• Diesel exceeds official figures
• PHEV will appeal to company car users
• First-rate build quality

What are the running costs?

According to the official WLTP figures, the diesel Volkswagen California returns average fuel economy of 40.7mpg to 42.2mpg, depending on model. That’s exactly what we saw over the course of a 1,200-mile test taking in a wide variety of roads. But we saw 49mpg on a motorway run with an average speed of around 50mph. That’s pretty exceptional for a vehicle of this size and weight. Note that the old T6 California manages 30-or-so miles per gallon.

The petrol California claims 30.2mpg to 30.7mpg which seems plausible to us. The 282.5mpg achieved by the plug-in hybrid California eHybrid in official testing is less plausible but experience of the same powertrain in other vehicles suggest it could beat the diesel’s economy, if you regularly recharge the battery. Which would be worth doing if it can get anywhere close to the claimed 53 miles of electric-only range. And CO2 emissions of 22g/km mean it doesn’t cost much in benefit-in-kind company car taxes.

All Californias are registered as cars, therefore don’t benefit from the lower vehicle excise duty rates ‘motor caravans’ enjoy. Indeed, the diesel and petrol produce quite a lot of CO2, and incur pretty steep first-year VED rates. Diesels cost over £2,000, petrols over £3,000. After that, you’re onto a lower flat-rate annual fee, plus the additional ‘expensive car’ charge from the vehicle’s first through sixth birthdays.

Check out our Volkswagen California specs pages to see all the economy and emissions figures for every model.

5

Servicing and warranty

You can get a California serviced at any Volkswagen Vans centre; prices aren’t the cheapest, but you don’t need to sit down before looking at the bill. Volkswagen’s standard warranty lasts three years or 60,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Reliability

• Made with well-proven components
• Living space feels solidly built
• No recalls as yet

The California is made with many of the same mechanical and electrical components as literally dozens of other VW Group cars and there are no real reliability concerns. Certainly, we’re not aware of horror stories relating to cars built in the same period as the California.

VW’s Hanover factory is very well-regarded for the built quality it achieves with the California and our experience backs up that reputation. Everything feels extremely solid and long-lasting, from the big bits of joinery to the smallest clips.