>>  I spoke to the good folks at the BusDepot today and they said they
>> could provide VW of NA brand suspension parts (ball joints
>> and upper A-arm bushings) for those who want them.  The price would
>> probably be a bit higher than aftermarket parts but it would most likely
be
>> significantly less than the dealer marked up price.  This is what I will
do
>> when I rebuild the front suspension again.

> can some shed some light here I thought VW did not make any
> of these suspension components like tie rods, ball joints etc
> I thought they just bought from the lobro's, Fibi's,
> Lemforder  & had em imprint the vw logo on those parts ?

You are absolutely right. Companies like Lobro, etc. are OE suppliers to VW.
They provide the parts to VW, and also in many cases sell them under their
own names. Most of the parts we sell are in fact OEM parts branded under the
actual manufacturer's name instead of the VW name.  By getting them directly
from the manufacturers and bypassing the VW supply chain, we can discount
the price significantly. The savings is often substantial;  I have seen the
identical part from the identical factory sell for $200 from VW and $35 from
the actual manufacturer.  But yes, if you prefer actual VW branded parts, we
can provide them from within the Volkswagen supply chain. As noted, the
price will be higher (often, but not always, significantly higher) than the
price of the OE part, but it will be cheaper than from the VW dealer.  The
quality may or may not differ. While it may be better on some parts at some
times, I'd say that in the vast majority of cases you're likely to end up
with the very same part for more money.

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

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