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Van Cafe News

MARCH SPECIAL

Pressure is on - I find myself in the lobby of the Santa Clara Convention Center, home of the "Stitches West" knitting show passing the time trying to find inspiration for the March special. What am I doing here? Well, my girl friend, Chris, is a good sport when I drag her to car and cycling related events that interest me and now the tables are turned. Chris is a knitter. As far as I can tell, the simple act of attending this event is an acknowledgment that knitting is not just a hobby, it is a lifestyle (ok - really an obsession but don't tell her I said that). There may not be any pointy eared costumes, but I don't think I am far from being at something approaching a Star Trek convention. (Alpha) Knitters have their own language, only seem fully at ease in the company of their own, and can clearly pick out the non-believer in their midst. As I sat down with my laptop on a couch in the lobby, the knitter on the other end of the couch conspicuously rescued her ball of yarn that had strayed too close to my evil non-knitter ass. Intriguing people watching opportunities abound, but I must focus and think about Vanagons. I wonder, were I to find another Vanagon enthusiast, and we share our stories and interests, would this be how we appear to the uninitiated?

For those of you who have not checked out our Featured Items lately, we would like to point out that this past month was a good month for a few more items to come to market that we had been working on. We now have replacement throttle switches, a number of shift linkage components (selector lever and relay lever), and power mirror inserts. As quickly as VW shoots 'em down, we, along with our various partners, continue to be hard at work filling in the gaps. We also found our new Super Bright LED interior lights to be well received and as part of our special this month, we are including a free LED map light with all orders over $100. (Should you already have one or be somehow blessed with super-power vision with dim lights, please feel free to decline our token act of benevolence and with your most diplomatic voice, put "gimme something else" in the comment line of the order and we will use our discretion.
But that's not enough - there also needs to be a special. Well, I was dreaming about mufflers the other night, and man,did I wake up exhausted. As such, you will find individual exhaust components and complete kits on sale this month: Manifolds, Collector pipes, Catalytic Converters, Mufflers, Tail Pipes, Complete Exhaust Kits are all on sale. All sale prices are posted with their parts listing - just pick your year and model in the catalog and search through the exhaust parts.
As always, we appreciate your business and will continue to do our best to earn it, along with a smile and a bag of cookies.

COOKIE WARS!

Well, it looks like we started something here. For a brief respite from toiling in the dungeons at the Cafe, we were playing around with an animation site that allowed us to make a mock customer transaction video. It seemed to inspire and unleash some creative and humorous responses from others in the Vanagon community. Feel free to submit yours and we will add it to the list. If the weather was warmer you could be out in the garage working on the Van, but it is not, so best to sit at the computer and have a few laughs.

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/5764009/

Well, we made up that first one, but it elicited a very witty reply by management, composed by Brent Jordan

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/5770129/

And then, Angus Gordon from Bainbridge Island, created Super Hero Vanagon Man with helpful advice

http://www.youtube.com/user/whatzavideo

NOKIAN TIRES ARE HERE

NOT Nokia - Nokian - we aren't talking cell phones here, but the Scandinavian tire manufacturer gaining popularity and widespread acclaim for their quality, affordable, environmentally-friendly tires.

QUALITY - In the case of a Vanagon, this discussion starts with a tire that is rated correctly for the vehicle. Vanagons are supposed to travel on Load Range C tires - light duty truck tires with reinforced sidewalls - certain minimum weight ratings and appropriate tire inflation ranges. We all take risks in life, but why take one here unnecessarily when correct tires are available. There is a lot of information on the internet and lengthy discussions on various forums from Vanagon owners exhaustive research and experience. Although a few years old now, one of the most thoroughly researched articles on tires was written by Larry Chase on his roadhause website - Here is a link to the article - http://www.roadhaus.com/tires/guideline.html Although some of those tires discussed have since gone out of production, the facts about the Vanagon and tire specs have not changed. Now, specific to the Nokian tires, the ones that we are stocking will all be the load range C ones. Nokian places emphasis on exceptional grip under all driving conditions, efficient low rolling resistance, even wear, and a quiet tire.

COST - Cost is a factor, but not at the sacrifice of safety or quality. We have always been fans of the Michelin Agilis tire and although we still are fans of that tire, we are starting to cringe at the price as it has steadily crept up over the past few years to where they are now $156 each for the 205/65/15. The Nokian tire in the same size is $124 each - a savings of $128 on a set of 4. We are trying to offer a safe and appropriate tire, affordably.
We offer the following models and prices:
185R14C Hakka C for $109 each
205/65/15 Hakka C for $124 each
205/65/15 WRC for $124 each
Set of 4 Rhein alloys with either 205/65/15 for $1186
Accuracy for shipping prices is not great with the website shipping calculator so we encourage you to email with your zip code for accurate shipping quotes. Shipping to a business address will save you some money and we require that someone be there to sign for delivery. Products are listed for your year and model under the "wheel and driveshaft" category and under "tires" and "rims".

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT - You pick your tires because they are safe and affordable but it is comforting to know that the company making your tires employs green practices. Nokian Tires is the first tire manufacturer in the world to begin making tires without the use of harmful oils - they use earth friendly oils and they have earned the birch leaf insignia that guarantees the complete absence of toxic chemicals.

We like to give credit, where credit is due. Consistent with the Co-Conspirator article about listening to and collaborating with our customers, our decision to become a Nokian dealer began by the valuable research and prompting of one of our customers, Craig Bailes, who wanted a set of Nokian tires to go with the Rhein rims he was purchasing. Between his urgings, positive posts we had read on forums, and accounts from a few other customers, we felt a consensus had started to emerge that this is a good tire, a good tire manufacturer, and we wanted to be a part of making them more available to our customers.

CO-CONSPIRATORS WANTED!

When I tell people that the crux of our business is based on supplying parts for VW Vanagons - vehicles that have not been in production for close to 20 years - the reaction is often one of skepticism. You may have gotten a similar reaction when trying to justify to a neighbor, coworker, or more likely a spouse the money invested in your prized Vanagon for an engine conversion along with various accessories and upgrades. Truth is, we are both a little nuts, but life would be boring if we were always rational. I have to admit that I feel very fortunate to be able to cover the shop overhead and the employee wages in a place like Santa Cruz (not to mention supporting my lavish lifestyle) all while working at a job that I very much enjoy. But, it is our sense that life in the Vanagon world has just started to get a bit more challenging.
Ready availability of almost all essential parts has been a given, up to this point. Most out of stock items have tended to be non-essential accessories that we import and which periodically suffer from gaps between orders. But, recently we have witnessed a rather significant number of common and important Vanagon part numbers having been deleted from VW's database. As the herd of Vanagons has thinned over the years, aftermarket companies may not step in to fill this void. Some of us vendors will take the initiative to fabricate some of these items, but we are also aware that many resourceful Vanagon owners and shops have done and will continue to do this too.

Frankly, we are not in the fabrication business. As much as we would like to successfully design and produce parts, many of our efforts have been full of disappointments, delays and missteps. The most successful instances, however, have been collaborations with Vanagon owners or Vanagon shops who have already taken the initiative to design and produce a given product. It is best that we stick with what we know and do best - run the website and the repair shop - and when it comes to developing new products, then it is time to turn to you and work with partners to develop them.
We welcome your contact and input on products that you may have developed to improve on some functional or cosmetic part of the Vanagon, or to supply a part that is no longer available. Gas tank cross over pipes, 2.1 thermostat housings, radius arm bushing sleeves, throttle switches are a few of the items that are in the process of disappearing. We have no desire to ask for any exclusive arrangement. You did the ground work - you have every right to sell to whomever you choose, but our goal is to always offer as many necessary and useful parts as possible on our site for our customer's convenience. Please let us know what you have been working on. More than ever, we are in this thing together. Collectively, we need you to keep us in business, and you need us to keep your van running. You would be hard pressed to find a community of vehicle owners as dedicated, talented, and cooperative as you find amongst Vanagon owners. We look forward to your input.

VANAGON RUNNING ISSUES - SOME SUGGESTIONS

We just want to highlight the fact that we have a number of resources on the site to help you maintain your van. You can view a variety of articles, tech tips, and various links under our "Resources" section listed on the top of the home page. We tend to get many people referencing the "running issues" article so we thought that we would highlight it here. Whether you are experiencing rough running issues or poor fuel economy, we hope that the article will offer you a step by step method to troubleshoot the problem and identify the culprit. Here is a link to the article Vanagon Running Problems

IT'S ALIVE!! BUT WHY A NEW WEBSITE?

Why change the website? Frankly, I hate change. I am a creature of habit. I'd rather wear old comfortable shoes, drive an old car, and use old technology. The old site has served us well for 6 years, but we can't ignore the fact that there have been many advances in website design over that period of time. Although familiar, the old site had a tired look and we are enjoying the new modern look (even if it is retro). The old site had become plagued with sporadic glitches in the shopping cart, so we are glad those will be gone. And the new site has simpler and quicker procedures for us to add and link products and content, allowing us to keep it fresher. From the customer's vantage, we have virtually all of the same products and info on the site - it has just been moved around. The only major change is our grouping vehicles into ranges of years and models as opposed to indexing them by individual years. We hope that you will find the new site to your liking and will give it a try. We have done our best to proofread the site and make sure that all parts are linked to their correct categories, but we realize there may be some overlooked, incorrect or missing links. We welcome you to email us with any errors that you may come across so that we can properly fix them.

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