HOW MUCH??! - We Got Paid To Own A VW California!

Have a nosey into our financial life and find out how much we paid for our Volkswagen California Beach T6.1 Camper Van. I think you'll be surprised!
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[@peterclose9073]

Sean, great video, really helpful for new people looking to buy. VW van prices are very strong at the moment. We bought a year old Cali in 2021 and sold it 10 months later and made a £4K profit. This covered the cost of upgrading to our new Hymer sprinter van. I am not sure how long the prices will remain high, one dealer at the Feb CCM show said many of the small van converters were struggling to make sales.

[@timeaves6164]

Brilliant film you two (as always) That is not depreciation, but appreciation! I have a 2022 Beach, and worked this out too. I have owned about 24 vehicles since I started driving, and can't say that I made money on any of them... apart from the very first one I owned! And that was an ex-GPO Morris Minor Van in 1977. It was bought for £300 and sold, 18 months later for £320. I wonder what it would be worth now? I hope all is well

[@lukedrive2869]

Very interesting and very handy. Thanks for sharing Sean. Regards Luke.

[@vintagevantics]

Useful video. Thanks. You know I’m amazed the dealers markup was so low! That was an amazing price they gave you. Atypical I would say. Must be cos you are such nice people ….plus your KZbin presence?!

[@alanbenham4139]

Very insightful. Thank you for providing such an in depth VLOG.

[@ABusAndBeyond]

Thank you very much for watching 😊

[@knitrundig4663]

Very interesting! We have a 2018 Ocean that we don't want to sell for a while. We extended our mortgage so paid cash for it and had a much lower interest rate. It has of course gone up now but it's good to know that the van is holding its' value, unlike a normal car. We had to sell a sports car to get the deposit, but the dog couldn't fit in it so he didn't mind!

[@Akash-z]

Very crisp and indepth . Help to decide on a camper. Thanks.

[@Simon_PieMan]

Interesting video, many thanks for being so clear on the costs. ✅

[@ABusAndBeyond]

You’re welcome. Thanks for watching 😊

[@familiemitbulli]

Great calculation, thanks for sharing. Our dealer in Berlin, Germany has four Ocean Edition similar to ours and offers them around 100k (in Euros) each. They sold around 80-85k two years ago. Since they will discontinue the last true VW transporter soon, the prices could go up even more or at least stay as high for a couple of years depending on how the new California offerings based on electric VW vans or the new Ford chassis will look like. 🚐👨‍👩‍👦🐕

[@paulbrook2459]

That’s great motoring , well done ! you basically had it for free 👍👍the residual value on the transporter rage is great , I personally think that will be the case for a while , they will be classed has real Vw s in comparison to the new fordsporter due out soon 😊😂

[@normhanson981]

Much appreciated, I’d love to own one in seven years when hopefully I can retire .

[@TheTaxer-fz2sq]

Great Video. These vehicles are so popular.

[@ABusAndBeyond]

Thank you

[@hmi1750]

great video and thanks for sharing. I think you missed the implications of inflation though too - the costs have gone up a lot and perhaps in relative terms, your profit is not too much, but still amazing and better than losing your money in depreciation and interest payments.

[@chrisdavis2525]

useful vid, thanks. interested to hear your thoughts on what the recent announcement that no more orders are being taken for T6.1's will do to used prices? (I'm talking about panel vans for conversion really, I believe you can still order a Cali). Used prices will probably go up I'd imagine...

[@moibelgium7636]

Well, we sold our 31 year old t4 westfalia california for almost double what we paid ourselves 10 years before. High prices are here to stay. I don't think the price of a new one will drop (we'll see what the completely new vw california will cost); they have gone up like crazy the last few years. Used ones will continue to be very expensive even with an expected increase in used calis due to many disappointing experiences after the purchase from people during the pandemic. But they are still worth the money because what you have is unlike any other converted small campervan. It also replaces your daily transport and is therefore worth two cars. And they are great to travel with 😉

[@lgx2410]

Incredible you made a small profit on the vehicle! I'd love to see you do the same calculations with the current prices of VW Calis, and see whether you think it is affordable. When I look at the figures, I'm just totally put off. E.g. £85k Ocean, say £10k deposit, maybe I manage to get a £7k discount. The GFV after 4 years is about 40k. But that's still an enormous monthly amount on PCP and the total amount with ~ 9% apr is huge. There's an example on Autotrader of a new Cali with £25k deposit and it gets the monthly PCP figure down to about £770. 🤦‍♀

[@rickyard11]

I pick up our Beach tomorrow and hope to enjoy it, if not we haven’t lost any money by the sounds of it.

[@ABusAndBeyond]

Nice 👍 Enjoy your new adventures

[@richardturner681]

Hi Sean - great video as always! Very difficult to guess but what is your view on how prices are likely to pan out now that VW have closed the order book on on the Transporter 6.1?

[@SunnyUplands]

I enjoyed the video. I think you've been very astute and lucky. Timing is everything.

[@ABusAndBeyond]

Totally agree! Thanks glad you enjoyed it!

[@columcreaven8860]

They really do hold their value, you bought your Vans at the right time, the crafter is the way to go but not for everyday use, love the video's.

[@ABusAndBeyond]

Thank you so much!

[@richardsracingmad]

Well done, you Bought and (probably Sold?) it at the right time! I think your bling helped it sell fast, like the wheels. Also…..I’m not sure how many peeps would have been keen on buying a vehicle privately for around £60k ( again, in your circumstances/ having a YT channel with content on the van may have helped you to sell it privately??, but if you were Joe Public it may be more difficult to sell a £60k bus privately.)

[@GedandMichele]

Interesting. Have seen a few references to reports that VW prices have topped out and started to soften. Everything has it peak. You couldn't get road and mountain bikes during the pandemic. Now the sector is over stocked and prices falling quite considerably. When it eventually turns up it will be 1st vehicle I've owned that will immediately appreciate in value.

[@jacquelinesim9578]

Interesting! If you’ve got the finance to buy even better. It’s just a shame that the prices have risen so much to put them out of reach in the first place for some 😢 It’s just the best holiday though 😁

[@lucygodfrey2964]

Great video xx

[@ABusAndBeyond]

Thank you 😊

[@ROBOLT21]

We bought an approved used Beach from VW just as covid hit (2018 with 6k miles on the clock with LED headlights) for £34k which was an amazing price. We sold it privately a year later for 44k. We then saw the same van 1 year later being sold by VW again for 53k. I couldn't believe my eyes.

[@ABusAndBeyond]

Wow!!! That’s incredible

[@JoolsUK]

Thats mental!

[@matauboy]

The point is you make a nice profit when you sell your current van but if you want to replace it you are going to have pay a much higher price for that. Also assuming that prices will stay high is a bit risky. After COVID house prices here in NZ went through the roof. Now interest rates have soared and house prices are dropping and people are losing their equity.

[@moibelgium7636]

In Europe (and UK) prices of houses never drop; they only go up 🤷‍♂️ Selling a young second hand cali and making a profit is normal nowadays (but not that logical). If you sell an older cali and you don’t make a profit cannot be a bad thing because you used it all these years so quite normal: the value drops but: prices have gone up for years now (never gone down) so it is possible you do make a profit if you sell it. It is what it is. Prices will keep being high: this is Europe 😉 If I see prices for a premium make car, I cannot believe those so a california isn’t that expensive if you think about it.. one car with two obvious possibilities: daily use and for travel.

[@pharmacistsdoitoverthecoun5012]

13% discount on DtD currently on Cali's

[@RollingwithTheRobsons]

Very honest. Makes me have palpitations that kind of payment. That is more than 2 cars and a caravan on three payments. I like the vw but it’s insanely over priced. Can buy a big tag for similar money. I suppose that can’t be used as day vehicle.

[@moibelgium7636]

palpitations? 😮😂 People pay crazy money for a star or rings in the front or their car or a cool look or the forced new future, the electric car but the price of a california gives them heart palpitations. Sorry that I laugh. We are not rich but saved for it and left our passenger car with vw and can only conclude that it was one of the best moves in our lives. Also cheaper than having a motorhome and a daily vehicle. Do you want one? Can you afford it? Then buy one. You’ll be cured from those palpitations 😉🌈 Only joking, of course, but think about it: is that price really that crazy? Or are the passenger car prices crazy?

[@welloilbeefhooked4984]

My monthly payment was £180 a month for my VW California Ocean🤣 My weekly shopping comes to that much(got greedy kids)

[@alexg4015]

I think prices will stay high, if they ever bring in the petrol/diesel ban and only start flogging electric, I think used petrol and diesel prices will be ultra high as they will be in demand

[@welloilbeefhooked4984]

Recently sold my T6.1 California Ocean, paid £65k for it which was sourced through AutoeBid, took delivery of it November 2022, and i recently sold it to another dealer last week for £71k. Nice £6k profit, for pratically taking delivery and selling it back. I only sold it after seeing your video of you selling your California to the dealer and thought id give it a look into, was suprised when they offered more then i paid.

[@ABusAndBeyond]

Nice work 👍

[@peterclose9073]

Worth doing it yourself on autotrader. I priced it competitively and sold it in 3 days for a £4K profit. Dealers were offering 6-8k less.

[@welloilbeefhooked4984]

@@peterclose9073 Mine had 400 miles on the clock, it was sat on the drive, we have holidays already booked, and it just wasn't getting used, it was quick easy sale, I did consider trying to sell on Auto Trader but i always against trying to sell expensive vehicles privately as I always thought people would rather go-to dealers for finance/dealer facilities etc.

[@hmi1750]

I am interested in this, as you sold it, but did you replace it? was the replacement then also an upgrade or a saving? I had an Alhambra I sold and the prices then shot up during COVID, so now to buy one is far more expensive.

[@andystone5487]

Second hand cars are going through the roof.... On another channel, an 18 year old Golf (low mileage and mint condition) was valued @ 5k.....😳

[@adno1965]

I don't think it's a profit because nowadays, you can't buy California at the same price as 2 years ago

[@MrC2958]

What did you do with the standard wheels and suspension?

[@ABusAndBeyond]

The wheels were sold privately when we got the new wheels and the standard suspension went with the Cali

[@LFCNZ82]

Hi Sean. Thanks for sharing. The options that added up to £6,800, did that include the nice alloys you fitted to the van? If not, how much were those and does that change it from a profit to a loss? Thanks

[@ABusAndBeyond]

No that didn’t include the alloys and suspension so if you include them it is a loss

[@bernardscott1783]

Blimey was it 2 years ago. Remember it well

[@ABusAndBeyond]

It’s gone quick hasn’t it

[@peterford9674]

A very interesting summary of the cost of owning a VW campervan. At the start of Covid we had our holiday to Whitby cancelled and a friend who had a campervan suggested we hire one for a week, which we did. It was a year old T6 and we toured Norfolk & Lincolnshire & enjoyed it but found a few things we didn’t like, like the rock & roll bed took up all the room & it was difficult to get to the kitchen etc & no loo. I enquired about buying a new one to be told order now & get it in 18months time! Fortunately our friend had a Bilbo Nexa which make into 2 single beds using the front seats & gives you plenty of access to everything. I managed to find a 15 year old one with an auto gearbox, cruise control & a microwave! So far we have been all around Scotland & most of the rest of the UK & love it. I should add we are both over 70 and had many years of sailing boats so we are use to living in small spaces. Peter & Jan

[@mrstephenparryfromportsunl3111]

now you got rid of one of your campervans what vehicles do you on your fleet in all I know you were talking about your Tesla any others on on the fleet and your little son is not growing up fast and look like 5-minutes we saw him as a baby on KZbin

[@ABusAndBeyond]

We now own the Crafter, Tesla and Dacia 👍

[@gaz5663]

53 grand for a van, people have more money than sense!