Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:47:09 -0500
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: 8 Secretive Part Numbers For One Fuel Pump?
In-Reply-To: <vanagon%2010122121451057@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> The matter is important because if you go onto ebay, say, and
> search for them using this query:
> Then you see many pumps, many of which are original genuine
> Bosch, at prices from $46 to $200.
>
> I am wondering if this is like the Mattress industry where
> everybody sells the same few parts under many secretive part
> numbering schemes so consumers cannot compare prices.
>
> Or, is there a reason some of us are buying the Vanagon pump
> for $150 at Rockauto and our favorite vanagon vendors, but
> ebayers are sending out what seems to be the exact same part
> for $50 if you know the part number to look under.
Nobody's selling Bosch pumps for $50 - they're selling cheap Chinese pumps
for $50. You can't even buy a Bosch pump wholesale for $50 if you buy
hundreds at a time, let alone one. The $46 listing you referred to is the
most misleading of the Ebay listings, as it doesn't actually mention that
it's an aftermarket part. By only listing the Bosch equivalent numbers and
using the word Bosch in the title, it certainly implies that it's a Bosch
pump, but it's not. To prove my point I questioned them via Ebay messaging,
and got back: "Hi it is not made by bosch, it is an aftermarket
equivalent." Funny how they unchecked the option for their response to be
displayed on the Ebay listing when they replied to my question.
The cheapest actual Bosch pump on Ebay is actually our listing, for $119.
Actually it's $10 cheaper ($109) if you order it directly from us at
http://busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=69414 . The extra $10 covers the
Ebay selling fees. I am reasonable sure that you will not find a genuine
German Bosch pump anywhere else for $109. The next cheapest one on Ebay
after ours is $137.
To answer your question on the various part numbers, Bosch makes/made
multiple pumps with very small variations under different numbers. This is
not principally to discourage price-shopping like in the mattress industry,
but because different automotive manufacturers have minutely different specs
for the fuel pump they want on their vehicle - so, as the OE supplier, Bosch
builds their specs. Often the differences are insignificant, such as spade
lugs vs. ring terminals, or a minute size difference. In other cases (i.e. a
different inlet and/or outlet diameter) it may cause an unexpected
installation headache even if the pump's performance specs are the same. Any
variation, no matter how small, will always result in a new part number so
that the different versions can be distinguished.
Over time, Bosch generally supersedes various similar pumps to a single
interchangeable replacement, as it is not economically viable to keep
producing a dozen different yet completely interchangeable pumps once the OE
market dries up for each one. As a result, different retailers may list the
same pump under different numbers depending on what number they happen to
have keyed in when they first started carrying the application. Say Bosch
replaces 10 pumps with a single replacement. Now there are 10 different OE
part numbers out there (some of them VW, some Mercedes, some BMW, etc.) that
now all point to the same pump. Plus 10 different Bosch part numbers (since
there is a corresponding Bosch part number to each OE part number). Plus
the part number for the new replacement version. Or even more, because Bosch
typically has both a long and a short part number for many of their parts
and some retailers use one or the other. So in this example, the same Bosch
pump (which now replaces 10 different original pumps) may be inventoried by
various retailers under any of 20 or more different part numbers.
BusDepot.com does have a cross-reference feature, so that even if you type
in the Bosch number it will automatically display the corresponding VW part.
It's by no means complete, as there are too many to keep up with, plus our
current site design limits me to 3 cross references per SKU (so I pick the
most commonly queried ones). So far our site crosses several hundred of the
most common Bosch numbers, and I add to it when time allows.
- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot, Inc.
www.busdepot.com
(215) 234-VWVW
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Toll-Free for Orders by PART # : 1-866-BUS-DEPOT
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