Thanks again Joel - That is what I had understood as well, but I had 
certainly NOT heard anything about VW making a retrofit for the older CFC 
air conditioners. 
Being in the  San Francisco area, any time we head east at all ends us in 
a desert, we really need the airconditioning. I had heard that the 
substitute for Freon had been labeled a serious fire hazard and so it 
sort of dropped out of sight. 
We will just keep hoping that someone comes up with a Freon substitute 
that can be used directly. 
-Jack