>>The overhead AC ducts abruptly crashed to the floor one day

>they said they took it to a vw dealership and complained that it had
>fallen.  When the dealership said that the vehicle was not under warranty
>anymore or that the recall had expired

There definitely is/was a recall to address this common failure.  In
fact, I received a recall notice from VW on this issue *within the past
year*.  I did not follow up on it though and have since sold the 87
Syncro the recall applied to.

Tony

Anthony L. Mourkas
Hampden, Maine, USA
1984 Vanagon Westfalia
1991 Jetta Eco Diesel