Written by Graham King and CJ Hubbard Updated: 5 August 2025

• Vast passenger space
• Decent cupboard space
• Fully crash-tested

How much space is there?

The latest Volkswagen California is based on the long-wheelbase version of the VW Multivan MPV – which Parkers named Seven-seater of the Year in our 2023 New Car Awards – and it has a massive amount of passenger space. Beach models have five seats, Coast and Ocean have four. Up front, there’s acres of leg, head and shoulder room, the feeling of space aided by the absence of a centre console. Indeed, some smaller members of the Parkers team felt a little lost in the vastness. Notably, shoulder room is more generous than in the old Transporter-based California. You sit in a less upright position, as well, which is more comfortable.

In the back, each passenger has an individual seat. They’re on rails to slide fore and aft to wherever you want them. They can also be removed from the vehicle entirely – not the easiest of tasks as they weigh 22kg – or you could position them in tandem to slot in a really long load. That flexibility means you can give passengers as much – or as little – legroom as needed. There’s ample shoulder room for adults to sit next to each other, as well.

Volkswagen California boot space and storage

Volkswagen doesn’t quote boot capacity figures for the California – or the Multivan for that matter. That’s because the back seats slide backwards and forwards to wherever you need them and can be removed entirely (also folded forwards or backwards), so exact numbers would only be notional. However, there are some figures that give an idea of just how much space there is.

Take everything movable out of the back and the California can take loads up to 2,625mm long and 1,312mm tall – more than enough for most bikes. In fact, an adult bike will about fit just with the back seats moved all the way forwards. The entry-level Beach model doesn’t have built-in storage, so has the full 1,330mm boot width, as well.

In Coast and Ocean models, that width is down to around 1,000mm. Those models have a removeable bed platform – a fairly heavy, cumbersome thing – with about 350mm of clearance underneath. You could also stack stuff on top of the platform, but it has to be moved come bedtime.

The California’s tailgate takes some considerable effort to close, even if you’re reasonably strong. That’s because the gas struts holding it up are strong enough to take the weight of several bikes, so there’s a lot of resistance to overcome. 

Petrol and diesel models have a towing capacity of 2,000kg, while the plug-in hybrid is rated at 1,600kg.

There’s a vast amount of storage space up front in the California. All the seats have a drawer in the base. There are deep door bins plus a non-slip tray below the handle. In the dashboard, there’s a generous glovebox and a letterbox-type slot above it where we kept biscuits. There’s another lidded compartment in the top of the dashboard – useful for pens and passes – and a phone tray below the air vents. Below that, a section of the dashboard hinges down to reveal two cupholders and another non-slip tray. Both back doors have huge bins, as well – be careful what you put in them, there’s not much clearance to the body panels as they slide open.

How much built-in storage is there?

The base-model California Beach has a kitchenette unit in the boot that includes two drawers and an open storage area. There’s not a vast amount of space between them, but it’s sufficient for a day-long family adventure.

Coast and Ocean models have built-in cupboards on the left-hand side. At the front, extending into the rear door opening, there’s a deep drawer-type fridge below the kitchen unit. Above that, you’ll find the cutlery drawer and a small cupboard, then two more cupboards further towards the rear – both with two shelves. At the far end – only accessible with the boot open – there’s a small corner cupboard, again with two shelves. There’s also a drop-down overhead locker above the boot and a segmented fabric storage bag over the rearmost right-hand window.

Without measuring the cubic capacity of the cupboards, we get the feeling there’s not quite as much cupboard space here as in the old T6 California, not least because that had a very large drawer under the rear bench seat. Still, between the boot and cupboards, we found enough space for just about everything a couple needs for a few days away. Though large, awkwardly shaped items had to go in the rear passenger space and needed moving around frequently – you’ll come up with better solutions than we did with experience.

The built-in storage is always somewhat compromised in any camper of this type, just because of the vehicle’s relatively small size. Still, VW’s designers seem to have got as much out of the California’s interior volume as could be reasonably expected. Certainly, we feel there’s more storage here than in rival campers.

Is it easy to park?

The California’s a big vehicle. Indeed, at 5.2 metres long it’s about 20cm longer than the old T6 version. It’s also 2.0 metres wide, so it barely fits in many carpark spaces. But find a space big enough and it’s actually relatively easy to slot the California in.

You have a near-panoramic view from the driver’s seats, the door mirrors give a wide-angle view, all models have front and rear parking sensors while Coast and Ocean versions get a reversing camera. Crucially, at a smidge under 2.0 metres tall, the vehicle will fit into most multi-storey car parks.

How safe is it?

• Fully crash-tested
• Multivan has five Euro NCAP stars
• Lots of safety tech

The California is one of very few campervans to be fully crash-tested, so the built-in cupboards should stay in one piece in all but very severe impacts. The vehicle hasn’t been assessed by safety body Euro NCAP, however the VW Multivan it’s based on was in 2022, scoring five stars. That was under now-obsolete assessment criteria so that rating isn’t directly comparable with more recent cars, but it’s still a very safe vehicle.

Lots of driver assistance tech is fitted as standard including autonomous emergency braking, land keeping assist, traffic sign recognition, and driver attention monitoring. We found the systems aren’t especially intrusive, but they’re easily turned off from the infotainment system if you want. Isofix child seat mounts are fitted to all the California’s back seats.