Amen!

> ----------
> From:         William Dummitt[SMTP:williamd@COMPUSERVE.COM]
> Reply To:     William Dummitt
> Sent:         Friday, March 13, 1998 6:43 AM
> To:   Vanagon@VANAGON.COM
> Subject:      Re: Complaint dept
>
> I think a lot of the high prices that Patrick writes about are because
> bus
> owners are a relatively small group compared to other car and truck
> models.
>  You can buy parts for a Ford or Chevy cheap at Auto Zone because the
> large
> number of owners encourages aftermarket manufacturers to go after the
> business, hence more competition, hence lower prices.  Dealer-only
> items
> tend to be expensive for all cars, though I tend to agree that VW is
> as
> greedy as any of the others.  Vanagon enthusiasts are probably in the
> worst
> shape of all because the waterboxer buses not only were brought into
> the US
> in relatively small numbers, but also used an engine not shared with
> any
> other VW or Audi product.  This situation guarantees that parts will
> be
> more expensive than most cars.  The existence of this list has sure
> made it
> easier, though.  If it weren't for the presence of Ron, Kyle, and
> other
> dealers on the list who have a lot of aftermarket parts at reasonable
> prices, I think I'd have given up on vanagons a couple of years ago.
> This
> is not to mention the thousands of dollars worth of free advice
> availabe
> here for the price of a few minutes browsing a day!
>