Date:         Wed, 15 Sep 2004 19:07:43 -0400
Reply-To:     The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject:      Re: Would you replace your water pump if:
In-Reply-To:  <JHEHKLEAKBLMKEJMBNOOEEPMDGAA.jeff@vanagonparts.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

> FYI:  The German Laso water pumps have an extremely high
> failure rate (~12%).  Use the Italian made Graf pumps instead.
>
> BTW: Before anyone starts a flame war on the statement above,
> it comes directly from my parts supplier (they are one of the
> largest importers of auto parts in the USA).


I have not seen any Laso water pumps for Vanagons in years. If they're
distributed in the U.S. anymore, it's not by anyone I deal with.

But to be honest, when the Laso's were available some years back, I
can't recall taking even one back. Of course my experience was strictly
with Vanagon water pumps. If Laso had a quality problem with pumps for
some other car, I wouldn't have known.

While I can understand why one's initial impulse might be to strongly
value the impressions of the salesman at a huge auto parts importer,
with all due respect I submit that there are reasons to take this with a
grain of salt. Consider that this "largest importer of auto parts in the
USA" is basically a wholesale "jack of all trades." He sells water pumps
for every import application, and perhaps even domestic as well.  For
every one Vanagon water pump he sells, he probably sells 500 Jetta water
pumps, 1000 other VW ones, and 3000 more non-VW ones.  Now, lets say
that a manufacturer has a bad batch of a particular water pump that fits
a wide range of Toyotas, or maybe even Jettas. That salesperson will,
with the best of intentions, relate to his customers that a huge
percentage of that manufacturer's water pumps fail. In total, he's right
- even if not a single Vanagon pump they ever made failed.  Conversely,
let's say that every single Vanagon pump that manufacturer makes fails.
Since this still represents maybe 1/25 of 1% of that importer's total
water pump sales, it's very likely that this 100% failure rate on this
particular application would fly right past the wholesale salesperson's
radar.

But as I said, I am largely speaking theoretically here, as Laso is not
a common brand of Vanagon water pump anymore anyway, to my knowledge.

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

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