At 12:52 PM -0700 2/7/01, Steve Blackham wrote:
>So far my research has found 6 vendors with the following prices on a
>rebuild tranny for my 82-83 Vanagon:
>
>CalImports, Blaine, Wash.    $617    250 core

Advice: stay away from CaliImports at all costs.  I have dealt with
them several times, and *nothing* I've purchased from them is, ah, at
all reasonable quality.

Items purchased:

Vanagon heater fan switch: 0-1-2-3 settings function as 1-2-3-0.  (!?)

Vanagon passenger side mirror: very cheap plastic, mirror surface
fun-house warped

Vanagon gas tank: designed such that engine starved of fuel on
moderate or long right-hand turns or left-sloping road/parking spot
(fuel pick-up is on right hand side of tank, remember) whenever tank
is 1/4 full or less.  Makes a diesel pretty hard to drive on hilly,
curvy SW BC!

Vanagon brake MC: the threads were damaged on the hydraulic coupling,
making it unusable.  They *did* take this one back, but only after
exploding at several people over the phone and in their store.

The "satisfaction guarantee" refers to *their* satisfaction, as far
as I can tell.  Fan switch: "it's an electrical part; we don't do
returns on electricals"; mirror: "You already installed in and the
ball joint piece is marked up (because the plastic is so cheap and
soft), and the warp isn't bad--we haven't had anybody else complain";
tank: "well, you've put fuel in it, we can't take it back" and
predictably, "Gee, you're the first person who's ever complained
about this".  The MC was a *real* protracted struggle, and the part
was *clearly* defective out of the box.  Eventually, they refunded my
money for the MC.

Guess what?  I won't buy from them again, and I tell others of my
experiences when asked.  Make up your own mind regarding CaliImports.

BTW, I'm very happy with the service at Bow-wow parts.  They have
stores on SW BC and Seattle.  Jeremy at the North Van store has been
exceptional and I recommend him to everyone.  He once helped my wife
repair a NLA hydraulic line (damaged by a bad CaliImports brake MC,
incidentally) enlisting the help of the guy in a machine shop across
the street, and testing the parts--no charge.

Maybe Bow-wow has parts you need?

T.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tobin Copley        Bowen Island, BC, Canada      49deg 23'N-123deg 19'W

'82 Westfalia 1.6L NA diesel ("Stinky")
'97 son Russell                                   =============
'99 daughter Margaret                            /_| |_L| |__|:| clatter
                             SPEED KILLS!        {.            .| clatter!
                         Drive a Vanagon diesel   ~-()-==----()-~