I had mine replaced on the first big checkup after I bought the
Vanagon and drove it home last April.

Verner (in Boulder) said something along the lines of  "all
the original units fail, but none of the replacement units ever
fail."

As Karl or someone pointed out the other day, these devices
are not "behind the right tail light" but "in front of....."   ;-)

                                    Richard A. Jones
                                    Boulder, Colorado
                                    '81 Vanagon   Mr Bus
                                    '87 Syncro Westy    El Jefe