Volkswagen ID. Buzz vs Volkswagen California

What's the difference?

The only way to make this car cooler would be to add a split fold-out windscreen and a tube steel luggage rack on the roof.

It’s fast, super practical, comfortable and guaranteed to put a smile on the face of premium family buyers ready to go for something different. And that smile will extend to just about everyone who lays eyes on it. I love it.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

A van like this is the envy of campgrounds, and with a fully warranted set of cosy extras, it’s ready to roll from day one, too.

As a weekender the California Beach is ideal, and one of its most appealing attributes is how easily it can also be packed up and used for day-to-day duties when you’re not out adventuring on the road.

Keep in mind for longer term touring you’ll need a fair bit of extra kit to make this California as capable as some rivals, and there’s always Trakka waiting for you if you want to spend more coin.

The ID.Buzz GTX is characterised by a unique front bumper with new integrated daytime running lights near its outer edges and a narrower black honeycomb grille. 

GTX badging and the exterior mirror housings are finished in high-gloss black, and 21-inch alloy wheels are standard.

The rich ‘Cherry Red’ solid paint finish of the launch test car is exclusive to the GTX and it’s a fair bet many buyers will stump up the extra $4K required for a two-tone treatment, in this case with ‘Mono Silver’ as the highlight colour.

The interior is familiar ID.Buzz territory, with the long, broad dashtop pushing the windscreen and small front windows beside it into a quintessentially Kombi ‘bay window’-style design.

A 12-inch central multimedia screen sits proud of the multi-layered dash, and a slick 5.3-inch LCD instrument and car data display is fixed in front of the driver.

A black headliner dials up the sporty feel, the electric front seats are a GTX-specific design and the synthetic diamond pattern microfleece trim is highlighted by red contrast stitching and piping. 

The red cross-stitching extends to the steering wheel and smile-inducing stainless steel ‘play’ and ‘pause’ symbols on the accelerator and brake pedals are retained.

The sub-zero cool exterior design manages to merge with a more restrained and practical interior perfectly. VW has solid retro form with the ‘New Beetle’ from the 1990s and this primo ID.Buzz looks amazing. It drew an instant crowd of curious onlookers every time we stopped. 

The California Beach does offer an iconic slice of VW’s historic Kombi aesthetic, modernised to its current range. While the two-tone paint is a remarkably expensive option, it does seal the #vanlife deal.

Two-tone paint or not, though, you could do much worse in terms of aesthetics than the Transporter 6.1, which is about as graceful as commercial vehicles come with its now-giant chrome embossed grille, matching painted bodywork, appealing little alloy wheels, and with the LED light package fitted, a contemporary shine profile at night.

The California Beach also hides its status as a camper well, blending in with other people movers and commercial vehicles in traffic with the slight hint given away by its branding and the awning hanging off one side.

The pop-up tent option in our test car is invisible from the outside, and with the seats in their default position, it could be any passenger-oriented van on the road.

More on that later, but the interior, too, brings much of the comfort and aesthetic from the rest of VW’s passenger car range.

Those who want to use this as a multi-role vehicle when they’re not camping will be pleased by its up-to-date interior appointments, with the pragmatic but attractive leather-bound VW wheel shared with other current products, as well as the option of the ever-impressive ‘Digital Cockpit’ dash.

The seats are aesthetically pleasing, with the only giveaway this is a commercial vehicle being the hard plastics with a more rugged pattern across the dash and doors in place of the usual soft materials which adorn Volkswagen passenger cars.

As subtle and sensible as the California may be though, there was no doubt it was instantly recognised at the campground, with owners of other Transporters, Trakkas, and other campervans coming to have a look at a model they clearly knew of.

The ID.Buzz GTX is offered in shorter wheelbase variants with five- and six-seat configurations for other markets, but here it’s seven seats and long-wheelbase only.

At close to five metres long and just under two metres wide, it’s road-trip ready with heaps of breathing room for all seven occupants.

Placement of the gearshift on the right-hand side of the steering column frees up extra space in the front and there’s heaps of storage including a moveable (and removable) centre console unit between the front seats with pull-out drawers at either end, two trays in each door (the lower one offering room for multiple large bottles), a decent glove box and a fold-out dual cupholder unit.

There’s also an oddments shelf in front of the passenger, a wireless device charging slot in the dash and adjustable fold-down armrests on both sides of the front seats.

Pull the handle on the power-opening sliding side doors and the second row opens up with three seating positions offering hectares of room in all directions. 

This row can be moved 200mm longitudinally if a turf war erupts with those in the third row. And storage is great with two pockets and a fold out table on each front seatback as well as huge door bins with waste baskets included. There are also adjustable vents with temperature control in the roof.

There’s enough head and legroom for adults in the third row although the backrest is relatively upright. Even access is straightforward and there are numerous storage trays, cupholders, air vents and storage slots back there.

Power across the cabin runs to two USB-C ports in the dash, another in the front passenger area and four USB-C charging sockets in the rear.

Boot space increases from a handy 306 litres with all seats up to 1340 litres with the 50/50 split-folding third row down, and 2469L with it and the 60/40 split second row lowered. That’s plenty.

And that 1.6-tonne braked trailer towing capacity means a jet ski, even a mid-size camper trailer, is within hauling range.

The power tailgate is welcome and the rear of the boot’s load platform sits above two storage boxes. But you won’t find a spare of any description back there; a repair-inflator kit is your only option. So beware, a flat could really suck the air out of this mobile family room.

Interior space in this camper is one of its key highlights. As a van it has a huge and versatile cargo area behind the front seats, with the fold-down rear row on rails to maximise cargo capacity if need be.

A rear shelf at the back can be used for all your storage needs, with a compact space underneath for securing everything from camping equipment to shopping bags on the day-to-day and there are even little draws underneath the sliding seat row for the storage of small items (it was handy to use these for the awning’s winder and pegs, the luggage net which we weren’t using, and other things you don’t want to lose.

VW doesn’t quote a VDA number for the total luggage space given how versatile the load area is, although it does state there is 4.3 square metres of space in the cabin.

As already mentioned, the key advantage of this camper over others is its ease of use. Setting it up and packing it down is a 10 minute affair, allowing you the flexibility to be ready to camp or explore the local area in a pinch.

The California we tested sits five and even has ISOFIX mounts on the outer rear seats, but for larger families, there’s also a seven-seat option, with the extra seats folding down to make for a larger bedding area.

The awning itself is manually operated with a winder and pop-out legs. The front two seats are ‘captain’s chairs’ which can rotate 180-degrees to face back into the cabin.

It’s a neat and sometimes necessary addition to allow for a seating area if the bed is deployed, but they are a little fiddly to operate.

To swivel them, you need to fully fold the steering column away, move the seat all the way forward, rotate it half way, then move it forward again to clear the wheel in the driver’s position.

Practicality for the driver and front passenger while on the move is excellent, with two sets of huge cutaways in the doors for the storage of objects, cupholders seated atop the dash, a big bay for books or laptops which also houses a 12V outlet, and there are adjustable-height armrests attached to the seats.

The seats and wheel are also very adjustable, and the roof is high allowing plenty of space for people of all heights.

A small issue I ran into was the awkward lack of a place to put my phone. The most obvious location seemed to be the cupholder next to the shift lever, especially since this is where the USB-C connections were located, although it was a bit awkward, and my phone and wallet would easily fall out onto the floor, from where they could simply disappear into the rear of the cabin under acceleration.

The exact van we’re looking at for this review is the Volkswagen California Beach TDI340 4Motion.

This means it’s the middle of three variants in the California Beach range, which kicks off from $90,990, before on-road costs, for the base front-wheel drive, $94,990 for this all-wheel drive version we’re testing, or $100,990 for the more powerful TDI450 version.

Our mid-spec also had a long list of attached options, including the Kombi-style two-tone paint ($4050), upgraded interior package which includes microfleece seat trim, heated front seats, and the improved digital dash suite ($3690), an electric pop-up roof ($3050), LED headlights ($2050), adaptive chassis control ($2010), the 'Off-Road Pack' (includes a rear diff lock and downhill assist - $1720), power sliding doors (both sides, $1640), fog lights with cornering function ($770), 'Park Assist' ($460), 'Light Assist' ($320), and the no-cost option of a silver-coloured awning.

The list of extras (valued at a total of $19,760) brought the price as-tested (and still before on-roads) to a substantial $114,750.

In concept then we’re left with a van which has pretty much all the creature comforts of a Volkswagen passenger car with two beds (one in the pop-up roof, the other consisting of the fold-out rear seats).

In isolation, this may seem reasonable for such a custom camping solution, but the issue arrives when you consider competitors.

Trakka’s most direct rival, the Trakkadu, can be had from $137,422 and offers such luxuries not even optionally available on the California Beach, like an improved power system (to support 240V outlets), a kitchenette, fridge, plenty of additional storage, and a water supply.

Your $94,990 California Beach in base form then is essentially a Multivan with an awning, interior shades and lighting, a rear fold-out bed and bench, and a set of two chairs and a table.

While it’s very nice to have custom fit blinds on every window and fully adjustable built-in interior lighting, you’ll then need to go and spend more on a power system and possibly plumbing if you want it to be a truly luxurious long-distance tourer. It’s too bad we miss out on higher-spec vehicles available overseas.

The GTX is a twin-motor AWD, the front unit generating 80kW/134Nm and the rear 210kW/560Nm. Total output is 250kW/590Nm which boosts towing capacity from 1.0-tonne in the single-motor ID.Buzz to 1600kg.

A single-speed transmission sends drive primarily to the rear wheels to maximise efficiency, the dual-motor set-up able to direct power to the front axle as required during acceleration or to manage available traction.

The version of the California Beach we tested for this review was the mid-grade TDI340 4Motion.

This means it is powered by a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-diesel engine producing 110kW/340Nm. It’s paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, and in the case of this model, is capable of driving all four wheels.

It’s not much for power, but with the large amount of torque available, pulls strongly even when loaded up.

While it’s nice to have the all-wheel drive for loose surfaces and the like, clearance is limited so I wouldn’t venture into the rough stuff, even with the optional differential lock.

For those looking to fit further enhancements, or tow, the California Beach’s GVM is 3080kg leaving 623kg for payload, and it can tow 750kg unbraked or 2500kg braked.

The ID.Buzz GTX’s 86kWh lithium-ion battery delivers a claimed (WLTP) range of 473km and the car uses a CCS Type 3 socket. VW includes a Mode 2 and Mode 3 cable as standard.

The claimed 10-80 per cent 200kW DC fast charge time is 26 minutes, while the same top-up takes nine hours at a maximum 11.0kW AC capacity.

Claimed energy consumption on the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle is 20.2kWh/100km (WLTP) and over several hundred kilometres of mainly B-road and freeway running on the launch we saw an average of 24.5kWh/100km, which isn’t out of order given the type of driving involved.

The California Beach TDI340 4Motion has an official combined fuel consumption figure of 7.5L/100km and a relatively large 80-litre fuel tank, allowing for a healthy cruising range for those more distant camping locations.

Our camping journey (a roughly 600km return trip) meant the California travelled mostly freeway kilometres on our week with the car, and it produced an overall figure of 7.4L/100km. It takes diesel and also has a 13-litre AdBlue tank.

Despite the fact that it weighs in at around 2.8 tonnes (2780kg), Volkswagen Australia says this dual-motor ID.Buzz accelerates from 0-100km/h in 6.4 seconds and on to a 160km/h maximum velocity, if you dare. 

And there is always some serious oomph lurking under your right foot. Trundle along at 65km/h, pin the accelerator, and in roughly two blinks of an eye you’re doing 95km/h. 

Proportionally, this car is like a loaf of bread on wheels - about as high as it is wide. And on the windy launch drive we were buffeted a bit, the car moving sideways slightly when hit with a gust. But overall, it remains stable despite its proportions. That said, some wind noise comes over the bluff nose on the freeway, but never to an alarming degree. 

The ID. Buzz rides on VW’s Modular Electric Drive (MEB) platform and there’s been past criticism of the short-wheelbase versions' ride quality, but there are no such issues here.

Suspension is by struts at the front and semi-trailing arms at the rear and this GTX has had a suspension retune with particular attention paid to key components, including the dampers.

On rural roads that have seen better days, dotted with potholes, bumps and thumps, a combination of that suspension retune and the longer wheelbase helped the GTX handle it well. 

There are five drive modes with Comfort the default. Eco smooths out acceleration, tapers the climate control and reduces overall power, while Sport dials up the powertrain, suspension and steering. Traction optimises the AWD system for loose or slippery surfaces and Individual allows you to cherry pick various attributes for a custom set-up.

Steering is progressive rate and you can feel it loading up nicely as you head into a corner. Not the last word in terms of road feel, but the car points accurately and turn-in is nice and progressive.

At the same time you’ve got the electric motors constantly shuffling drive between the front and rear axles, helping you out if you decide to explore the car’s sporty nature and have a crack in the corners.

Tyres are Hankook Ventus S1 Evo3 EV specials (235/45 fr - 265/40 rr) and in long, sweeping bends, taken at pretty decent speed, they grip hard. Even on coarse-chip B-road surfaces there’s a bit of rumble but it’s far from a roar.

Braking is by large (358mm) ventilated discs in the front and, believe it or not, drums at the back. A well-designed, modern drum brake can work effectively and the regenerative braking in an EV like this is a big factor in terms of washing off speed.

In terms of lower speed manoeuvres, you’ve got a 360-degree camera view as well as a reversing camera and front and rear parking sensors. If you really need some help, Park Assist Plus will get the job done for you.

In terms of ergonomics, we spent hours behind the wheel and the front seats remained comfortable and supportive in terms of lateral grip.

Speaking of grip, the steering wheel is nice to hold. And the cool little 5.3-inch instrument and car data display is clear as a bell, and the large 12-inch media screen is easy to use and working through the different screens is largely intuitive.

One of the California's more appealing features is the way its camping features can be minimised. Unlike some fit-outs which feature built-in fittings, once you pack the rear bed away and fold everything up, it makes for an appealing five-seat van for driving around in day-to-day traffic.

The diesel engine offers a rugged soundscape but plenty of pulling power once you overcome a moment of turbo-lag for cargo, people and equipment, and visibility is great out the front and sides.

The dual clutch transmission behaved well in my time with the van, although like many cars which use this transmission it can occasionally cost you a second at an intersection as it combines with the stop-start system to make for a moment of delay.

The California is a relatively easy van to park and live with when you’re not out on the road, and features a nice organic steering tune to give you plenty of confidence in the corners, bolstered by the addition of all-wheel drive in the van we tested.

The ride when empty is quite rough, like many vans in this segment. With the diesel engine, this can make for a bit of a noisy experience on coarse-chip freeways, and especially gravel roads. Potholes can also be cringe-inducing.

 As always one of the biggest advantages of VW commercial products is how closely they can be specified to VW’s passenger vehicles.

With the right option boxes ticked, for example, our car had the very welcome digital dash, and the multimedia suite.

While not the latest fully touch unit you can experience in cars like the Golf 8, it has the welcome addition of tactile shortcut buttons and dials for ease-of-use while driving.

With the fold-away roof, the California also isn’t bigger than a regular Transporter van. At 1990mm high it should fit in most parking lots and garages.

The California has a decent set of standard safety inclusions, like city-speed auto emergency braking (it’s important to note this is not the usual freeway-speed system which ships on most VW passenger cars), blind spot monitoring with rear cross traffic alert, driver attention alert, and adaptive cruise control.

It doesn’t have lane support systems, but does additionally score tyre pressure monitoring (good for those gravel trails), front and rear parking sensors and a decent rear view camera, hill start assist, and even crosswind assist.

In terms of more passive safety items it scores only driver and passenger front and side airbags, something to keep in mind when transporting passengers in the rear.

For touring it’s hard not to recommend the optional LED headlights for those poorly-lit and far-flung roads, and thankfully the California comes with a full-size steel spare should you end up with a flat in the middle of nowhere.

For a commercial-based vehicle the safety suite is not bad, but when compared to a passenger vehicle, it could do better.

The ID.Buzz GTX is covered by Volkswagen Australia’s five-year/unlimited-km warranty with two years’ roadside assistance included. On top of that, there’s an eight-year/160,000km warranty on the drive battery.

That general warranty is in line with the mainstream market, although it’s worth noting an increasing number are stepping up to longer terms, including 10 years.  

There’s a 12-year corrosion perforation warranty and keep servicing with an authorised VW dealer and that roadside assistance support will be rolled over for another two years each time.

The recommended maintenance interval is two years/30,000km. Standard scheduled service pricing is $687 for each of the first five workshop visits, while pre-paid plans covering six, eight or 10 years represent savings of between 30 and 35 per cent on that figure, which is pretty handy.

The California Beach is covered by a five year and unlimited kilometre warranty like the rest of the Volkswagen passenger car range, which includes one year of roadside assistance.

The prime advantage of buying a first-party Volkswagen camper is the entire vehicle is covered by this warranty, as opposed to needing to deal with two warranties if you were to buy from a brand like Trakka.

There is also the option of a five or three year service plan. At the time of writing, the five year service plan was running at the price of a three year plan, valued at $1850 for this 4Motion variant, or just $370 a year for the life of the warranty.

This is a claimed saving of $2302 over the cost of regular scheduled maintenance. Visits to the workshop are required once every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first.