Date:         Mon, 5 Nov 2018 10:44:50 -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: starter
In-Reply-To:  <CACvdLxNGFWS6BPffWrmOKjJ2w2ORcXA6+Rd=ouBC4OdKOCe04A@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"

> I see that online vendors offer several different starters, at widely
> varying prices.  There are rebuilt original starters (least pricey, from
> Bus Depot), gear reduction starters that require an adapter plate (also Bus
> Depot, intermediate), and gear reduction starters with no plate required
> that I can tell (GoWesty, most pricey).  The GoWesty gear reduction starter
> is without a core return, but the Bus Depot starters, including the gear
> reduction starter, require a core return.
> 
> Of course, GoWesty touts its gear reduction starter as the best thing since
> Ordovician times and the evolution of legs.
> 
> Advice?


Sorry I' m chiming in a week late, just got back from SEMA.  Maybe you already made your decision but here's my $0.02...

Some years ago I investigated the GoWesty starter sells in some detail, intrigued by their "best thing since sliced bread" advertising.   I learned that it was an Asian starter that a U.S. company buys and puts their own mount on.  Since this final assembly of attaching the mount to the case was done in the U.S., the company (and in turn GoWesty) claimed it to be an American made product, a dubious claim since only the mount was U.S. made.  After talking to the supplier for some time, I was not confident enough about the product and decided to pass, leaving GW to sell it "exclusively."   After a few years GW pulled the item, only to re-introduce it a few years later. Their current ad copy claims that the original ones they were selling - touted as the best thing since sliced bread at the time - turned out to be like "jumping out of the pot and into the fire"  because they solved the slow crank problem but turned out to have quality issues.  Pity everyone who paid $$$$ for them when they were being advertised as so wonderful!   This sort of thing is exactly why I hesitate to be the first to market with a new untested product. I'd rather let my competitors use their customers as guinea pigs,  even if it costs me a few sales.   

Ultimately I ended up offering Karl's starter adapter. (Still didn't jump in, it had been on the market for quite some time and reviews were all positive.)  It is a brilliant solution and we have had no issues at all with it. The advantage is that it adapts your van to accept an off-the-shelf gear reduction starter commonly used on VW diesels, which are readily and inexpensively available, so it IMPROVES parts availability on your Vanagon.  By comparison the GW unit is proprietary, so it REDUCES parts availability (forcing you to go back to GW for replacements).  

Rather than to offer a new Chinese made gear reduction starter to go with the adapter, we have opted to sell a Bosch unit rebuilt by a well established rebuilder.  They're reasonably priced and have a long track record of reliability.  In fact we have never had one come back.  Also it ensures proper fit since it's been tested with the adapter.  Some of the aftermarket Chinese starters are larger (patterned after the Valeo version of the starter rather than the Bosch version, I believe), which can make fitment more difficult.   We are also the only ones who allow you to return your stock Vanagon starter core and get your core deposit back even though it is not the same core as the starter you purchased.   We also sell the adapter by itself if you prefer to get a Chinese starter somewhere else.

I am comfortable enough with the quality of this combination that it will be what goes in my own Westy when my stock starter fails. Which is pretty much my standard for any part I sell.

Adapter:  http://www.busdepot.com/mt1
Starter:  http://www.busdepot.com/sr0408xor

Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot, Inc.
www.busdepot.com