Date:         Wed, 12 Jul 2006 14:32:42 -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: Feedback wanted - Dash Console For Vanagon from BusDepot
Comments: cc: Dana Showers <dshowers@CPDS.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <vanagon%2006071213432231@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

> Can anyone provide feedback on this?
> Overall quality (including the hinges)?
> How usable the cup holders are?


I been using one on my own '89 for maybe three years now, so I can answer
this from personal experience. If you have a later model Vanagon with a
padded dash and a flat area on the passenger side, the bottom lip of the
console must be trimmed a bit, because it is made for European spec Vanagons
without a padded dash. You are trimming it where it faces the windshield,
not you, so it's not very noticable once installed, and it is easy to cut. I
probably spent about 20 minutes trimming it a little at a time and got a
decent but not perfect fit (it sits a tad higher at the right front edge;
hardly noticable from inside the van, but you can notice the height
difference from a side view when you get in). Perhaps I could have gotten a
more exact fit if I'd kept trimming but it was close enough for me. (I
believe it will fit earlier Vanagons with little or no modification,
although maybe someone else could comment on that who has one.)  After a few
years of use the plastic still looks good, no noticable warpage, fading,
etc. My wife has a habit of using the console as a footstool (with the table
closed) and the plastic has withstood a few years of that without cracking
under the weight.  The cup holders are rather deep, so they will hold a tall
cup of coffee or large soft drink without letting it tip around corners (but
are too narrow for some of the really big 44-ounce mega cups).  I have found
the cup holders and the bin for change and cell phone to be incredibly
useful. My wife rarely uses the table when we're traveling, so I can't
comment from experience on how the hinges would hold up to heavy use
(although no one's ever complained to me of one breaking). 

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

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