Date:         Wed, 9 Apr 1997 21:29:16 -0600 (MDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Cory Zumbrennen <zumbrenn@ucsu.colorado.edu>
Subject:      Re: Thanks, Volks! for Re: Recs for oil wt, tires


Hi All,
	I would like to chime in here:)  I used to hate going to the
dealer.  They did the least work for the most amount of money.  The parts
counter was usually two to three times as expensive as FLAPS.  But in the
last 18 months they have become _much_ more reasonable, often beating
FLAPS, and aftermarket suppliers.  Of course I am just talking parts here,
as I try to do all of my own work nowadays.  My theory is that they still
stick it to you on the "dealer only" items(of course everything for a
Vanagon is dealer only;)), but on the items that are available elsewhere
they are very competitive.  Being a poor college student(yes a poor
college student with two cars), I shop around.  On the last tune up for
my Jetta the dealer was the least expensive for about half the parts that
I needed.  I also realized that it is very nice to buy things from the
dealer when they're not ripping you off.  It feels right.  So all of you
out there who havn't been to the dealer in ages (must not be driving your
Vanagon:)) go take a look.

Cory
'86 Westfalia
'91 Jetta GLi 16V (for sale)

On Wed, 9 Apr 1997, Tonya Pope wrote:

> Regarding the oil changes:
> 
> If you end up enjoying doing it yourself, good for you.  Otherwise, try
> the dealers.  The one near me charges 19.95 and will take my van
> whenever I drive in normally, no appointment necessary, and does the job
> rather speedily.  At 19.95 (including the filter), it's cheaper than the
> Jiffy Lubes and Speedy's, and they actually know what they're doing. 
> They send me a little postcard every 3 months to remind me it's time
> again with a few 'specials' printed on it which are usually good deals
> if I need the work done.  Sometimes it's just a flat percentage off
> anything I need.  Now the dealer is usually way to expensive for most
> things, but mine here is pretty good.  If you can find yourself a good
> one ...  Mine has even done things for free (without me having to argue,
> no less!)  And parts can actually be cheaper and more timely obtained
> (not all parts, but some).  The air intake boot was the same price at
> the dealer as anywhere else, and the dealer would overnight it for me. 
> They ended up installing it for free because it was taking them too long
> (took them 5 hours and I was waiting in the showroom for them to get
> done!).  I didn't even ask for anything or complain about the long wait.
> 
> I guess there's been so much bad rap given to the dealers that I had to
> say something positive about them!  Seriously, if you don't want to fool
> with the oil, give them a shot.
> 
> Tonya
> 87 Vanagon GL Wolfs
> 74 S. Beetle
>