Returning to the fold (sort of)

Having sold our Beach two years ago and swapping into a Tesla Model 3 we‘ve now put a deposit down on a ID Buzz 1st Edition.

I had a test drive last week and was really impressed with the ride quality and the vehicle as a whole. We recently got a second dog and with two teenagers both approaching 6ft it seemed the only option if you want to stay EV.

I‘ll miss the Tesla‘s charging network and interface but about 95% of our charging over the last two years has been at home.

We had a 1st Edition Buzz for a few months while waiting for our 4Motion to be built, optimistically hoping to make a little profit when selling it when the Cali arrived. We didn't! The prices have gone south since its launch, so I hope you managed to get a good deal.
You won't be disappointed, I just loved it. Great to drive, loads of room, a real looker, and I was happy with the range. Great for a family with loads of stuff, but for us it was just too big, and too expensive.

There are deals to be done on these at the moment. If you’re a CostCo member there’s currently £4k off plus £2k allowance on finance. Dealers are offering further discounts as well.

Maybe these haven’t been as successful as VW expected? There are less than a thousand registered on HowManyLeft including the cargo version and around 60 listed as new available on Autotrader. Factory orders have typically long lead times but if you’re a bit flexible then you should be able to get one almost straight away. Mine is status code 40 so in UK port.

I‘m keen to find out the build week as there have been issues with the white steering wheel material deteriorating and these have been replaced in post Aug’23 builds with real rather than fake leather.

The depreciation on the Tesla was a bit shocking but I’d done a relatively high mileage in it and there are no shortage of these on the market. Coupled with the current media obsession with anti-EV stories it doesn’t help. I’m just glad I’d sold it before the latest price drop with the model refresh.

We replaced our Cali with an ID Buzz and whilst it has depreciated significantly in the 10 months of ownership, there is nothing we regret about making the switch. We plan to keep the Buzz for a good number of years so hopefully the depreciation will level out soon a bit.

Since owning the Buzz we have used an induction hob, portable compressor fridge and 240v power supply and a lovely trifold mattress in the back, which has been great.

The ride quality is simply amazing when compared to even the latest T6.1, which I had for a few weeks whilst the ID Buzz was having a little work at the dealer. The 6.1 was so loud and a very rough ride compared to the Buzz.

Tesla are opening more and more of their existing Superchargers to us all and all new V4 installs are open to everyone. In the first 5000 miles we have only spent £100 on public charging the rest has been from solar or nice cheap night time electric.

Range has been fine, we can get from Bristol to St Ives in Cornwall with 20% left on the battery and put it on a slow or fast charger when we are there. Lake District is just out of range but 10mins at Tesla Stoke on Trent or Ionity Strafford and we are good to go!

The only choice you really need to make is the colour!

Can you sit at motorway dual carriageway speeds of 70 and obtain that range, or do you sit at 60-65?

65mph is my favourite efficient and quieter speed, nice and relaxing on Travel Assist and I arrive only a little later than if I drive at 70mph. I’m never in a rush on longer journeys. I just love everything about it.

Ajspicer said:

65mph is my favourite efficient and quieter speed, nice and relaxing on Travel Assist and I arrive only a little later than if I drive at 70mph. I’m never in a rush on longer journeys. I just love everything about it.

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Still a good range though, but hopefully you move over to let those doing 70 through one of my pet hates of recent years is the inside Lane doing 56 due to lorries, the middle Lane doing 60 due to EV’s leaving the rest of us backing up as a result of the bottleneck as we can only use the outside lane to do 70 in. Some of us have to travel 1000’s miles a month for work.

colintfcolintf said:

Still a good range though, but hopefully you move over to let those doing 70 through one of my pet hates of recent years is the inside Lane doing 56 due to lorries, the middle Lane doing 60 due to EV’s leaving the rest of us backing up as a result of the bottleneck as we can only use the outside lane to do 70 in. Some of us have to travel 1000’s miles a month for work.

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Inside lane all the way!