Sorry for the price fluxation ... I had originally predicted these to be
under $200, then upped it to $260 because it looked like shipping was
going to cost me more than I thought and I was fearful of the exchange
rate....

Now they've arrived, and the good news is that freight cost was nowhere
near as bad as I'd feared, so this offset the dollar devaluation.  The
result is that I'll be able to stick to my original estimate. The price
is $199 after all.

To recap, this is a pretty unusual accessory, so rare that I have never
seen one before. It's a genuine VW sound-deadening mat, originally
offered as a $500 dealer option, which sits on your rear deck to reduce
interior engine noise while you're driving (particularly beneficial to
rear passengers). The mat is thin enough that if you have a rear
mattress you can put it between the deck and the mattress. But it has a
carpeted finish on the surface side in case you want to use it without a
mattress. (The finish is blue, and would look okay with a blue or gray
interior, but perhaps not as good with a brown interior; only an issue
if you won't be covering it with a mattress of course.) It has snaps to
hold it in place. While your van will not have the snap recepticles on
its rear deck, they happen to be the same ones that Wal-Mart sells for
about $4 a set in their camping section (and the same ones used for VW
rear hatch and side door mosquito screens). Or you can just lay it there
and not snap it in, which is probably just as good.  It is full-width,
so it's not designed for a Westy that has a cabinet on the rear deck.
The few I received from Germany are all I will ever have, so it's a
one-shot deal.  Maybe not a "must have" accessory, but certainly a
pretty cool (and ultra-rare) add-on for the Vanagon owner who has
everything. :-)

Link:

http://busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=255863405P1UT

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

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Toll-Free for Orders by PART # :  1-866-BUS-DEPOT