Good afternoon,
My van insurer won't ask for a GPS tracker in my California. But reading through the posts make me think.
My van is almost 2 1/2 years old now. According to VW it would have a trade-in value of about EUR 50.000. How much I would get from my insurer, in case it gets stolen, is another question.
If I think about the worst case scenario the camper gets stolen, means to me the end of a camper van hobby, life, entertainment. At the moment there are only very few VW California vehicles on the market in Ireland. As far as I can see most of them more expensive than EUR 50.000. I can't afford to spend another EUR 10.000 or 15.000 for a used replacement VW California van (early retirement). The money from the insurer can only be used to get a car.
Of course I could import one from outside Ireland, but I don't want that.
But even if this mentioned, I would feel as other people posted here, that I am not sure if I wanted the van back. Strange to say, but if it is gone it is gone.
The best would be to ensure that the van won't get stolen in the first place. At the moment I try to prevent this by parking the vehicle in "secure" places, ensure that the van is locked and the alarm is on. I would love to improve the security using the "Ghost" technology, but have not found a reliable company in Ireland that I trust, not only to install the technology properly, but also provide support. Also I am a friend of "good old hardware" meaning I would love to have the "Bear Lock" installed. But again, I can't find anybody in Ireland to install it.
Even if I would find workshops able to install both I could imagine that would cost me EUR 2 - 3000, which is a lot of money.
If I would be able to afford the additional security I believe this would be the maximum I could achieve myself:
- Van locked with VW central locking
- VW Alarm switched on
- Van parked in most secure place as possible
- Ghost installed and activated (and published on the window)
- Bear Lock installed and in place (and published on the window)
This should do the trick to ensure that it is very unlikely that the van gets stolen. Because if this happens see my comments at the beginning...
Regards,
Eberhard