New VW Camper - Volkswagen California 2019 in-depth review 

To everyone saying this has a shower, what I meant is that it doesn't have a built-in one with warm water. You can get a shower hose option to hook up to the water supply. But you have to shower outside and the water is cold. Lovely...

People dream about lamborginis, rolls royces, bmws and benz etc... But this is my dream vehicle.

It's a silly name.... I would prefer something like Volkswagen Mönchengladbach...

You got it all wrong. Buy a tent or a motorhome? A motorhome can not be used for anything else than camping. This cali i can use for camping, away days football, a day to the beach. I can use it as a daily car. Gone fishing, taking my mbt along, I can do my shopping and park almost everywhere. I can park it at home easely. And it drives way better and cheaper than a motorhome. And when i want a hotel with a nice bed, i drive to a nice hotel and park my cali in front of it. This is the whole point of the cali. Freedom. It can do all you want. Where a motorhome is only useful for long holidays. I can be in spain, next day italy if i would like. Now, do that with a motorhome. Have fun driving, parking etc.

What happened to that olive oil? You said more on that later, don't leave us hanging with a bottle of olive oil Mat!!!!

'You often think you'd be better off with just a large tent' And everyone who's ever tried camping knows at an instant that you have absolutely no clue what you are talking about :)

VW California: _has features_ *Doug DeMuro would like to know your location*

"The storage is actually not baddd" *proceeds to show 47 storage compartments within arms reach*

Perfect van for Vegan nomadic yoga instructor 👌🏼🧘🏻‍♂

Vw Sleep- the license plate 😂

Mat. We had a 6m camper with all the bells and whistles for twelve years and down sized to a California. Do not ask me to reason why but we absolutely love it and love spending time in it. It is not something you can reason out. I agree on so many levels with a lot of your criticism but generations who have owned a VW camper will only tell you they love it. You have to own one to know what I am talking about. If I had to sum it up in one word it would be "freedom".

I love the honesty of this review. When Mat said “avoid”, I burst out laughing, I was that surprised - he’s the first professional reviewer that I’ve heard say so. And I say that as someone who is looking at buying a campervan the size of a California. There must be some people who buy one and wish they hadn’t - who romanticise about living in such a small space and then decide it doesn’t work for them.

Here’s the big twist, they don’t sell it in California, nor rest of the United States

60k and they give you halogen headlights?!

Your reviews are far better than all the others. Well done Matt🧐

I think people comparing this to hotels isn't giving it justice. The point is to be able to travel anywhere at anytime and it's actually more luxurious than camping. The amount of innovation on this thing is incredible. Yes the price is steep, but will be a bargain when depreciation hits and you buy one that is 5 years old :)

The cost of camper vans is criminal! £60K??? Why does adding a sink, a couple of beds, some gas piping and a water tank to a van make it cost £60k? Bonkers.

Drag race this against Yianny's Aventador S, I've got my money on this.

Impressive!

This was fun to watch! I love the cute humor and the honest end :)

I would just get the normal van and take all my other camping gear with it, Actually wait: that is what we are doing.

What an amazing van. It's like a swiss army knives.

Respect to Mat Watson . not scared of the manufacturers ,the fact you just tell straight is a rarity . Keep up the good work .

Apart from some features like the electric roof, this rolling pile of money is exactly the same as my grandparent's 1995 California...

It does have a toilet, it’s disguised as a window washer fluid bottle under the bonnet, it takes number ones AND twos!

this van has more features and is of better quality than my college dorm

I’ve got one of these and yes VW charge a fortune but resell values are also extremely high so you really need to consider the cost of ownership and not the cost of purchase. You really didn’t use the vehicle the way it’s intended. You wouldn’t remove the rear parcel shelf and push the seats back whilst camping. You remove the rear parcel shelf and move the seats forward if you need the vehicle to become a van with a large load in the back. The beauty of the Califiorna is its versatility, on a recent drive to work the RDS was reporting two hour delays up ahead so Ieft the motorway at the nearest junction, pulled over, got the laptop out on the table and made a brew whilst I waited for the traffic to clear. Try doing that in a car with a tent in the boot! You rushed this review and clearly was misinformed, that net in the boot is not for securing luggage or to be used as a dog screen, it’s actually used if children sleep in the pop top roof and prevents them from falling out.

They have literally thought of everything with this van.

yes! never thought you'd review this, thank you!

Interesting take on a camper van from (I’m assuming) someone who doesn’t have or regularly uses a camper. The key to it is flexibility. Finish work, jump in, and get away for a day or two without any planning (hopefully). Yes, even for a camper van, it’s expensive. But there is peace of mind with VW backup and it’s well put together (in comparison).

He missed the point, it’s versatile car, for traveling, outdoor activity, ocasional one night sleep with possibility to prepare simple food or hot drink and still daily driver.. This is my dream company car😀.I drive a lot, trips up to 500miles a day. 3 times a week in high season. Many times i had to stop and sleep in the car,, coz I could’t go any further, I was falling asleep. If you spend 12-18 hrs on work trip in one day, you woud appriciate this comfortable van.

humorous, just enough details and objective, I like it. cool dude

Lots of stuff in this tiny van. love it

I'm in love with this thing😭😭😭

I like the idea that it's stealthy. It has a low profile. if you didn't pop the top you could pull into any parking lot, have a sandwich and a nap you nobody would now the difference.

Another brilliant review Matt!

Great review as always Matt. I love these things... The two tone retro paint work just adds to it (at a crazy price) I enjoyed this review more than the sports cars... But the price of the vehicle .... Ooouch!!!! They really are getting so expensive...

It has a shower in the rear near the storage for propaine gas. It's literally right on top of it. I really wish this was in the USA

We have ordered our one, can't wait! I suppose it is all depending on your need, it is not large, no build in toilet or shower compare to a proper campervan or caravan BUT it is easy to drive, 4 motion (this is great for New Zealand's twisty and gravel roads), car alike which you can go to almost all parking buildings, travel around the city with ease and - so much fun with kids etc. We have shopped around couple of years to decide what to buy - caravans, proper motorhomes but this best fits our needs. The only downside I would say is its price. However as Matt mentioned, these things hold there value quite well. Good review as always!

ON FIRE!!! About the show pumping out quality content

I was I bit disappointed when I thought the roof didn't have a bed put then (pauses dramatically) plot twist it did

A lot of hate for this california but I think it's awesome. Come on guys I know it's expensive but don't knock vw for making something unique.

We bought an 8 person tent with a porch this year for a family of 6. It was a great investment (and I'm not a camper at all, liking my comfort). We also bought all the paraphernalia that's required for camping. All told, it was less than a grand. The tent is one of those inflatable tents so it takes about 10 minutes to put it up. The total floor space is about 25 square metres, which is loads. A far better deal than this type of camper van. Camp sites have all the facilities these days anyway.

Finally a great vehicle tutorial channel that isn't American

Oh god, that dashboard... Who else watcing this in 2000?

the car of my dreams.

BEST VIDEO SO FAR

The net has nothing to do with a dog Matt, it for the pop top to prevent children falling and injuring themselves. The dashboard top loading storage box is lost and replaced by a speaker if the top audio system is chosen

Hotel California...over priced, but able to keep you outside.

£60k+ for this van, yet you get a better infotainment system and parking sensors as standard in a polo ! Rip off.

Waited so long for this

This guy is an amaizing car presenter. Enjoying your reviews.

That is so cool for travelling and touring

Can you do a review on the Mercedes Marco Polo so we can see how they stack up against one another?

Hahaha “I’m going to the bushes for no2” this guy is hilarious 😂

It's awesome. I want one!

If was able to spend that much money on an automobile, I will definitely buy one of these instead of a sports car.

Updated 23-window van.

We have this vw campervan. And it is very good. We use it for everything . And it is just not too small and not too big. And lovely to go camping in it

I just love this VW. 👍👍

This MPV is pretty pretty good

So...what do you do with your luggage and bits and bobs you put behind the rear seats when you slide that rear seat back? Stick it all in the living space to trip over?

Mat have the best job in the world!🤩👍🏻🔥

These are good for a pretty good reason. The transporter is quite low so it might get on a ferry as a normal car. And many places have no campers allowed to park but these you can park in any mall.

when can we see the e63s vs m5 competition drag race??

This somehow reminds me of that caravan holiday episode from the old Top Gear 😂

your reviews are so spot on

Can you please make a reviews in Grand California 680 and 600? Thanks mate.

I prefer my old rusty vw 1976 tin top bus :)

Staying in B&B’s is not the magic of camping. This guy has no passion for the great outdoors so is the wrong person to do the review. Also he was being handling the VW roughly. To have any credibility the California needs to be reviewed by a Motorhome/ camper enthusiast who can compare and contrast across the spectrum of available models. I felt frustrated watching this review.

It's got the best name a vehicle has been given in a long, long while!

God i want a VW camper so bad! It's great that theyre still making them!

Nice honest review and not someone blowing smoke up vw arse

When a car named the “California” isn’t sold in California 🤔

This is now my favourite campervan

Fun video and great introduction of the van

The whole saying goes "A jack of all trades is a master of none but better than a master of one." I just learned about this this week, thought I'd share it.

I love it, I need incase I lose my house 😂

At first I thought wow, that's cool. It'd be awesome to have a second, go anywhere home for travelling then I realised that's about $120k in New Zealand. You could certainly stay in some nice hotels for a long time with that much $$

This thing is amazingggg!!!!!! VW has made the best camp van

It’s lovely ! .....but eye watering expensive ! ....

I disagree that it’s uncomfortable I spent the weekend in one with the wife and little girl it was great our one wasn’t this one it was a 2016 conversion one

4:10 And where exactly do you put your luggage as you push the back seats backwards?

Love the reg!

Bang Bang Car.. 😂😂😂😂

California WAS the benchmark, but now Mercedes Marco Polo took the show from VW. ...and It is way cooler if you build your own camper based on old van - there are mental ones on a 5th of this price...

To people thinking about purchasing one of these but wondering about toilet facilities, never fear as I have the answer! Just pish in the sink! (I sometimes do that at home so no great hardship there), and if you need a 'number two', then you can still use the sink, just fill the sink with water first (or pish), and use a Kenwood hand blender to transform solids into a soup like consistency, which will easily drain away. Voila! P.s. If you are thinking about buying an ex-rental model from a certain dealer in Scotland then you might want to get a qualified mechanic to double check the waste water tank area. Thanks

Where's the water source coming from ?

The name of the van is called California, it is not even available in the US market

Next give beans to mercedes sprinter trimo VIP

the california is so great that you feel like using it as a daily driver really (as long as you don't need to parallel park)

Director: "Matt stop bossing everyone about so much I'm the boss here" Matt: *drops plates* "someone else can clean that up"

I missed the bit where a van became more expensive than an actual house.

But can you cook meth in it? Asking for a mate

Is this the first time he actually gave a car an "avoid"? :) Fun to watch as always.

With this pandemic looking like it's here to stay , this VW looks increasingly attractive since communal hotels may not be the safest . The agility of a car meets the practicality of a Camper Van.

It boggles the mind how anyone would buy one of these over a proper camper

Volkswagen is the type of car manufacturer who put the same steering wheel on all of their car models for many, many years.

Enjoying this review while it's rainink

Is the tentrail included or is it an add on? Can,t find that info online...