[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

New member



On 4/11/07, Andrew McCausland <ajmccaus@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all, just wanted to introduce myself to the list. My name is Andrew
> McCausland and I live in Calgary Alberta, Canada.


Hi Andrew.  Welcome to an interesting slice of the interweb!


> Currently on the priority list I'm looking for a set of tires and shocks.
> Currently I have a Bilstein sport kit (that's what the receipt from 1988
> says), which includes lowered springs, and the shocks need to be refreshed.
> I'd appreciate opinions on sport shocks and where to get the best price on
> them.


I'm just over the border from Buffalo NY and get my parts (and tires)
from the U.S. for the most part.  One piece of advice I can offer is
to find U.S. vendors that use the U.S. Postal Service to ship their
parts.  USPS/Canada Post doesn't charge a brokerage fee like UPS, Fed
Ex, and all the rest of the couriers.  More often than not I don't
even get charged tax or duties - even when up front about what's in
the box and it's value.  If you're buying something from a lister (or
VWVortexer, etc) get them to check the "Gift" box to make sure you
won't be charged any duty or tax.

A Canadian source of cheap OEM VW/Audi parts is through AutoCamping,
but they don't sell retail, so you'll have to find a shop/mechanic
that can order the stuff for you.  The VW dealership can also source
parts from AutoCamping, but they'll make a nice profit being the
middleman.  A local friend of mine sells me their stuff at cost and
it's nuts how much markup there is on most of the parts.  I just
picked up a $600 box of parts from him for my Jetta Coupe - I can't
imagine what the price would have been at list...

<www.parts4vws.com> and <www.germanautoparts.com> are good places to
start if you're looking south of the border...

Bilstein sports rock.  Can't go wrong with them (or Koni Yellow IMO).

Later,

Mark.
75
82
82 Caddy
91 Jetta Coupe