Matteeboy

A bit niche but we got this in January; 180 4Motion California with most of the extra toys thrown in.

Slightly mad to spend a fair whack on a van with a 2.0 4 pot diesel (although bi-turbo at least) but it's brilliant fun, super comfy (heated seats, cruise, satnav/bluetooth/DVD, climate, etc, etc) and the kids love it! Makes for a great surf wagon too!

Comes with an electric pop up roof, fridge, hob, sink, spinny front seats and most of the stuff you'd expect in a half decent camper.

The side bars were fitted after a wife driving error with a low wall... Oops...





Anyone else got one (or similar)?!

Infected by sti

iTrader: (6)

We custom build them

These are becoming the new saxo's they are that popular!

Matteeboy

NWCC?

Yep, loads around here but not a lot of Californias.

Infected by sti

iTrader: (6)

I missed the California bit yea not so many of them come through the doors, mostly new t5 vans.

Touch of class upholstery is the name of the company and cater for near enough anything you can come up with, currently just designed our own seating that folds in to beds, and the swivel cockpit chairs, all just been crash tested for the safety side of it and now all approved

http://www.tocupholstery.co.uk/ should you ever have any queries or design questions should you want to revamp it or add to it

Matteeboy

Blimey - you do all sorts of stuff!

Infected by sti

iTrader: (6)

We certainly do

We have done the vans for the Madonna music video and also Guy Ritchies sprinter van mentioned on the top gear episode he was on plus many other solicitors etc who have seen it since.

Any queries bud you know where we are just ask for Dayne, he's the main guy

njkmrs

Lets have a look inside that Mattee.

john banks

Ditto, tell us more.

Matteeboy

Haven't got a lot of interior pics but it's quite cleverly designed - a picnic table stores in the sliding door, a pair of decent chairs store in the tailgate, etc.

This show the roof up - an LCD display control panel (above the driver) controls the electric roof, fridge temp, shows water levels (fresh and waste), controls the diesel heater (which has a remote so you can either pre-warm it from outside or stick in on from in bed if it gets cold!), alarm clock, etc, etc - very handy.

This is roof up - we've had it up in a force 9-10 in Scotland and it survived (we didn't sleep though until we decided to lower it at 1.30am - all four of us slept "downstairs!"). The kids (now 1 and 4) sleep "upstairs" and there's a safety net so they don't fall out.

The scant pics I have are:



The chairs (!) and a foot:



A pic I took for some parents of a car seat (!) but shows the cabinet containing the fridge, hob and sink, the climate zone stuff for the rear and the rather essential seat covers! You can just see the sliding table corner too - it slides out on a rail then props up wherever you want it.



An the dash - it looks VERY grey in this pic but it's quite a nice place to be.



They come well specced (4WD in ours, heated seats, etc) but we have a few extras:

Tinted glass
Tyre pressure monitor
A safe in the cupboard
Kenwood system with bluetooth, Garmin satnav, DVD, decent stereo, etc all in one unit
Side bars
Cruise
Three zone climate control
Rain thingies on the front windows (!)
Multi function steering wheel (same as the mk6 Golf I drove recently!)
Mudflaps

And some other stuff I've forgotten plus added a roof cover, fitted carpets (bit cosier and easier to clean) and more.

Many go for DSG but I really like the manual (and not keen on DSG) so went for that - I prefer the additional control off road. It's surprisingly capable on light off roading stuff and has breezed through even fairly nasty mud. Well worth getting AWD.

It's thirsty though mainly because it's a heavy beast and the 4 pot unit shifts it along nicely but still sounds minging. 4Motion also knocks a couple of numbers off the mpg but IMO well worth it.

The bench seats slides back and forward so you can store tonnes in the back and I did Oban to Cornwall (612 miles) in a day and felt fresh on arrival. It's very comfy to drive.

Bored yet/ Thought so!

njkmrs

Yep looks like a useful tool to be fair.They look good on 20,s but im not sure this wouldnt kill the comfort,although it improves the appearance for me.
How are they as an everyday work horse? Its not something id get to use just for trips,weekends away and how does the missus like driving it?

^Qwerty^

I'd be happy with a crew van just like that. Looks cracking.

Matteeboy

We use it pretty much daily. The footprint is the same as a largeish estate car but the visibility is better and it's comfy. The missus (apart from the low wall error) is more than happy driving it; it's easy but needs some getting used to as you obviously sit further forwards than in a car! Rear parking sensors are essential IMO as it's quite a big ar5ed thing.

Sleeps four of us in relative comfort (no good for more than four - the back seat in narrow due to the kitchen unit - strictly two seats only) plus the dog (she sleeps in a pop up tent though).

VED is fairly cheap due to it's banding (£200ish), servicing is the same as a normal van, it's apparently heavyish on tyres (on 9k - still plenty left on ours), mpg is a bit harsh - I struggle to get 30 but hills really kill the economy and they depreciate very slowly so after the initial hit, they aren't too bad to run.

A fairly narrow market of people that are prepared to spend a large (to us!) amount on a camper with no bog, shower or hot water but then a fully specced motorhome is a complete PITA to drive around in and always super slow.

The Cali 180 keeps up with "normal" traffic easily and even surprises the odd repmobile. It's way off fast but it's fairly nippy once run in; in ours that's only been in the last 1k miles - mpg has risen a lot (I was getting sub 20 most of the time for the first 5k miles!) and it feels far quicker than before!

There's just something about having a surf then making a pot of coffee in your own vehicle afterwards. Or having a place to retreat to if it starts pouring. Just feels "safe" and quite cosy even if the interior is a bit stark and Germanic.

Cheers Qwerty - we do like it a lot!!

JackClark

Very nice. My main drive is a T5 Kombi, did keep a second car but it's so nice to drive I sold it. Mine has none of your comforts permanently installed, but a few clever storage box purchases, window blankets and a sleeping mat and it makes for a comfy night.