Front window blind is something missing?

[Isa Neal]

Picked up a new Cali DSG 180 dark grey a few days ago. For the front blind we have in a zipped pouch a cloth that hangs from the two front sun shields which then hangs straight down unless we push it against the windscreen- but it won't stay put.
The manual which comes with he Cali shows some rods that should be crossed across the screen holding the cloth in place. There weren't any rods in our vehicle when I collected it and the supplier from whom I bought the van new harm never seen the cloth set up either. Am I missing something that should have come with he new van or have VW changed the arrangement since he manual was printed?

 

[Californiaman]

Yes, there should be two poles (just like the fibrglass ones you get with a tent) along with the front screen and the two side window blinds in the same bag.

 

[MKRW]

Picked up a new Cali DSG 180 dark grey a few days ago. For the front blind we have in a zipped pouch a cloth that hangs from the two front sun shields which then hangs straight down unless we push it against the windscreen- but it won't stay put.
The manual which comes with he Cali shows some rods that should be crossed across the screen holding the cloth in place. There weren't any rods in our vehicle when I collected it and the supplier from whom I bought the van new harm never seen the cloth set up either. Am I missing something that should have come with he new van or have VW changed the arrangement since he manual was printed?

Mine arrived the same as you describe. There were no poles for the front. I have not yet tried it, but it looked different to described in the manual.
2 pop up blinds for the side windows and then 1 large piece of material for the front which hooks over the front blinds, then at the bottom along the edge a circular soft piece of material which I assume you jam into the bottom of the windscreen.....

 

[Linda]

VW have changed the design and you no longer need poles for the front blind.
We tried them recently and you do hook the top corners around the sun visors ( helps to swivel the 2nd visor round slightly to fit corner then clip back in place to tension it) the spongey roll then tucks down into the join between the screen and dash.
It is loads simpler than the pole version and holds really well- no condensation either which surprised me camping in March!
I think that they have tweaked the side window size too.

 

[Isa Neal]

We had masses of condensation unless we wedged the isotop screen between the windscreen and the material blind in the front window

 

[KernowLad]

We used the side blinds but left out the pole front one - it was late, the kids were asleep upstairs, we were in a secluded, empty field. Tiny bit of condensation on the first night, none on the second.

 

[ku09lwa]

Yes you need the rods they are a bit like the ones you get with a tent - once you slot them together feed them through the tags on the curtain then spend ten minutes wrestling it into position, and thinking surely they could have designed something better! I think the curtains fixed with poppers as in the old multivan were a lot easier

 

[CannellWalker]

No, you do not need the poles. VW have changed the design. Ours came with a supplement for the manual that describes how to use the new design. It is exactly as said above. Slip over sun visors and stuff the bottom under the windscreen.

 

[Hannick]

Can you buy one of these new windscreen blinds anywhere?

I called into a VW dealer today to ask and they told me they can only get the previous type with the poles.

 

[GrannyJen]

The new design is simpler than the old and takes two minutes to fix on.

No fiddling about with poles, and I have never had condensation. I don't really bother about a perfect fit, just ram a bit of spongey bit into the windscreen/fascia join on each side. Aesthetics don't worry me when I'm asleep.

My only grumble is that they do let light through, but it's no big deal really.

 

[holliers]

Hi,

We have a brand new Cali and our blind (front) has no poles (wasn't designed for poles). Can't remember if we had a supplement for the "new design" but it isn't the same as the manual.

Only thing to add to the messages above is that there is a velcro piece that attaches around the top of the central rear view mirror. Trick is to fold the sun-visors down (i.e. to the "Shield my eyes" position), slide over the ends one at a time, then fix the central velcro in place, push the sun-visors completely forwards, push the "sausagey" bit down on to the dash, then just have a bit of a tidy up around the edges.

As others have said, not the most light-blocking but quite effective at maintaining privacy (small gaps aren't really any issue when the lights are out inside), we've not had any condensation issues, easy to fit, you don't have to fiddle with poles and everything folds up quite small.

I quite like the design.

Cheers
Mark

 

[Freeley]

I much prefer the "old" version with the poles as you only have to assemble it the once then store it on the roof bed when not in use. The poles did wear through the corners of the blind a couple of times before I discovered the roof storage trick but now it takes seconds to install with no light leakage.

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[IanE]

Yup agree with Freely - once we cottoned on to the roof bed storage trick - though the newer version is on my list of things I want to see at COTF

 

[BerndRos]

I managed to get the new style gratis from my VW garage due to the old type wearing through at the corners....

I have scratches on the dash due to this.


Beware !


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[andywa119]

To prevent the poles wearing through the front window blinds we 'blunted' the end of each pole with Sugra.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sugru-White-Pac ... ords=Sugra

I would recommend having some of this stuff in the Cali. If that knob on the control panel fails (as they do) whilst I am away it will be Sugru I turn to

Go to their website for some inspiration!

http://sugru.com/about



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[NZCol]

The other way to stop the poles pushing through is buy 4 bottles of water with the small plastic caps on the drinking spout and push one into each corner of the blind. Works perfectly !

 

[Vantastic2]

Much better still is to forget them and go on ebay like we did and look for thermo blinds ( we have the ones that fit most camper/motorhomes ) save lots of £££££'s on new

 

[sbmcd]

When fitting the front curtain remember to fold the sun visors down before you turn the front seats round, the seat head rests get in the way otherwise. Parking the VW for night and getting set up I have found must be done in a certain sequence!