> What's the difference in bumpers being sold my list vendors right now?
> Rear Crome from an 84 vanagon.
> Bus Depot: 140$
> Vanagain.com: 119$
>  volkscafe.com: 109$

There are three styles of chrome replacement Vanagon bumpers that I have
seen:

Mexican made with NO holes for the impact strip
Italian made with NO holes for the impact strip
Italian made WITH holes for the impact strip.
I have seen the Italian made ones erroneously claimed to be Danish or even
German made - sometimes even labeled as such. They are not. Trust me; I know
who makes them, regardless of the claimed origin, and believe me, the
company's in Italy.

I sell the Italian ones WITH the proper holes drilled. They are comparable
to the original one, meaning that they fit precisely and are about the same
gauge as the stock ones (which is to say, not all that heavy duty).  I
cannot comment on the Mexican ones as I have tended to avoid them.  I also
could not say definitively that the Mexican ones are not sold by someone
with holes drilled, as anyone can drill holes after importing them, but I do
know that as supplied out of Mexicao, they do not have holes drilled.

Your cost with listmember discount is actually $133, not $140. Part of this
price is actually additional shipping cost. These are oversized and cost a
lot to ship, but our website and catalog shipping fees don't consider the
size, so they calculate way too low a price for freight ($8-$15 for
shipping, which is about half of what we pay).  So the $133 price takes into
account that we will actually be covering about half of your shipping costs
as well.

The rear chrome bumpers are currently out of stock but due in about 3 weeks.
(If you order prior to that you will not be charged until it ships.)   We do
have fronts readily available.

By the way, the same info applies to front chrome bumpers. However, in the
case of _primered_ bumpers (front or rear), none of them have holes for
impact strips, as they were only used on chrome bumpers. (However, they're
also cheaper, around $75.)  For those who may ask, sorry, but I don't have
availability on later-style plastic bumpers.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  (215) 234-VWVW
  www.busdepot.com

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