Date:         Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:02:20 -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: Muffler Source?
In-Reply-To:  <4AE07DAA.50705@comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

> The main selling point of the S&S is the price.  Ron is talking about
> the 1.9l muffler so I think that is why it seems like there isn't a big
> difference in price. I am talking about the 2.1l syncro which is what
> the customer was originally asking about.  If we go with a Danish made
> one then Ron's total for that plus the tail pipe and the two straps
> comes to $285.  Then if your lower muffler carriers are bad tack on
> another $200 for the Syncro version!
> So we are talking $485 for BD muffler and all of the mounting
> parts.  I hate to tell you folks this but that is twice the
> cost of the S&S muffler and the Danish muffler isn't twice as
> good.  Just sayin'.


Ken, your reply prompted me to actually pull out a calculator - and lo and
behold, I had overestimated the price of the stock system. It is actually
roughly the THE SAME price as the S&S muffler, not $50 more. Including the
listmember discount, the stock setup is $171 for a 2.1L (Syncro or not), or
$156 for a 1.9L, including muffler, tailpipe, gaskets, and straps.  This is
$12 more than the S&S if you have a 2.1L, or $3 less than the S&S if you
have a 1.9L. So basically the same price as the S&S.

So how did you get $285 instead of $171? For some reason you decided to
calculate it using the most expensive stock muffler available (the Dansk)
rather than the least expensive one (the Bosal).  I certainly do not advise
spending more than twice the price for the Dansk over the Bosal. They are
both high quality OEM replacements, and the Dansk is not appreciably better
despite its high price. Furthermore, the lower muffler carriers are very
heavy duty and don't fail all that often. (Not like the straps, which are
thin metal.) I'd say maybe 1 out of 30 Syncro owners who order a muffler
from us replace even one of the brackets, much less both. If you did need to
replace one or both - and had a Syncro - indeed you'd be looking at an extra
$100 or $200, and that would certainly change the comparison. But even in
that worst-case scenario, it would probably be the only time you ever had to
replace them for as long as you owned your Syncro. They certainly don't get
replaced every time, or even close to it.

So, the question now becomes, for basically the same price, is the S&S
superior to the stock system? Given that you yourself said, "the main
selling point of the S&S is the price," I'd imagine that you would concur
that it is not.

That said, I'm an S&S dealer myself and am not berating the product by any
means. It's a reputable product and it has its proponents; some people like
the louder sound, the look, etc.  There's nothing wrong with choices, in the
same way that someone may choose to pay double for a Dansk muffler instead
of a Bosal even though I personally don't believe it's worth the difference.
But, speaking as a Vanagon owner, I prefer the the stock system, and when it
comes to my own hard-earned money, that is what I put on my own Vanagon.

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

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