[s-cars] Heater Core - what's the best replacement?

[Thomas Rodriguez]

While driving my '95 S6 on Friday the HVAC started billowing steam and
hot coolant poured down onto my feet.  I had the car towed home and
spent most of Saturday pulling the heater box (great instructions for
this on Quattroworld.com/URS4/URS6/S2/RS2/FAQs/Kinderutz 2009).  Today
I will open up the box, locate the rupture point and order new parts
as needed.  I strongly suspect the heater core has failed, which
angers me because my mechanic replaced the heater core two years ago
and I would have hoped it would have lasted longer than this.  I see
several replacement heater cores on the parts suppliers' websites
ranging from about $50 to about $150. Some, such as Meyle
(#443819030), have plastic inlet and outlet pipes which I have heard
can be prone to cracking.  Others like Spectra Premium (#SP194652)
have metal inlet and outlet pipes and claim to be very sturdy.  Any
suggestions fromt the group?

Tom Rodriguez
'95 S6