Date:         Tue, 12 Nov 1996 10:38:25 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Tom Forhan <tforhan@pipeline.com>
Subject:      Propex Status Report

I got an update from Propex this AM.

They expect to ship the heaters this Friday - not quite on the original
schedule, but that was based on five units, and we ended up ordering
twenty. Seems they had to scurry around a bit to 'round up all the
parts.

I also got some better shipping estimates. These prices include pickup
at the factory, all the UK paperwork, and airfreight to the airport of
choice. For the one unit going directly to Canada, its expensive: 90
Pounds, about $US144. For the US group, the quote was for *Dallas*, not
*Dulles* (near Washington DC). I presume the price will go down a tad
once this is corrected since Dulles is closer to England, but distance
does not affect all the various cost elements of international air
freight. 

All that said, the bid was 275 Pounds, about $440, or well under $25 a
unit. That does not include customs duty and handling charges on this
end which will probably be around $35 each, and many of you will be
dealing with UPS charges to your home address as well.  Still, it looks
good for the total shipping costs being well below the $100/unit I had
advised prospective purchasers to budget.

If they actually ship this Friday, remember this is airfreight, not
Federal Express. Figure a a couple of days for these things to sit
around each airport, being consolidated into larger shipments, waiting
for paperwork, etc. I will be very pleased if we can pick them up a week
after they leave the factory. 

I hope to install mine almost immediately. We want to go camping for a
few days after Thanksgiving!

Everybody got their extra battery installed? 

Tom F.