Derek and others,

If you want to buy factory parts from a Canadian dealer I am sure you will find a your US $ goes a long way!
Also even taking into account the exchange the Canadian prices are still lower than US prices.
There are also some parts that are available in Canada that are not allow in the US!
Dan is the man to talk to.
He is a Syncro Westy owner and also is running 15" T4 rims and a Fast Forward engine conversion on his Van.
Dan works in the parts department at Southgate VW Audi, here in Edmonton Alberta.
Here are there details:
Southgate Volkswagen Audi Inc.
5220 Calgary Trail NB
Alberta
Canada 
Tel: 780 435-4821
Fax: 780 437-7602

Cheers
Glen

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Derek Drew 
  To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM 
  Sent: Friday, December 07, 2001 2:54 PM
  Subject: Is There A Camelback Of The North?

  Does it make sense, given how low the Canadian dollar is, for us to be buying factory VW parts from a Canadian VW dealer and then having them sent down to the USA?

  Do you Canadians have a mail order source up there similar to Rennie or Camelback VW that might be better for us to be using?

    Date: Fri, 02 Nov 2001 13:04:56 -0500
    To: fty@cisco.com
    From: Derek Drew <derekdrew@rcn.com>
    Subject: Best Way To Get Factory Parts From The Dealer
    Cc: VANAGON@GERRY.VANAGON.COM, Syncro@onelist.com
    Bcc: info@2weddle.com

    Frank, here is the scoop on where to order your factory parts from when ordering from Volkswagen directly.

    So far as I know, both Rennie and Camelback are still in the business and are excellent sources of factory parts. Their prices will be comparable but I think Rennie may have a slight price advantage. 

    If you would like to place European parts orders, then you can also ask me for a price quote as I can usually beat USA prices by a European VAG factory parts importing system I set up to help list members. As a result of this system, I am probably the cheapest source of parts you need to source through a VAG Dealer in Europe because it is out of stock or not sold in North America. Before using this system, however, check with Bus Depot (www.busdepot.com) to see if they have a method to obtain OEM parts through aftermarket sources because this will be cheaper still. For transmission related components, you can check with either me or Weddle Engineering. 

    To contract Camelback in Arizona (now known as Paul Walser VW???) call 800-876-5199 and order by phone/mail-order.
    To contact Rennie email volksdragon@earthlink.net (he is in Los Angeles).
    To contact Weddle Engineering send an email to info@2weddle.com.
    To contact me, send an email to derekdrew@rcn.com.

    At the bottom of this email I reproduce two emails from the past I sent on this topic which should be reviewed by list members who are new to this topic. Ordering from your local dealer is a crude and prehistoric method of obtaining parts and should be avoided whenever possible for various reasons discussed below. As it says below, "I used to buy my VW parts from the local dealer here but I cannot get over
    how silly this is. You pay sales tax. You often have to go to the dealer twice--once to order and once to take delivery. You have to wait in line. You pay full price or a high price. Who needs it? Go 800 and do something more productive with your time and money."

    At 11:25 AM 11/2/2001 -0500, you wrote:

      Derek,

      Is Rennie still in the parts biz, or is Camelback the way to go?

      Other than email, it there a way to contact him?

      thanks - Frank

      \\\\////\\\\////\\\\\////\\\\\////\\\\////\\\\////\\\\////\\\\////\\\\////\\\\
      Frank Terhaar-Yonkers      W4FTY   TRA 8325/L2
      Cisco Systems, Inc.
      NSITE - Pineview Building - RTP
      7025 Kit Creek Road  PO Box 14987
      Research Triangle Park,  North Carolina  27709
      fty@cisco.com   voice(919)392-2101 fx(919)392-6927 

    =================

    February 2001 MESSAGE ON RENNIE:

    It has come to my attention that Rennie, otherwise known as volksdragon@earthlink.net, is able to get us parts at 20% over dealer list and is happy and willing to supply us.

    He has been posting to the list all kinds of help and owns his own Vanagon, and we have sort of ignored him as a place from which to order parts, partly because he never mentioned anything about becoming a vendor and doesn't want to "undercut" anybody. 

    But his prices are likely a discount from the amount we have been paying Camelback when sourcing factory-only parts, it appears that it might be wise to start shifting our business to the extent Rennie wants us to. I spoke to him this morning and he says he is fine to become the new Camelback if that is what we want to do. I hope he has a cooperative shipping department. 

    Next time you need to source some parts available only through the dealer network, consider trying Rennie out. Possibly this could work out. 

    He is on email more than Camelback is, and seems genuinely interested in the vehicle and in helping out so all else being equal, he could be the best choice for this. 

    Meanwhile, if the part is a Europe-only part or carries a significant European price advantage, I have set up a pathway for efficient sourcing from there email me if you want to pursue this avenue. 

    ===========================

    FEBRUARY 2001 MESSAGE THAT HELPED ESTABLISH CAMELBACK ON THE LIST

    Date:         Wed, 18 Oct 1995 14:26:01 -0400
    Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
    From:         drew@interport.net (Derek Drew)
    Subject:      Best Dealer To Buy Parts From (Don't Skip This Post)

    Recently I conducted a test to find out which was the VW dealer offering
    factory VW parts at the lowest prices. I composed a bid form with about 25
    different factory parts I intended to buy new, and I sent this form to a
    half dozen dealers around the country to see which really offered the lowest
    prices.

    Included in my survey were 

    Joel Walker's friend Jim Ellis at VW Atlanta
    Sonnen Motors in California
    Bob Hoy's VW in Texas
    Paul Walser Volkswagen in Phoenix, Az

    I mentioned in my bid to Paul Walser Volkswagen that I had heard on the
    Vanagon List that they were willing to sell parts at 20% over their cost to
    people like me (Internet Vanagonatics). The Walser people responded promptly
    and their prices were lower than all the other dealers by a significant
    margin on all parts but one obscure one. 

    Accordingly, I placed my order with Walser, directing them to send the parts
    UPS. I live in New York, but it is better to buy the parts from an out of
    state dealer so as to avoid 8% sales tax. As for the UPS shipping charges,
    in general they are not significant so it doesn't matter which state I am
    ordering from.

    In the future, I plan to buy all factory parts from Walser without going
    through the effort to get bids from different dealers. I am submitting this
    post to recomend that other list members do the same. Be sure to mention the
    Internet and the 20%-over-cost program to get your proper discount.

    I conducted the entire operation by fax and have never spoken to anyone at
    Walser. Here is there phone numbers 

    Paul Walser Volkswagen
    Phoenix, Az 85016
    800-876-5199
    fax: 602-265-8768

    List members may wish to copy the 800# and label it something like "Cheap
    Factory Parts By Mail" and keep it handy.

    I used to buy my VW parts from the local dealer here but I cannot get over
    how silly this is. You pay sales tax. You often have to go to the dealer
    twice--once to order and once to take delivery. You have to wait in line.
    You pay full price or a high price. Who needs it? Go 800 and do something
    more productive with your time and money.

    The one caveat is that I supplied the part numbers and asked them to double
    check some of them. If you lack a microfiche you might be forced to go to
    your local dealer to look at the thing and make sure you have the right
    parts before ordering. But now with the recent innovation appearing on this
    list of how to get a cheap microfiche reader (Radio Shack 50X $7 microscope)
    there is no excuse: all list members should get their own fiches.

    By the way, before finalizing my order I called up the Parts Place and found
    that when they could supply a part, it was about 60% of the cost of buying
    that same part from the dealer. Accordinly, I gave the Parts Place my
    business for these parts.

    ___________________________________

  ________________________________________________________
  Derek Drew                              New York, NY & Washington, DC
  derekdrew@rcn.com                     212-580-6486
  Email me for viscous couplings
  '90 Syncro Westfalia... 
  ...seen off-road at 
  http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/Syncro_Madness_Area.htm
  Note: most valuable Vanagon sites on the planet (for owners) are:
        http://gerry.vanagon.com/cgi-bin/wa.exe?S1=vanagon
        http://gerry.vanagon.com/files/
        http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro 
        http://www.vanagon.com 
        http://www.syncro.org  
  My refrigerator article: 
         http://www.vanagon.com/info/articles/Refrigerator/Reefer_Madness.htm
  My article that shows how to deal with insurance companies: 
         http://gerry.vanagon.com/files/auto-insurance-madness.html
  To view Wolfgang's incredibly informative wheel article
         http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/fitbigtiresonvanagon.htm 
  To view Tim Smith's incredibly useful gearing calculator
         http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/syncrotireandgearratios.xls 
  To view two articles about how to think about improving your gears at transmission rebuild time
         http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/7207
         http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/7221
  To view some 16" Trailing Arms that enable much larger tires see
        http://groups.yahoo.com/group/syncro-org/files/Wheels%2C%20Tires%20%26%20Gearing/Wheel%20%26%20Tire%20Photos/16_Inch_Trailing_Arm.jpg
  To view the only perfect 16" rim for T3 Vanagon Syncro see
        http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/images/perfectwheel16s.jpg 
        http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/images/perfect16wheel.jpg          
  IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL SYNCRO OWNERS WHO DRIVE OFF THE ROAD:
        You only get to change your ring and pinions once every 
        12 years or so because that's how long the average syncro 
         transmission goes before its next rebuild. I am now recommending 
         you switch to 6.17 ratio at rebuild time for most vehicles.