TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:12 pm

i just bought a '70 bug, it was only 650 bucks and in great shape. it runs great, new floorpans, new wheel cylinders, new carb, etc. well anyway i wanna make it a baja, but every baja kit i've seen is on the west coast, and i live in virginia and dont wanna pay that much for shipping and dont wanna have to wait so long. does anyone know of anywhere that sells baja kits closer to virginia than california? thanks for any info.

Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:43 pm

check the classifieds and go to a swapmeet

what kind of kit are you looking for?

Sun Oct 17, 2004 6:56 pm

Theres places closer like Larry's offroad and others and I'm sure theres a probably a large enough VW shop/supplier fairly close to you that would probably even have a kit in stock. Heres the kicker for us east coasters, the closer it gets to you, the more expensive it becomes (look at the prices of Fisher Buggies in the mags for instance). Also most places are just gonna stock empi or bugpack kits. which are usually alligatored in spots, have lots of pinholes, and I have even heard guys say the things like headlight areas don't even match etc. before!
If I was going to buy one of those kits I'd wanna see it and inspect it real good, but if you just gotta have a kit for a beater and it does not matter well then I guess you could go that route. Probably the most liked company for kits is Mark V which is out of AZ. I have ordered replacement fender from them before and I didn't think shipping was too bad, might be worth a call for a quote, you also get alot of choices in their kits.
Also its worth finding out all VW connections in your area, including just specific repair shops. There are lots of kits just laying around, you may just find one around the corner and cheap. And as mentioned previously, you are on the best VW classifieds site there is, place a "want" add, the're FREE! and swaps are a great place too!

Good luck!

Sun Oct 17, 2004 8:42 pm

The shipping you'll have to pay for a Mark V kit will be expensive, (i paid over $300 to ship a one-piece front end, rear fenders and a few misc. parts to NY) but the product is far superior to anything else that is out there. I feel it was worth the extra money

Mon Oct 18, 2004 9:43 am

I've had very good dealings with Larry's(www.larrysoffroad.com), and OH is pretty close to the east coast. They were very fair with shipping as well, and didn't gouge me like others had. My first order from them was pretty small(less than $50), but they treated me well...I'll shop there again for sure.

I work in a mail-order parts business(www.germanautoparts.com) and train customer service people, so I place a high value on customer service when I'm the customer.

Fisher Buggies is another story altogether. My first(and LAST) order from them was about 4 1/2 years ago. They botched my order, and basically told me to shop elsewhere when I asked them to meet me halfway to fix THEIR mistake. I never even told them that I worked in the parts business until I asked them to 'step up to the plate.' Swung on and missed. :evil:

Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:15 am

plasticman1432 wrote:

Fisher Buggies is another story altogether. My first(and LAST) order from them was about 4 1/2 years ago. They botched my order, and basically told me to shop elsewhere when I asked them to meet me halfway to fix THEIR mistake. I never even told them that I worked in the parts business until I asked them to 'step up to the plate.' Swung on and missed. :evil:

Yea they're pretty bad. I've dealt with them for years as a last resort when I make the trip to Tampa for parts. I wasn't in any way saying they are a good shop just using them as an example because you can easly compare prices in the mags. Heres a good one, a few years ago I needed and alternator locally. Now it was cheaper to buy a conversion kit than just an alternator. Fishers advertisments had them for "X" amount. So I go there, get the kit and he goes to ring me up. He rang me up for $20 MORE than what was in the ad. So I say something and he says "well where did you see that price at?" Every mag including local rags were sitting on the counter in front of him. I opened every one up to there adds and said "well, right here". He just stared at me stunned for a minute, then he had to go in the back for awhile to figure out how to deal with me I guess. They gave it to me for that price, but were'nt real happy about it. Funny thing is the price never changed in the adds, so either they simply false advertise, or I gotta pay extra because I'm a walk in customer!

Tue Oct 19, 2004 10:03 am

Even if they were on my block, I'd still shop elsewhere. They screwed up on my order, then pretty much told me to piss off when I gave them a good offer to fix their mistake.....just the kind of thing I have to do when one of our people makes a mistake at my work.
I bet they are nicer to folks who spend more money.....at least I hope so. :roll:

Wed Oct 20, 2004 7:35 pm

Bug Stuff of Brownville Pa makes the Baja Kits to order...give them a call. He made a seven piece baja kit for my Super Beetle :lol: