GTI Mk2 8v and T5 California

**GTI-VW** · 30-08-2010, 06:52 PM

Hi, I've been out of the country so long I forgot I'd been registered on this site until I found an old post of mine in a search. My account had been disabled so I re-applied to get it going again.

I live in Belgium where I've just sold a LHD 2001 T4 California after 6 very happy years. It was running like new with a mere 225,000 km on the clock but as we're returning to Oz the time had come to sell. With just over 12 months to go before return we decided to bring a car back with us. The choice was between a Scirocco R, BMW 330d cabrio (we have a 320D cabrio in LHD at present) or a T5 California. The latter proving just too expensive and the former too new to have sufficient depreciation I was about to pull the trigger on the beemer (6s 0-100 and 7.5l/100km around town is compelling) when a used 2007 T5 174HP Cali popped up at a good price. So now I have another camper and it's coming home to Sydney. The T5 California is such a classy camper. I love campers but hate the fact that they look like campers. My wife is disappointed that we don't have a beemer to bring back and I admit I'll miss driving it but the kids are over the moon.

The other hitch is we still have a lovely silver Mk2 8v GTI in storage in Sydney. We brought it back to Sydney when we returned briefly in 2003. This car took us all through Europe and into Asia without any problems and we fell in love with it. Alas, though it's still running strong my wife refuses to drive it (no power steering) so I will have to sell it to get something else for her. She won't let me keep 2 cars when we don't even have a garage. I will use the California as a daily driver as they are well suited to this. It will also double as a mobile office for me.

I pick up the California next week.