Bill,

I just replaced one on my '84.  I was not able to locate one at a junk
yard, and even if I did, I'm not sure that it would be "a couple of bucks."
 Junk yards in Phoenix charge 1/2 of what a dealer sells the new part for.
 The part, including lock cylinder and keys, is about $85 at the dealer and
about $65 at Camelback VW (list discount).  So, that means that a junk yard
would charge about $40 for a part that we all know fails with age.

My new VW part looked exactly like the old one, so I would guess that it
will break in about another 15 years.

Mike  '84 GL  '58 Isetta  Phoenix AZ