying a windowed VW T5 and having it done to your own spec inside by any of the excellent people around...save big bucks!
or look for second hand ones...
T4s are good models to think about as well.
And no its not like a fake Rolex buying a non VW camper..in fact VW never did a camper until the T5 all the campers were done by licensed companies!
If you buy back issue of the mag Issue 41 ther is a full article in there about a T5 that was converted by Kustom Interiors showing a diff route to buying a VW California