Date:         Tue, 28 Feb 2012 09:53:51 -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: Mufflers re-dux (pipe strangeness)
In-Reply-To:  <CAJOFYZkCGvc_j3vxidBZqbJrpAWe8zUHXvuu4eT+5j1BvNT0Yw@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

> A local shop has offered to put a "universal" muffler on including tail
pipe,
> everything welded, for $150, or an Ansa muffler, with new pipe and flange,
bolted,
> for $288.  Opinions?  Any functional difference?  Oh, with the "universal"
muffler,
> which is 4" shorter than the Ansa,  he would weld the muffler to the pipe
coming
> from the catalytic converter, too.


> I would go with the Ansa muffler and the corresponding tailpipe.  I've
> been running this setup on my Westy since 1997 with several trips
> coast to coast and she's still going strong, no reason to change it
> out yet.


Assuming you have a 1.9L, that is the very same Ansa we sell for $99
everyday. So you're paying nearly a $200 premium to have the local shop
supply and install it.  The installation is straightforward, given that it's
a direct-fit bolt-on muffler - certainly not $200 worth of work. (To be fair
to the shop, part of the difference may be that they pay more for the
muffler than we retail it for. They buy a few at a time; I buy hundreds.)
You would probably save about $100 if you simply bought the muffler from us
for $99 and brought it to a mechanic who was willing to install
customer-supplied parts.  (Or alternatively, one who was willing to order
the parts from us rather than paying a higher markup to their local jobber.)

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

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