Tim's experience duplicates mine, with three different dealers;
Frema (Goldsboro, NC),
Stohlman's (Tyson's Corner, VA)
Pacheles (Greenville, NC)

Before one draws the conclusion that this favorable 'dealer/part' thing
is universal, Southern States (Raleigh) was a ham-fisted eye-poke from
the moment I walked in, and Springfield VW, while delivering the goods,
was arbitrary in their helpfulness.

Developing business and guiding change since 1996,

G. Matthew Bulley
Bulley-Hewlett
Marketing & Communications
Business: www.bulley-hewlett.com
AIM = IExplain4u
Phone: +1.919.658.1278

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
Of Timothy Hannink
Sent: Friday, September 06, 2002 10:17 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: VW obscene parts pricing

My experience with my local VW dealership is very
different. My local dealer has never made me pay up
front for any parts, so I can order parts by phone.
They have unlocked VW radios for me and printed out
whatever pages of the ETKA that I asked for and faxed
them to me. They run VIN numbers through the VW
service computer to check maintenance histories of
vehicles I was looking at purchasing.

This dealers prices for comparable items are usually
about 15-20% higher than on-line vendor pricing, but
since the dealer doesn't charge me for shipping, the
actual price difference is less. I can usually get
anything from the dealer within two days of asking
them for it. They even call me when the parts are in
house!

Plus, there are actually a couple of mechanics at this
dealer that have actually worked on a Vanagon and are
willing to answer any questions I have about the van
or my Jetta.

What did I do for them? I bought one new car from them
and buy parts from them regularly.

Thanks,

Tim

--- rea <fliptop92@KNOLOGY.NET> wrote:
> I'm amazed that the dealer even ordered it without
> you paying for it first.
> The local dealer won't order anything unless it's
> paid for in full first.

=====
Tim Hannink
Goldibox - 1987 Vanagon Camper, Wolfsburg Edition
Winter Park, Florida
http://home.earthlink.net/~tjhannink/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wolfsburg_campers
http://photos.yahoo.com/tjhannink [Vanagon] Album

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