I disagree with Tim, I am NOT offended by Ron's advertising.  I look
at this way, I want Ron there when I NEED him (when I need a part
that I can't find in the junk yard) to keep my syncro westy on the
road.  If I have to read one email per day to keep a vendor in
business till I need him - seems like low cost maintenance to me.
I will also suggest to Tim that he set a filter to trash Ron's emails
or any other mail that Tim finds offensive.  Actually I'm getting a bit
tired of the Ron bashing.  malcolm s

On Tim wrote:

> Jezuuz H...
> (or pick a diety of your choice)
>
> Kent Christenson sent a nicely phrased message a couple of weeks back how
> this list was "over the top" as far as advertising goes, and this latest
> spamming from Salmon (below) is typical of the worst of it!  This is a
> blatant plug for his business, sugar coat it however you want to. It was
> NOT a kind little PSA to illuminate us into the intricacies of vanagon
> filters, it was a plug, plain and simple.
>
> I too subscribe(d) to other lists, Audi, Porsche, and Off-Road, and the
> vanagon list is the worst. Please don't reply with some anti-elitist crap
> that 'perhaps you should stay on the LandRover?BMW/etc list, since you can
> aford dealer parts"  There IS a problem with spam on this list, more than
> any other list I've been on.  Something needs to be done, either go
> commercial, charge the vendors for access priveliges and monthly
> advertising rights, or simply put a block on vendors posting to the list.
> I hate to advocate a moderated list, especially due to the workload this
> imposes on any listmeister, but uninformative posts designed only to sell
> product or bring attention to a vanagon related business have no place on
> the list and need to be moderated.  Perhaps if vendors policed themselves
> I wouldn't have to bring this non-vanagon issue up again.
>
> pissed off again by sales weasels, XOXOX, Tim Smith
>
> .......  the offending article (see at end also)
>
> Date:    Sun, 17 Jan 1999 12:44:07 -0500
> From:    The Bus Depot <ron@NETCARRIER.COM>
> Subject: Re: Oilfilters 1:st oilchange
>
> Regarding the question of economical cross-references for the expensive
> Dealer oil filters for your Vanagon:
>
> The two original oil filter suppliers to Volkswagen are Mann and Mahle. I
> stock them under the actual manufacturers' names, rather than the
> Volkswagen name, for much less than the dealer price.   I variously ship
> either Mann or Mahle depending on which I can get at a better price at any
> given time. They are interchangeable in terms of quality, and both feature
> the correct flow characteristics for the Vanagon engine. Not all
> aftermarket filters do.
>
> For the watercooled Vanagons, they are $4.29 each.  For the aircooled
> Vanagons, $3.99 each. Minimum purchase is 4.
>
> - Ron Salmon
>   The Bus Depot
>
>
> and a final note.....
>
> Just to put this deal in context I buy my wasser Bosch oilfilters for
> $4.99Cdn at my local hardware/FLAPS store. This is ~$3.25US for Bosch
> filters in a Bosch box, so $4.29 is a rip-off, and I don't have to buy 4
> at a time nor pay shipping.  Wake up folks, he's only in it for the money,
> yours!