Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 15:44:37 -0500
Reply-To: Tom Hargrave <thargrav@HIWAAY.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Tom Hargrave <thargrav@HIWAAY.NET>
Subject: Re: Subject: German quality?
In-Reply-To: <5217BCEC.5070803@turbovans.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
It's a very broad statement and a very true one - do your homework.
The VW bug was once the most common car in the world and it was being
manufactured on every continent in the world except for one - Russia. And in
every case VW negotiated local parts sources to save cost. It's likely that
most of the parts on your Vanagon were made in Germany because they used the
same system in Germany. These days parts ship world-wide from many sources
and it's just too likely that your service parts came from somewhere other
than Germany, and even if the top assembly came from Germany where did the
piece parts come from?
You can't even trust that brand names come from certain countries. For
example everyone associates Bosch with Germany, right? I bet you did not
know that Chrysler manufactured Bosch ABS controllers under contract for
over 5 years right here in Huntsville, Alabama, USA! My Wife is about to
retire from Chrysler and she worked in the facility while the ABS
controllers were being manufactured. No-where on the unit or box is there
anything mentioning The Chrysler Corporation! The board inside the
controller is marked Made in USA but there is still no mention of Chrysler.
The real key is not where parts are being manufactured, but what quality is
the Engineering behind the product. And VW, like Mercedes, has always had
excellent control over their product Engineering.
Thanks, Tom Hargrave
www.kegkits.com
www.stir-plate.com
www.towercooler.com
www.grow-sun.com
www.raspberryproject.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of
Scott Daniel
Sent: Friday, August 23, 2013 2:50 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Subject: German quality?
that's quite a broad statement Sir ..'most never were' .
I've been getting made-in-germany VW parts since the 70's, jillions of them,
and I still do quite frequently.
It does say 'made in France' on 2WD vanagon front uprights/spindles though,
factory-installed parts in production.
On 8/23/2013 12:35 PM, Tom Hargrave wrote:
> Most VW parts never were made in Germany. VW was a pioneer in
> outsourcing as much as possible for their cars including your Vanagon.
>
> Thanks, Tom Hargrave
> www.kegkits.com
> www.stir-plate.com
> www.towercooler.com
> www.grow-sun.com
> www.raspberryproject.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On
> Behalf Of Robert Keezer
> Sent: Friday, August 23, 2013 2:15 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Subject: German quality?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>> ________________________________
>> I bought a new Meyle front Vanagon heater valve from a FLAPS that
>> barely lasted 3 months before leaking.
>>
>> Badly deformed from having melted from heat. Made in Germany 02/2012
>> I found where my stock of good used vintage ones were and problem solved.
>> Robert 1982 Westfalia
>>
>>
>>
>>> Is anything made in Germany any more?
>>
>> _____________________________________________
>>
>>
>>