>> Regarding the REI dividend ... ONLY IF! Wouldn't that be nice! Maybe some of the list vendors could pick up on the dividend thing and kick back about 10% at the end of the year, or send out a 20% discount coupon once a year. This would be quite innovative and good for business.

As a customer of both REI and a couple of the more prominent list vendors, I can say that I'd prefer it the other way around: I wish the Bus Depot and Vanagain carried outdoor/camping stuff. These vendors would undoubtedly offer such items at significantly better deals than REI does, thereby obviating the need for any kind of so-called "rebate" on overpriced merchandise.

It seems every time I visit REI lately, after wading thru the parking lot full of milling yuppies and their gleaming SUVs, I finally get inside to find that the store has once again replaced an entire aisle of actual camping gear with yet another row of $129 pastel fleece pullovers and chic $30 scarves. I found so little outdoor equipment at REI last year that my annual dividend was $1.15.

The Bus Depot extends a 5% discount every day to list members, and that's on top of the already good prices offered by them and Vanagain. Ron from the Bus Depot stated recently that a small portion of his proceeds goes to such organizations as Doctors Without Borders, a Breast Cancer Foundation, and others. And I seem to recall that Ken Wilfy of Vanagain is very active in his church, so a small portion of your parts purchase eventually makes its way into the collection plate, hopefully to help those less fortunate.

Yet both these vendors continue to offer the kind of stuff we all need to keep our Vanagons running right, and at what I consider to be very good prices and service.

Now if only they sold backpacks, hiking boots, and dehydrated beef stew ...

Jeffrey Earl 1983 diesel Westfalia "Vanasazi"

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