My parents have a new but damaged A&E Catalina 2500
gray 8 foot awning for sale, suitable for use on a Vanagon.

The damage is a cracked plastic end cap.  (Most of the rest
of the awning hardware is aluminum.)  It doesn't noticeably
impair operation (or at least, it didn't the one time I opened
the awning), but it could be a failure waiting to happen.  It might
be possible to JB-weld it, or just order a replacement end cap
from A&E - I haven't checked.  The cap is rivited in place.

This is a brand-new unit from Camping World.  They ordered
it as a gift for me a long time back.  When we opened it and
discovered the crack, Camping World promptly sent a new one,
which I am currently using, and am very pleased with.  However,
they can't seem to convince Camping World to take the old one
back - Camping World was supposed to arrange to have it
picked up, but after many months and many phone calls they
can't seem to get it to actually happen.  Camping World seems
to have lost interest, and my parents are tired of having the thing
in their garage.

Price of a new one is $299; they're asking $175 or best reasonable offer.
As-is, and buyer pays shipping.  (Or you can pick it up - they live near
St. Louis.)  You'd probably also want to get the "van adapter kit",
which consists of 3 clamps to attach the awning to the drip rail without
drilling into the van.  $42.99 from Camping World.

There's a picture of the Catalina 2500 on A&E's (Dometic's)
web site at "http://www.dometic.com/products/rv/ae/catalina.html"
The picture shows the legs attached to the side of the camper;
they can also be used straight down resting on the ground (what
A&E calls "carport position").  That's the way I do it, because I
didn't want to drill into the van to attach the mounting brackets
for the angled ("patio") position.

Please send P-mail if you're interested.

                                                         -Steven Sittser