Date:         Wed, 11 Oct 2000 15:03:34 -0400
Reply-To:     The Bus Depot <ron@NETCARRIER.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         The Bus Depot <ron@NETCARRIER.COM>
Subject:      Re: complaints / Dansk Exhaust / Ford Purchase Recommendation
In-Reply-To:  <62.7eec3ad.2715f7e3@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

> The VW pipes bolt up; it is that simple.  Do
> you honestly think at VW you would ever hear Fritz yell,"Hey,
> Hans!  Stop the line!  I have to get the torch."

No.  And if you were installing Dansk header pipes on a Vanagon with zero
miles you would not have that experience either.  But after 50, 100, 150k
miles, other parts on the van are out of spec, mounts are slightly twisted,
etc. and no exhaust system will bolt on as cleanly as on a brand new
vehicle.

I see this happen all the time, not just on Vanagons but on Buses, too, some
of which have equally convoluted exhaust systems.  Someone takes a brand new
exhaust part, body part, etc., bolts it onto half a dozen old, worn parts,
and it doesn't quite line up.  Does he consider that all of the old parts
he's bolting it to are perhaps slightly bent or out of spec after 10 or 15
years?  No!  Obviously it must be that all of the old parts on his engine
are perfectly in spec, but the brand new part is out of spec! :-)  Don't you
think that having sold these pipes for nearly a decade, Dansk, who is a
reputable and well-established exhaust company (and, incidentally, an
original-equipment supplier to Volkswagen), would long ago have corrected
them if they didn't fit?  Yes, something is out of spec all right, but it
isn't the brand new pipe - it's your 15 year old vehicle!

> I am satisfied that the VW pieces fit better.
> But, I am not certain that they cost more.  To check on this I managed to
> locate my invoice from a VW dealer for a Syncro rear connection
> pipe (P/N 025 251 172P).  The list was $206.50 and the net was $165.20.
The BD
> listing for this part has it priced at $179.95 plus shipping.  Is this
> cheaper?

No, because the part number you looked up on our website _was_ a genuine VW
pipe.  The Dansk equivalent is a 172R, and it's $104.45 with listmember
discount - half the retail of the VW pipe.  For what you paid for the
non-stainless VW one, we could have provided a stainless steel header pipe.

>  He said that he uses VW pipes which last about 90kmi

Well, they sure didn't last 90k miles on either my '85 or my '89, and this
is in Philadelphia, which is a slightly kinder environment than NH.  In the
end, it wasn't rust that killed my original pipes anyway, it was stress
cracks.  (Got one, welded it, got another an inch away from the first one,
welded it, by the third time I just gave up and replaced the pipe.)  If the
O.E. header pipes really lasted 90k miles in the rust belt (and supposedly
longer in dry climates), I'd rarely get an order for a header pipe; on the
contrary, they are one of my best selling items.

Bottom line, it's your money and your choice.  You can pay about twice as
much for the genuine VW header pipes, but in my experience you have about as
much chance of the fit being difficult as with the Dansk pipes.  Personally
I think it's a waste of money, but it's your money. If nothing else, get the
muffler and tailpipe from me, and you'll at least save on those items (and
in the case of '86-91 get a stainless-bodied muffler to boot).

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus DepotŪ, Inc.
  www.busdepot.com
  (215) 234-VWVW

   _______________________________________________
     ORDER BY PART # TOLL FREE:  1-888-819-DEPOT