My experience is that VW dealers in NoCal neither stock parts for my 83.5
nor are particularly interested in being helpful about getting them. Each
piece is paid for by the customer in advance and shipped from a central
warehouse in LA (admittedly, they are timely about shipping). Moreover, all
of the parts lists and diagrams are on microfiche and need to be cross
referenced with part numbers/prices in the computer manually...

On the other hand, I have noticed that there are price differences between
the various web-based independent parts providers and I imagine that many
used parts dealers/ wrecking yards and people with parts cars might have
internet access. So your bid idea (sort of a reverse e-bay) might work in
that arena. Perhaps the central VW parts warehouses might be convinced to
participate, but the dealers are busy selling beetles as fast as they can
get them.

I'd give your site a try

Chris Fall
cpfall@ucdavis.edu