Considering a Cali, will we all fit?

Hi

We have been looking at campers for quite a while and really want the Cali to work for us, it just feels better.

The complication is that there are 5 of us most of the time so would really love to hear from those that have experience of using the 5th seat. Some of the questions are:
Does it have to be removed to make up the bed?
Is it easy to remove or a struggle? How heavy?
Where can it be stowed? Can it go on the passengers seat? Is a pup tent the only option?
Has anyone thought twice about getting it and in retrospect would point us at a 5seat conversion?

Also has anyone tried to put 3 littlones in the roof bed? Do you think it would work?

Sorry to arrive out of the blue with a bag of questions, but I've been giving it a lot of thought and haven't been able to find many answers.

Thanks in advance for any pointers or thoughts you think may help us make our mind up.

CM

Hello!! We don't have a 5th seat, and are only 2 anyway, so cannot really help you. But in general, the advice seems to be that if ordering from new, get a 5th seat - they are good value from new, very expensive to fit later.

Your could either have 3 upstairs (depends how big they are - but toddlers should be OK - small ones will need a hand getting up and down - or some people use some sort of cot bunk thing that goes across the front seats for very small children.

One of the great advantages of the Cali is the flexibility of seating - being able to move the main seat forwards or backwards. In most other conversions, the seats are fixed - look at the Jerba Cromarty - looks very good, rear seat can take 3 if specified, a little more spacious (LWB chassis) but the rear seat is a relatively long way from the 'adults' in the front.

Good luck in your decisions.

Lots of families use Calis or other conversions, but good weather makes things easier I guess!!

Lewis

Hi

You have to remove the 5th to fold out the lower bed and I think you would have to store it outside. If you had child seats I think you would have to store these outside as well. The 5th seat is pretty heavy as it is a basically a copy of the front seats. Do you know what type of trips you would be doing as it might be worth considering a Beach with a 3 seater rear bench if you do not need the cooker/strorage. We have had our two 8 year old grandaughters in the upper bed and I think we could have fitted another one, all depends on how well the get on!
We hired one to try before we got ours which allowed to see if it really worked for us.

Martin

Thankyou very much for the replies.

I took my two youngest to see the Cali yesterdayand I think they are quite smitten.

We did have a look at the beach but it does seem to be missing a lot of the nice features of the SE, which is a shame. Ithink I need to hire one next to see what the fifth seat os like to live with.

Thanks again

CM

Martin is correct that the 5th seat needs removing in order to get rockn roll bed set up. The seat is very heavy - just about possible for one person of average strength to left and move.

Consider these cot beds - although they are expensive they look good quality - I decided agaiinst in the end because of price http://www.swcampers.co.uk/index.php/popular-additions/t4-vw-t5-camper-van-cab-bunk

Personally I think 3 in top bunk is pushing it, even with kids.

Consider an awning with a small sleeping pod inside as well - you're gonna need some sort of tent for the 5th seat and child seats etc, and there plenty of options out there - we have a Khyam but am still not convinced it is the best one.

Good luck