Volkswagen California review

This won’t be your usual interior section of a car review. Think Top Gear meets Grand Designs.

We’ll kick off with the bits that we’re used to. Up front, things are almost exactly as they are in the passenger Multivan, so you get two very comfortable heated captain’s chairs clad in recycled fabric (fancier trim levels see them spin around once you’re stopped, to create a proper living room ambience), a steering wheel covered in proper buttons, mostly beige trim, a 10.25-inch digital dial display and the option of a head-up display.

Unfortunately, you also have to have the 10-inch touchscreen from the pre-facelift Mk8 Volkswagen Golf, so while that car has now moved on with an updated screen, the California is stuck with slow load times, needlessly complex menu systems and unlit climate control sliders that make adjusting the cabin temperature in the dark needlessly tough. It’s a massive own goal from VW, especially now we’ve experienced its updated system in things like the facelifted Golf. Let's hope the Cali benefits soon.

Tell me about the bed situation…

We've not tried the base California Beach, which essentially adds a manually elevated double bed to the roof and roll-out gas stove to the boot of a five-seat Multivan. Perfect for larger groups and/or those who plan to bring tents and set up a base which their VW is a shuttle car for, rather than their sole accommodation on wheels. Ideal if you want to stay awhile somewhere and not lose your prime location.

In the Coast and Ocean you get four individual seats, although you can slide or remove the rears for more space and VW is proud that they now only weigh 24kg each. In the past, a rear bench would have been upwards of 80kg and owners would never remove it even if they were inclined to.

You also get two beds, so there’s sleeping space for four people. The first in the pop-up roof, raised and lowed at the touch (and hold) of a button these higher trim levles, while the second double lives in the boot space and folds forward over the seats. It’s easy enough to set up and pack away once you’ve got used to how the manual seats slide and fold. 

We’ve tried the bed up top, and although the mattress is fairly thin, it’s sprung underneath and very comfortable. Slide the hatch above the front two seats shut and it's nice and dark up there, too - though you can zip open some netted windows, to view the stars without being vulnerable to midge bites, or open the front of your attic bedroom up entirely to let the fresh air flow in.

What else is there?

All Coasts and Oceans get a full kitchenette down the left-hand side of the cabin, although because both sides now feature a sliding door, there’s no full wall to stick everything to. Instead, you get a very neat little aluminium unit that houses a large fridge drawer, a single gas hob and a small sink. The water and gas tanks sit underneath the unit and it’s all very space efficient. Just open up a door or two if you're frying breakfast...

It’s all very well thought out. For example, the fridge can be accessed directly from the side door so that there’s no need to clamber inside with your shopping. There’s even a fold out table that can be attached to each side of the unit. Outdoor veg chopping, anyone? You can store up to 29 litres of drinking water on board and releasing any waste water is a doddle, too.

Two 40Ah leisure batteries provide plenty of power for a few nights of off-grid living and can be charged via the engine (or on-site hook-up), while all Californias get a new touchscreen control unit behind the right-hand sliding door that looks after things like the interior lighting and fridge operations. It’s not the most responsive touchscreen (it's even laggier than the infotainment) but it's worth having. If your patience is too thin, you can set up a phone app to control the same functions.

How’s the storage?

Although the second bed splits the boot space, you still get plenty of storage both underneath and on top. VW quotes 4,005 litres of total luggage space and there’s easily enough room for four suitcases and a load of camping paraphernalia, particularly if you slide the rear seats forward. Legroom is not an issue.

The classic California camping chairs are still housed in the boot hatch, but now have a higher backrest to ensure they're more comfortable. The fold-out table has moved from the door to sit underneath the second bed in the boot. Saves you packing your own and eating into cabin space...

Up front there’s no more manual handbrake and no central console - handy for walking through to the back of the van - but you do get some fold out cupholders plus two gloveboxes and useful little drawers under the seats. In the rear, there’s a huge array of cupboards and drawers to lose things in. The Cali's smart, easygoing handling ensures even the clumsiest of packers shouldn't see too much of their stuff clink or clash on the move.

Any neat features I really should know about?

Volkswagen has been in this game for a long time, so there are honestly too many to mention. A few stand outs? A ‘camping mode’ switches off the exterior lighting so that you don’t light up the campsite when nature calls in the middle of the night. There’s an outdoor shower option which connects to an outlet in the boot for cleaning muddy paraphernalia - or yourself if you don't mind cold water.

Once you’ve popped the roof up, you can then push the bed almost flush against it, to give you up to 2.1m of standing room inside. Handy for getting dressed in the warm each morning. For privacy, there are roller blinds on the rear windows and magnetic covers for the front windows and windscreen. Oh, and there are USB-C sockets literally everywhere. Both bedrooms included.

Here’s a neat trick too: if you double tap any of the light switches, then all of the interior lights switch off at once, so there's no need to climb back down out of bed if you left a light on downstairs.