Stolen Awning

[Airhoguk]

Unfortunately if you do anything to make it more secure it’s going to cause more damage to the awning, brackets and no doubt the van I’m afraid. Looking at the state of the bracket it looks like a crowbar or similar has been used, any stronger security and they’d probably use the roof of the van to give extra leverage

 

[DocDave]

If you don't want to pay for a brand new one we still have one for sale in the accessories section off our 2016 T6 - we only ever put it up once and it has the rubber strip and brackets as new. Happy to discuss.

 

[Michael Meade]

Noticed this morning that my awning had been stolen off my Ocean parked on the drive. The dogs were barking Tues morning about 2am, looked through the window, but could see nothing, so presumed it was someone walking past that had disturbed them (lesson learnt the hard way). Looks like they just ripped it off. Did not notice it missing yesterday (need to go to Specsavers). Anybody got any suggestion to stop it happening again, as well has not ignoring dogs barking. Am I better fitting a cheaper version or go through the insurance. VW want £980 + fitting.

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Same thing happened to me last Oct. Not even sure where! Similar damage as to your bracket but the other one showed clear signs of having been sawn off. I didnt claim on insurance and replaced the VW awning with a new Fiamma F45s for c£300 less. As to advice on how not to get it stolen, I would say take it off if you aren't using the van and store it or somewhere if you can. Or just hope lightening doesn't strike twice like I do.

 

[Ray Cali]

If you don't want to pay for a brand new one we still have one for sale in the accessories section off our 2016 T6 - we only ever put it up once and it has the rubber strip and brackets as new. Happy to discuss.

I've already put it through the insurance (wish I had not), so they will screw me whether I go ahead with the claim or not. But if it should ever happen to me again. I will buy and fit my own, but thanks

 

[Gooldmike]

Hi, I'm really sorry to hear about your awning having been stolen. I don't know if this is any use to you but I have the original awning that came with my 2019 California

Noticed this morning that my awning had been stolen off my Ocean parked on the drive. The dogs were barking Tues morning about 2am, looked through the window, but could see nothing, so presumed it was someone walking past that had disturbed them (lesson learnt the hard way). Looks like they just ripped it off. Did not notice it missing yesterday (need to go to Specsavers). Anybody got any suggestion to stop it happening again, as well has not ignoring dogs barking. Am I better fitting a cheaper version or go through the insurance. VW want £980 + fitting.

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Hi really sorry to hear your awful news. I don't know if this is any use to you , but I have the original wind out awning from my 2019 California Beach , which you can have if you want. It is slightly damaged. It was blown off our van the first time we used it ! Just an unfortunate accident.Anyway , we ended up replacing it with a new one. The main housing is fine, the canopy is fine . The only parts which are damaged is the piece into which the hand crank is inserted , to wind it out and one of the legs is twisted. So you would need to replace these parts and also the brackets as my brackets ended up like yours. Im not a good DIY person but im sure someone who is (or someone who knows someone who is ) would be able to sort it out with these new parts. The club shop sell individual parts. There are a few slight scratches on the housing which wouldn't be noticeable once on the van . Anyway , I was intending to try and sell it on eBay , but im happy to give it to for free, if you wish . Obviously you would need to collect it . If you're interested let me know and we can make contact privately

 

[mojo doug]

Noticed this morning that my awning had been stolen off my Ocean parked on the drive. The dogs were barking Tues morning about 2am, looked through the window, but could see nothing, so presumed it was someone walking past that had disturbed them (lesson learnt the hard way). Looks like they just ripped it off. Did not notice it missing yesterday (need to go to Specsavers). Anybody got any suggestion to stop it happening again, as well has not ignoring dogs barking. Am I better fitting a cheaper version or go through the insurance. VW want £980 + fitting.

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I had the same problem in Bristol this Feb- parked outside my garage (also had a bongo awning stolen when living in another part of Bristol) - installed PIR light/camera on my garage . Interestingly I was talking to the VW Van garage in Bristol - thieves nicking awnings from parked Oceans in their forecourt is a not infrequent occurrence- there's obviously a market for them - I got a new awning from Campero Co for just over £500 with new joining discount (FIAMMA F45S VW T5/T6 2.6M UK VERSION DEEP BLACK AWNING) the fitting for California was about an additional £65 FROM FIAMMA.

 

[Ray Cali]

Hi, I'm really sorry to hear about your awning having been stolen. I don't know if this is any use to you but I have the original awning that came with my 2019 California

Hi really sorry to hear your awful news. I don't know if this is any use to you , but I have the original wind out awning from my 2019 California Beach , which you can have if you want. It is slightly damaged. It was blown off our van the first time we used it ! Just an unfortunate accident.Anyway , we ended up replacing it with a new one. The main housing is fine, the canopy is fine . The only parts which are damaged is the piece into which the hand crank is inserted , to wind it out and one of the legs is twisted. So you would need to replace these parts and also the brackets as my brackets ended up like yours. Im not a good DIY person but im sure someone who is (or someone who knows someone who is ) would be able to sort it out with these new parts. The club shop sell individual parts. There are a few slight scratches on the housing which wouldn't be noticeable once on the van . Anyway , I was intending to try and sell it on eBay , but im happy to give it to for free, if you wish . Obviously you would need to collect it . If you're interested let me know and we can make contact privately

Thank you for the kind offer, but I'm going through the insurance (wish I had not)

Hi, I'm really sorry to hear about your awning having been stolen. I don't know if this is any use to you but I have the original awning that came with my 2019 California

Hi really sorry to hear your awful news. I don't know if this is any use to you , but I have the original wind out awning from my 2019 California Beach , which you can have if you want. It is slightly damaged. It was blown off our van the first time we used it ! Just an unfortunate accident.Anyway , we ended up replacing it with a new one. The main housing is fine, the canopy is fine . The only parts which are damaged is the piece into which the hand crank is inserted , to wind it out and one of the legs is twisted. So you would need to replace these parts and also the brackets as my brackets ended up like yours. Im not a good DIY person but im sure someone who is (or someone who knows someone who is ) would be able to sort it out with these new parts. The club shop sell individual parts. There are a few slight scratches on the housing which wouldn't be noticeable once on the van . Anyway , I was intending to try and sell it on eBay , but im happy to give it to for free, if you wish . Obviously you would need to collect it . If you're interested let me know and we can make contact privately

Thank you for the offer, but I phoned the insurance too quickly and even if I cancelled the claim, it would still effect my insurance no claims

 

[Wongo]

Cannot see anything other than the scratches. Nothing looks out of shape.

Think carefully, even if you do not claim it will be recorded by your insurers as an ’incident’ and your premium will rise.

 

[Keith Smith]

If awning theft is becoming more common it may be worth personalising it to make it less attractive to thieves.

 

[paradise city]

If awning theft is becoming more common it may be worth personalising it to make it less attractive to thieves.

I was wondering about this. What material is the awning case made from? Would it rust if you engraved something on it eg your registration number?

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

 

[Keith Smith]

I was wondering about this. What material is the awning case made from? Would it rust if you engraved something on it eg your registration number?

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

It’s aluminium but I was thinking of painting the registration number on quite prominently. Thieves want an easy life, stealing something that they have to try to clean the paint off I expect would put them off. It’s got to be obvious, if they are stealing it in the dark they may not notice it’s engraved.

 

[California4x4]

Noticed this morning that my awning had been stolen off my Ocean parked on the drive. The dogs were barking Tues morning about 2am, looked through the window, but could see nothing, so presumed it was someone walking past that had disturbed them (lesson learnt the hard way). Looks like they just ripped it off. Did not notice it missing yesterday (need to go to Specsavers). Anybody got any suggestion to stop it happening again, as well has not ignoring dogs barking. Am I better fitting a cheaper version or go through the insurance. VW want £980 + fitting.

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Do you ever loan your campervan to anyone else? I don’t want to start a conspiracy theory but.... The damage to the brackets is exactly the same as what happened when my awning was torn off the vehicle by a gust of wind. The whole awning without tie down was picked up and it bent the bracket up causing creasing like yours has beside the three bolts. I can’t see how anyone could remove an awning by pulling it off the vehicle. It would take two people attacking the brackets at the same time and I can’t see how this could be done without damaging the rail below. Could someone have borrowed it, allowed the awning to be damaged and returned it without it?

 

[Ray Cali]

No, its never been loaned out. I agree the damage is strange. That side of the van was facing the road. I was wondering if the used another vehicle with a rope or winch to rip it off. Bought another 2nd hand from docdave, so will never know

 

[California4x4]

No, its never been loaned out. I agree the damage is strange. That side of the van was facing the road. I was wondering if the used another vehicle with a rope or winch to rip it off. Bought another 2nd hand from docdave, so will never know

I’m very pleased to hear you’ve got a replacement.

 

[mojo doug]

I had the same problem in Bristol this Feb- parked outside my garage (also had a bongo awning stolen when living in another part of Bristol) - installed PIR light/camera on my garage . Interestingly I was talking to the VW Van garage in Bristol - thieves nicking awnings from parked Oceans in their forecourt is a not infrequent occurrence- there's obviously a market for them - I got a new awning from Campero Co for just over £500 with new joining discount (FIAMMA F45S VW T5/T6 2.6M UK VERSION DEEP BLACK AWNING) the fitting for California was about an additional £65 FROM FIAMMA.

(From Bristol)Exactly same happened to me 1 x stolen from bongo at my old address moved house VW California ..awning stolen ...I now only keep my awning attached in the summer when camping , as soon as September comes along I remove awning and store in the garage .