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Bob D.
Samba Member
Joined: September 11, 2003
Posts: 613
Location: Chicago, IL
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 Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2004 6:42 am Post subject: Audi & Porsche as Parts Source |
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Thought it might be worth mentioning this as a reminder. Some parts for our buses may still be easily available through Porsche or Audi dealers.
Earlier this week I needed to replace a particular transmission mount bolt. Richard was kind enough to quickly respond to an e-mail I sent him and give me the part number. Thanks again, Richard!
Although my local VW dealer always says anything for my bus is NLA,  a Web search quickly revealed that the same bolt--still using the same part number--was a current Audi Quattro part. So for $2 the Audi dealer had it to me by noon the next day. That is both cheaper and quicker than any other option I could have used.
I know a lot of you guys have easy access to parts one way or another, but that is not the case for me marooned here in the rustbelt suburbs. So for those of you in situations similar to mine, here is one more option to add to your list when it comes to quickly getting some of the more universal parts.
_________________
1978 7-Passenger, 37K miles
Proud Member #1, SBS (Stock Bus Society)
*Enjoy and appreciate your good health*
We used to play for silver
Now we play for life |
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VWBusMan1
Samba Member
Joined: December 30, 2003
Posts: 333
Location: Your Nation's Capital
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| Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2004 9:01 am Post subject: Brilliant... |
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| thank you!!! |
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1979westie
Samba Member
Joined: January 08, 2004
Posts: 1093
Location: Flying this P-27 bomber
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| Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2004 10:00 am Post subject: |
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It is sad to think that the actual dealer that sold MY BUS is telling you that the parts are NLA, Bob. Shame on VW. Shame. 
Eric
_________________
Your car may do 0-60 in under 5 seconds, but can it sleep 4 and cook a meal?
1979 Deluxe Campmobile (quickly rusting away)
33K miles when bought, now at 61K
Proud Member #2 SBS (Stock Bus Society) |
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westy78
Samba Member
Joined: August 20, 2002
Posts: 2005
Location: Portland OR
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| Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2004 11:25 am Post subject: |
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| 1979westie wrote: |
It is sad to think that the actual dealer that sold MY BUS is telling you that the parts are NLA, Bob. Shame on VW. Shame.
Eric |
VW no longer has their aircooled vehicles best interest in mind. It is a part of their past that they are strongly trying to get away from to change their image. Obvious by their unwillingness to help in any aftermarket or even the sale of older parts by themselves. They really don't know how much money they are passing up by ignoring their roots, or maybe they just don't care. They want to be looked at as the luxury division of VW/Audi. That is easy to see considering you can now buy VW's for 60g's and up. From what I have heard and from personal experience with a 2000 Jetta VR6 they have a long way to go before I'll look at new VW's as "luxury" cars. The quality/reliability of new VW's is sadly below what it used to be. I know a person that bought a new Passat W8 (nowhere near a cheap car) and has had nothing but problems with it from the start and has had it in the shop numerous times for the engine light comming on. As Eric says above, shame on VW for trying to keep up with the Jones' instead of producing affordable reliable vehicles the way they used to and turning their backs on the very thing that made them popular in the first place.
Steppin off my soap box now. 
_________________
Jasan C.
'78 Westy
VW Campmobile, it goes on vacation with you. |
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dth9269
Samba Member
Joined: May 29, 2004
Posts: 42
Location: W. Townsend, MA
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| Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2004 12:05 pm Post subject: It's a Baby Bentley! |
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| Quote: |
| They want to be looked at as the luxury division of VW/Audi. |
I was in a VW dealer yesterday, getting an inspection sticker (the "free" second sticker for the used EuroVan I bought there last year), and spent some time poking around the lot. I asked a salesman if they had a Phaeton, and he replied that they'd had one for 5 months before finally selling it in the spring, so they decided not to carry that model. He suggested (in all seriousness) that they should have made the Phaeton the entry-level Bentley!
Dan |
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Duncwarw
Samba Member
Joined: August 25, 2003
Posts: 3094
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| Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2004 2:50 pm Post subject: Thanks |
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Good tip Bob. I bet I had more rust than you  !
The market changes. I'll bet the owners of SAAB two strokes are having the same complaint about parts. The manufacturers have moved on from being creative companies trying to produce inexpensive, reliable, and owner serviceable vehicles. Remember the Chevy Vega and Ford Pinto?
Probably the U.S. auto maker's only attempt.
If VW can get into that aweful luxury land yacht ("SUV") market and make a ton of money, they will. Gone are the days of cheap, reliable cars.
Fortuneately for us, there still seems to be a hot market out there for aircooled VW parts and accessories (particularly in the West). Good luck finding an oil tank for a SAAB shrike Monte Carlo.
On the up side, Volkswagen deserves credit for building vehicles 3 and 4 decades ago that are still around in somewhat large numbers. Seen a Pinto lately?
Paul |
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ratwell
Samba Member
Joined: April 26, 2003
Posts: 8717
Location: Victoria, BC
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| Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2004 8:50 pm Post subject: |
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| 1979westie wrote: |
| It is sad to think that the actual dealer that sold MY BUS is telling you that the parts are NLA, Bob. Shame on VW. |
It's not that simple. Car manufactures aren't really obligated to have parts produced by OEMs and warehose them for 30 years after the model was produced.
Here's what can happen at the dealer:
You go to the parts counter and ask them for a part and they tell you they can't look up the part. BS. Every VW dealer has the ETKA software and can search for parts for any 68-79 baywindow.
A better scenario is to go to the dealer with the part number and ask them to look it up. Sometimes they will ask which car and just say it's for an older model VW so they don't reject you right away (start looking for another dealer afterwards anyway since a friendly one is worth it's weight in synthetic oil).
Unfortunately, unlike the Porsche software (PET) which puts an E beside an obsolete part, ETKA eliminates the part number so the dealer can't look it up which is a pity. Most dealers don't even have microfiche readers as a backup anymore.
Some dealers have printed books of parts number that they can check to see if the part number is valid. Most don't do this. What they do instead is check the system to see if the part number exists at any of the VW warehouses across the country. You can asked them to check for parts by name this way.
At this point, when the dealer says the part number is NLA it means there is no part left in any of the warehouses. The part may still exist on the shelf at some dealership elsewhere but dealers don't trade in parts so you are screwed. Where the Porsche dealer comes in handy is that they have a separate warehouse system and if the part was in common with any Porsche model (say a 914) then they may have it. The Audi dealers search the VW warehouses.
VW is not buying parts from OEMs that made the parts 30 years ago. The OEM may still be producing the part but the parts left in the VW warehouses are basically the same as NOS.
The same part costs more at the Porsche dealer than the Audi dealer than the VW dealer. If you have a combined Audi/Porsche dealer, get them to search Audi catalog first because that might reveal a lower price you can pay even though it's found in through the Porsche warehouse on the 2nd search.
_________________
'78 Westfalia CDN
'76 Doublecab
Read the Baywindow FAQ |
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pawesty
Samba Medic
Joined: June 28, 2003
Posts: 1545
Location: Northern Vermont
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| Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2004 10:04 pm Post subject: |
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FUCK VWOA!!!!!!!! finally got a "real job" so i decided to by a newer car for my interstate commute to work. stopped by the local vw dealer and drove home with a charcoal grey Passat, tiptronic,leather interior,the works basically. airbag light came on on the drive home. easy fix said the dealer. 8 days later got the car back..."faulty airbag control unit"....blah,blah, 8 dealer visits in 10 months. VWOA unwilling to help or buy the car back, dealer willing to put me in a newer Passat for more $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. in the end i'm being sued by vwoa for the balance they didn't receive from auction as i told them to get their piece of shit out of my driveway. $300. a month extra later...i feel better. FUCK VWOA 
dave
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"Go smell the wind, go far. Hear the marvelous strange chime of midnight" Kerouac
79 westy
78 westy
purveyor of refurbed westies and parts!!! inquire within!
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1979westie
Samba Member
Joined: January 08, 2004
Posts: 1093
Location: Flying this P-27 bomber
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| Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2004 10:20 pm Post subject: |
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Ratwell wrote:
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| It's not that simple. Car manufactures aren't really obligated to have parts produced by OEMs and warehose them for 30 years after the model was produced. |
I understand that. I really meant it more tounge and cheek, kind of an inside joke between Bob and I, as the dealer near him in Illinois where he has purchased his current VWs is incidentally the original point of sale of my westy.
Eric
_________________
Your car may do 0-60 in under 5 seconds, but can it sleep 4 and cook a meal?
1979 Deluxe Campmobile (quickly rusting away)
33K miles when bought, now at 61K
Proud Member #2 SBS (Stock Bus Society) |
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