Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2001 09:21:30 -0700
Reply-To: Tobin Copley <tobin.copley@UBC.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Tobin Copley <tobin.copley@UBC.CA>
Subject: Re: Canadian mail order vanagon parts????????
In-Reply-To: <003201c0bb86$b87a2bc0$0a266c18@powersurfr.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"
At 9:08 AM -0600 4/2/01, Double-Cab Guy wrote:
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Chad <groch@WORLDCHAT.COM>
>Sent: Monday, April 02, 2001 7:37 AM
> > what is the web site called for the mail order vanagon parts in Canada. I
> > know it says something like "dog"........I just can't remember
>Chad,
>
>You have several options these days.
>1)http://www.bowwow.ca/
>2)http://www2.partsvw.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv
>(used to be California import parts)
>3)http://www.motorsmart.com/autowreckers.html
> (Canadian online auto wreckers)
>4) http://www.fastforward.ca
> (list members business)
>
>Cheers
>Glen Cook
>(Fellow Canadian)
I haven't any experience using either the Canadian online auto
wreckers site, nor Fast Forward.
I have done a *lot* of business with Bow Wow, although always in
person, never online. Bow Wow has been consistently good,
knowledgeable staff, and good prices. They also tend not to sell
crap parts, although as a non-dealer, they don't generally have
genuine VW parts--but the aftermarket stuff I've received from them
has been high quality.
My experiences with California Import parts have been as consistently
awful as Bow Wow's have been good. Not *once* have I received a
correct or satisfactory part from them. Customer service is awful,
and their "guarantee" is completely worthless. I say this from
painful experience. *Repeated* painful experiences, I should add--I
must be a slow learner. I've posted about Calimports before, so
it'll be in the archives someplace. Heck, I'll just paste it here:
-----------
To: vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com
From: Tobin Copley <tobin.copley@ubc.ca>
Subject: Re: Tranny replacement costs 83 vanagon
At 12:52 PM -0700 2/7/01, Steve Blackham wrote:
>So far my research has found 6 vendors with the following prices on a
>rebuild tranny for my 82-83 Vanagon:
>
>CalImports, Blaine, Wash. $617 250 core
Advice: stay away from CaliImports at all costs. I have dealt with
them several times, and *nothing* I've purchased from them is, ah, at
all reasonable quality.
Items purchased:
Vanagon heater fan switch: 0-1-2-3 settings function as 1-2-3-0. (!?)
Vanagon passenger side mirror: very cheap plastic, mirror surface
fun-house warped
Vanagon gas tank: designed such that engine starved of fuel on
moderate or long right-hand turns or left-sloping road/parking spot
(fuel pick-up is on right hand side of tank, remember) whenever tank
is 1/4 full or less. Makes a diesel pretty hard to drive on hilly,
curvy SW BC!
Vanagon brake MC: the threads were damaged on the hydraulic coupling,
making it unusable. They *did* take this one back, but only after
exploding at several people over the phone and in their store.
The "satisfaction guarantee" refers to *their* satisfaction, as far
as I can tell. Fan switch: "it's an electrical part; we don't do
returns on electricals"; mirror: "You already installed it and the
ball joint piece is marked up (because the plastic is so cheap and
soft), and the warp isn't bad--we haven't had anybody else complain";
tank: "well, you've put fuel in it, we can't take it back" and
predictably, "Gee, you're the first person who's ever complained
about this". The MC was a *real* protracted struggle, and the part
was *clearly* defective out of the box. Eventually, they refunded my
money for the MC.
Guess what? I won't buy from them again, and I tell others of my
experiences when asked. Make up your own mind regarding CaliImports.
BTW, I'm very happy with the service at Bow-wow parts. They have
stores on SW BC and Seattle. Jeremy at the North Van store has been
exceptional and I recommend him to everyone. He once helped my wife
repair a NLA hydraulic line (damaged by a bad CaliImports brake MC,
incidentally) enlisting the help of the guy in a machine shop across
the street, and testing the parts--no charge.
Maybe Bow-wow has parts you need?
T.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tobin Copley Bowen Island, BC, Canada 49deg 23'N-123deg 19'W
'82 Westfalia 1.6L NA diesel ("Stinky")
'97 son Russell =============
'99 daughter Margaret /_| |_L| |__|:| clatter
SPEED KILLS! {. .| clatter!
Drive a Vanagon diesel ~-()-==----()-~