RE: Thermostat/gasket

["Buchholz, Steven" <Steven.Buchholz@kla-tencor.com>]

... well, I suppose one rant deserves another ...

While I too have been frustrated by Kragen, I've been frustrated by dealers
and other "NO low price guarantee" sources as well.  Let's see, I've got a
Kragen store in my neighborhood, they are open late in the evening and on
weekends ... even Sunday! ... and can get me parts quickly and get it right
with a price and guarantee that is pretty tough to beat on some parts ...
even as compared to Carlsen.  Unfortunately for those of us for whom Audi is
an avocation we don't always have the luxury to work on weekdays ... or
during "business hours."

Rather than slamming such sources, I would recommend to all that they should
*not* be ignored, and that no matter from whence one procures their Audi
parts, caveat emptor is the watch word and if at all possible you should
have the old part available when you buy the new one to make sure that
you're getting the right thing.  If you have any questions about the part or
how it fits into the car as a whole you should not expect to be able to get
this sort of info from a source like Kragen and the like (of course you can
get a copy of the fiche or the EKTA CD).  Over time one develops a feeling
about what sort of parts to get from which sources, but it never hurts to
shop around!

... and I must say that I personally would be less likely to shop from a
source that keeps slamming other possible sources of parts ... I'm sure that
everyone makes a mistake at least once in a while ...

Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)
	----------
	So, for a price a few cents less than "Dealer List", you got a
generic
	thermostat with the wrong gasket. Makes me wonder if you even got
the
	right thermostat. Another story to add to my loooong list of reasons
not
	to encourage people to shop at places with the "low price
guarantee". At
	least it was the same or slightly cheaper, not 2 or 3 times as much
as
	we've seen in some cases. Pardon my rant, but I have a "thing" about
Pep
	Boys, Kragen, and all the other stores of their ilk. ("Ilk" is such
a