Volkswagen Grand California Review 2024

The Volkswagen Grand California is not a vehicle you buy because you need it, but it will rightly feature on lots of people’s wish lists. There are very few direct rivals to it, with most campervans created by aftermarket companies that buy a base van and build onto it from scratch. The Grand California is the only one that you can get with the reassurance that it was built by Volkswagen itself.

It might not have the individuality of an aftermarket creation, but it’s modern, well-built and well-designed inside and out. If ease-of-use and reassurance are things you want from a vehicle that could take you many many miles from home then the Volkswagen Grand California could be just the thing.

The 600 and the 680 versions are more than just two trim levels. Due to the extra weight in the latter, you won’t be legally allowed to drive it on a standard driving licence if you passed your test after 1 January 1997 – you’ll need to take an extra test to get a C1 licence.

The 680 might come with a bit more length to give you a bigger bed and a slightly larger kitchen area, but the 600 has the added bonus of an extra over-cab bed that is perfect for kids. So long as you or your partner aren’t very tall then the 600 makes more all-round sense and is better value for money.

There is only one engine on offer in the Volkswagen Grand California, so it matters not which one you go for – it will come with a 2.0-litre diesel and an eight-speed automatic gearbox regardless.

There aren’t any direct rivals to the Volkswagen Grand California – you can’t walk into, say, Ford or Mercedes and buy a motorhome. Instead, you are looking at buying a base van and then taking it to a converter, or just buying straight from a company that has taken care of the process.

If you want something created by a manufacturer then the only other options are the slightly smaller Volkswagen California or the Ford Transit Custom Nugget that was created in partnership with Westfalia.

The interior of the Grand California is inspired, Volkswagen says, by a luxury yacht. We'd argue it is more like an upmarket airline cabin. This means that you get an interior that is more minimalist and clinical in its style. Instead of carpeted comfort you get wood-effect vinyl and lots of white surfaces that are easy to wipe clean.

The Volkswagen Grand California is designed for family life, so there is a feeling of robustness to the various elements in the living area. The ladder up to the top bunk, the doors on the kitchen and the various lockers all around the back all have a reassuring heft to them. The drawers have a soft-close action and the lighting is designed to be soft and backlit rather than bright and harsh. 

Practicality isn’t forgotten, with the cabin getting a rubber floor, which might not be as luxurious as carpet but it will be a great deal easier to clean out if you jump into the driver’s seat after a weekend at a muddy festival or a trip to the beach.

You get the same standard kit on both models, so there are no extra touches of quality when you go for the bigger version, just extra space. The options list only adds useful functions rather than extra luxury, so if you want to make the Volkswagen Grand California feel homelier then it is down to how you decorate it.

Up front, the Volkswagen Grand California gets a high-spec standard-fit navigation system with an eight-inch touchscreen. This also comes with Volkswagen’s App-Connect as standard so you can plug in your phone and use that as a satellite navigation or listen to your own music or podcasts. However, while the navigation system is easy to use and colourful, it doesn't automatically factor in the Volkswagen Grand California's huge size. This means you need to be mindful of narrow lanes and height restrictions when planning your journey.

The rear of the cabin gets a separate touchscreen panel that allows you to control the various functions, including the heater, the water supply and the batteries. It also allows you to turn off the lights in the upper sleeping area if the kids won’t settle down.

There are many more plug sockets than you would get in an ordinary car or van, too, with six USB sockets for charging phones, four 230V sockets – two in the kitchen, one under the seating bench and one at the rear – and one 12V socket. You can also turn the Volkswagen Grand California into a Wi-Fi hotspot, but this needs a data SIM and will cost extra.

The one thing that is missing is an oven, so there’s no chance of settling down for a full Sunday roast.

As well as the two front seats, both versions get a small bench seat that acts as your sofa when you’re parked up and as your extra passenger room. There’s only space for four, though, so you can’t take any guests along for a ride if you have four people away on holiday together. 

Both of the rear seats get three-point belts and ISOFIX fittings though, which means you can take a two-parent, two-child family away on your break. It goes without saying that legroom is excellent, particularly for the rear passengers, and you can walk into the van to fit those car seats, which is easier than reaching in through the door.

The swivelling front seats get plenty of room around them, allowing you to move between them to get from the front of the cabin to the rear without leaving the van. The space in the back is good, although some taller campers may occasionally catch their head on some of the overhead fixtures.

Storage, however, is excellent. There isn’t a boot as such but there are 180 litres of storage under the bed, 70 litres of space in the fridge, plenty of storage for towels and cosmetics in the bathroom, and places to slot the table and chairs away.

There are clever space saving tricks in the bathroom, too, like the fact that the sink folds away when it isn’t needed and the shower head doubles up as the tap. The cupboard under the sink has a toilet roll holder tucked away inside it to keep the paper dry. The rest of the living area has lots of handy cupboards, too, meaning you can tuck valuables and clothes away from sight while parked up, and to stop them flying around on the move.

Volkswagen includes several features to help you make the most of the outside of the van while parked, too – there is a mosquito net that fits over the sliding door, a camping table and two folding chairs and an optional awning that provides a bit of shade (or rain protection) outside the main side door.

You don’t get a spare wheel with the Volkswagen Grand California – instead it comes with a tyre sealant kit and an inflator.

The Volkswagen Grand California dimensions are 5980mm long, 2004mm wide and 2970mm high for the 600 and 6800mm long, 2004mm wide and 2840mm tall for the 680.

The engine range is another area where there is little to worry about on the Volkswagen Grand California – there is just the one available. This is a 177PS 2.0-litre twin-turbo diesel engine with 410Nm of torque, which is an excellent unit.

This engine is the most powerful available in the Volkswagen Crafter range, chosen because the Volkswagen Grand California is heavy enough that it is essentially a fully-laden Crafter, so it needs the extra oomph. This torque comes handily low down, too, with it arriving between 1500rpm and 2000rpm, so you don’t need to get the revs up if you need to tow anything or get up any steep hills.

It is as powerful as you could hope for in a camper of this size and it accelerates with a handy amount of urgency – it won’t be the camper that is holding up all the bank holiday traffic.

There is also only the one gearbox available, which is an eight-speed automatic. It is quick to respond, dropping down a gear or two if you need a burst of acceleration.

The Volkswagen Grand California is shaped a bit like a brick, so it’s inevitable that there will be a bit of wind noise, but it is surprisingly little at high speeds. The raised roof on the version with the extra bed will kick up a bit more noise, but the insulation in the cabin is sufficient to keep the worst of it out. 

The solid nature of the interior means that you won’t get much in the way of squeaks and rattles from the living quarters. You’re more likely to hear the things you have stored in the back moving around than any of the panels, and the soft-close drawers and many cubby holes mean that that is not very likely either.

The engine gets a bit raucous when you accelerate rapidly, but again the Grand California is better than many motorhomes on this front and having soft furnishings and fittings in the back helps soak up the noise.

The walls, floor and roof are all insulated in the back, too, although the modern design of the Volkswagen Grand California means that the floors are hard rather than carpeted. Some softer floor coverings might deaden the sound a little more.

The Volkswagen Grand California’s standard safety kit is decent, with adaptive cruise control, a driver alert system, city emergency braking, hill hold control and driver and passenger airbags. It is a shame that you have to pay extra to get curtain airbags, though.

You also get crosswind assist as standard, which will provide reassurance to those that are less used to driving such a big vehicle. This monitors when you have been blown off course by a gust of wind and corrects the vehicle to keep you going in the direction you intended. Front and rear parking sensors are also included.

It’s a real shame that so much of the clever tech is only optional, though. You can get a blind spot monitor with rear traffic alert, a high beam assist system, park assist, lane keep assist and more, but you have to pay for all of them. Some are bundled together in a pack, which makes it easier to justify, though.

There’s also no option for a spare wheel, with only a tyre inflation kit available.

The Volkswagen Grand California is based on the Volkswagen Crafter, and that has a good reliability reputation, with just a handful of issues reported to do with electronics and higher than average oil consumption.

As a brand Volkswagen finished a solid 10th out of 30 manufacturers in the HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Survey, which suggests you will be very satisfied with your Grand California.

Because the Volkswagen Grand California is classified as a motorhome and most models weigh more than the 3.5-tonne weight limit, it is not treated in the same way as cars when it comes to insurance. There are no groups as there are on cars and vans, and insurers will treat them differently as a result. As the engines are all the same, and the values are all in a similar ballpark, insuring one version of the Volkswagen Grand California should be much the same as the others.

The amount of VED that you will pay depends on whether you go for the lighter version or the one that weighs more than 3.5 tonnes. Oddly, it is the heavier of the two that is the cheaper to tax as it is classed as a private heavy goods vehicle. The lighter one is about £100 more expensive, but it is a flat rate and comparatively low compared to the car tax system. There is no penalty for the Volkswagen Grand California costing as much as it does to buy, either.

The Volkswagen Grand California 680 might provide more room inside, but the 600 is the version that is more practical, more affordable and more useable.

The 600 is one that allows you to add space for an extra two people to sleep up top. It might cost a couple of thousand pounds, but that money is worth spending and isn’t that much in relative terms on such an expensive van.

Most importantly, though, it is the version that you can drive on a standard licence. If you passed your test before 1 January 1997 then this might not worry you, but in the future the heavier version will have a smaller pool of potential buyers.