I guess I've just been super lucky, but on the rare occasions I go to
the dealer they've been great.  They even let me bring in my own
parts once when OEM was discontinued.

Jeff
(Auto Haus VW, Winnipeg)

On 10-Sep-07, at 2:57 PM, Jack R. wrote:

> Let's see...
> For Parts, well I'll stick with Bus Depot, Gowesty, Vanagain...
> more than
> 1/2 the cost of the dealer, they know which parts work with your
> application, they have the parts, and they all support this list!
>
> I needed a new Thrust Washer for my 2.1L, the dealer wanted
> $38.95!  Our
> friends are over 50% less!  If you get your Van fixed at a dealer,
> not only
> do they charge you an arm and a leg for service, they charge you
> FULL price
> for the parts!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
> Behalf Of
> Donna Skarloken
> Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 2:55 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: What a real VW mech @ the dealer has to says about
> vanagons
>
> My husband forbides me to go to the VW dealership for anything
> anymore -
> we've had so many mistakes and appointment runarounds.  We've actually
> trained our local mechanic, a shop that works on everything around
> town, to
> work on VWs, letting him take his time, borrow our books, etc.  I
> presently
> work in Sacramento and when time permits drop off some of our jobs
> with
> Stefan's Autohaus.  It goes without saying my husband would rather
> I not buy
> a new VW, but if I did, won't go near our local VW dealer.  I don't
> know
> anything about the other dealers in the Central Valley area.  The
> probability of my buying a new VW is slim to none anyway.
>
> Donna, 87 Syncro
>
>
> On 9/10/07, joel walker <jwalker17@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>
>>> I quote
>>>
>>> I am a mechanic at a VW dealership, TRUST ME. you do not want a
>>> vanagon, we
>>> will not even take them in to work on!! I heartily recommend either
>>> buying
>>> an asian or domestic van, or holding out until "Project M"- our new
>>> minivan
>>> arrives next year as a 2008.
>>
>>
>> my question is, with appologies in advance to any real dealership
>> mechanics on the list, is ...
>>
>> would you, as a vanagon owner, believe ANYthing that a dealership
>> service department personnel tells you?
>>
>> i've been driving (and fiddling/working/tinkering on) vw buses now
>> for
>> 37 years ... since i got out of the army in 1970. vanagons for 28 of
>> those years  or whatever math it makes from december 1979. :)
>>
>> and quite frankly, i've yet to run across a vw dealership person who
>> knew ANYthing about vanagons, much less how to fix them.
>>
>> just because someone is a vw dealership mechanic does NOT mean he
>> knows how to fix ANYthing. he could be the lowest totem on the pole,
>> and get all the oil changes dumped on him (cause the more senior
>> mechanics grab all the high-paying jobs so they can maintain their
>> lifestyles).
>>
>> and if the dealerships had known anything about vanagons, we wouldn't
>> have needed to create this mailing list!!!
>>
>> in my damnably humble opinion!
>> unca joel
>>