Fitting a new wind out awning a California Beach

[younieg]

Hi,

I've owned my Beach for a couple of years now and although it never came with the factory fit awning and it's not been missed hugely I am now thinking about fitting one. I've been in touch with the nearest California dealers and it looks like it is going to be in the region of £1200 fitted which was a bit more than I expected.

Are there any alternative options out there which might work out cheaper, Fiamma etc. Or is fitting the VW omnistor awning something I could do DIY to keep the costs down?

Thanks

 

[hirsty]

I love the awning & to me it make the van a camper, but it's horses for courses as ever.

An awning is an easy DIY bolt-on fit (for two strong people) especially if you already have the rail fitted on your beach. I had a Fiamma on my previous T5 conversion & it was higher quality than the T6 factory fit.

I think an F45S will be £500 - £600 new. Go nuts & get the optional rafter, led strip & the yellow tie-down straps!

 

[daveyboydanger]

Hi,

I've owned my Beach for a couple of years now and although it never came with the factory fit awning and it's not been missed hugely I am now thinking about fitting one. I've been in touch with the nearest California dealers and it looks like it is going to be in the region of £1200 fitted which was a bit more than I expected.

Are there any alternative options out there which might work out cheaper, Fiamma etc. Or is fitting the VW omnistor awning something I could do DIY to keep the costs down?

Thanks

The genuine factory fit ones come up for sale every now and again.
Between £450 and £600.
I reckon if you weren't up for fitting it a dealer would do it for £50ish.

 

[Stuart]

The VW one falls apart in the sun as it's made of two pieces of material glued together. I'm sure the search facility (aka hotel california) will provide some links to illustrate this.

So I would go for another option like Fiamma.

 

[MattBW]

I fitted my own for a lot less, I'm a practical numpty so if I can anyone can. I will find the thread.

 

[MattBW]

Here you go, fitted by me and my Dad in about an hour, including fitting the rain seal (hardest bit).

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/fiamma-f45s-from-comfortz.13602/#post-142435

 

[WelshGas]

The VW one falls apart in the sun as it's made of two pieces of material glued together. I'm sure the search facility (aka hotel california) will provide some links to illustrate this.

So I would go for another option like Fiamma.

Some of them do?
Mine hasn't despite being out for 2 weeks on the Italian coast in temperatures upto 40c.

 

[briwy]

Get in touch with Nick at Comfortz. He can supply a Fiamma one for much less than that.
Still a bolt on job like the Thule VW one

 

[Stuart]

Some of them do?
Mine hasn't despite being out for 2 weeks on the Italian coast in temperatures upto 40c.

I'm sure they don't all fail, but I reckon you would agree its not a great design

 

[WelshGas]

I'm sure they don't all fail, but I reckon you would agree its not a great design

Same design on the Omnistor awnings, not specifically the VW offering. Never had any problems with their other models in the past, but your statement suggested that ALL Omnistor VW awnings would/do fall apart and yet the number of postings compared with the number sold does not support this assumption.

 

[Max-Felix]

Definitely go Fiamma - the factory 'VW' one is a shonky, fragile, built down to a price affair.

 

[younieg]

Thanks for the replies, think I'll look into it a bit more, looks like I'll look into Fiamma awnings more. £1200 for the omnistor one seems a bit steep to me.

 

[calikev]

Who is charging £1200 for the omnistor? We can supply the whole lot inc the correct brackets for £799

 

[younieg]

I've been quoted around £1000 + VAT to supply and fit by one dealer and I've got a firm quote for the awning plus parts at almost £1100 not including fitting costs from another dealer.

Certainly interested if there's cheaper options, I've now gone to a local camper van dealer to see what he can do.

 

[calikev]

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/shop/product/thule-omnistor-5102-awning-use-vw-t5-t6

 

[younieg]

Thanks, I did see that on here but assumed it wasn't the full kit, does that include everything needed to fit?

 

[calikev]

Yes everything down to the last bolt

 

[ejmoore]

We got a new Thule Omnistor 5102 awning (the standard VW item) fitted on our T5 California yesterday by SMG Cowfold for £836 all in.