November 2024 - Amoraks and Multivans in Australia

Why does Australia have better cars than the USA? They have the Amorak pickup truck. And the VW Multivan. While diesel pickups have always been popular in the USA, the USA has never had a diesel minivan. I always thought that it would sell well. Has their been a small diesel pickup since the diesel Rabbit pickup of the 80's? Has there been a 50mpg pickup ever sold in the USA since that diesel Rabbit pickup? Minivans have been notorious for bad fuel economy, and the VW TDI minivans were normally good for 30 mpg. I noticed that most pickup trucks in Australia were diesel, just like they should be. Why does Austalia have better cars than the USA? The whole world loves the Toyota Hilux diesel pickup, but it's not in the USA. Why? The Amorak is building a good reputation around the world, but not in the USA.

October 2024 - Snorkels in Australia

One unusual thing I saw in Australia is snorkels on SUV's and Pickups. I've seen them on a few cars in the USA, but I've never seen so many as I saw in Australia. The theory is that as long as your engine air intake is above water, the truck should still run. I wonder how well they work with modern electrical engines. They really seem like a bad idea to me. If you are planning of spashing your engine from time to time, then maybe, but to totally submerge your modern engine sounds like a very bad idea. In year's past, as soon as a distributor was flooded a gas engine would die, but new cars are differnt. Old school diesels could be fully mechanical, which makes more sense. I think I would only install a snorkel on an old school, fully mechanical diesel with a high exhaust output, too. No fuel pumps or expensive exhaust emissions systems to worry about submerging.

October 2024 - Diesels in Australia

We don't hear a lot about Australia, but diesel cars have been more popular there than in the USA by a longshot. You don't see many electric cars on the road, but you do hear about them in the media. I think this is typical around the world. But when I was in Australia in October, I saw the models that we miss here, like Toyota Hilux diesel pickups and the VW Amarak pickup. Diesel cars on the road outnumber electic cars by a wide, wide margin, but Australia has a rich history of diesel powered vehicles. In terms of VW, there are more and more gas powered cars sold with TSI sightings far outpacing TDI sightings. In Australia, diesel is slowly dying, like it is in the rest of the world. There area still plenty of older diesel's out there, but few new diesel car sales.

September 2024 - Are there more diesel cars or e-cars on the road in Germany right now?

We have been hearing a lot about electric cars in the past decade, especially in Germany. You would think that there would be a lot of electric cars in Germany, with the mandate of all cars to be sold in the future being electric. But when I was in Germany in September, I really didn't see that many. Diesel cars on the road still outnumber electic cars by a wide margin, but Germany now has more electric car sales than diesel car sales by a few percentage points. Unless diesel becomes much more unpopular or electric car sales become much more popular, there will be many more diesel's on the road in Germany for many years to come.

17 Years Since Dieselgate

It's been 17 years since the VW emissions scandal where VW was found cheating on emissions tests for their diesel engines. Some fallout from that was that VW stopped selling diesel cars in North America. So for nearly 17 years, there have been no new diesel VW's sold in the USA. Sadly, other car brands like Mercedes stopped selling diesel cars just a few years later. Its a sad thing that diesel cars are dead in North America. Will they ever come back? Only time will tell. I just got back from Germany, and diesel is alive and well over there. I've heard similar doom and gloom stories about diesel's decline in Germany, but I haven't seen it yet.

Happy Oktoberfest!

I was in Germany in September to attend an auto parts trade fair and to visit family. I know that what the customer really wants is German quality at Chinese prices, so I'm looking for the best deals. While in Frankfurt, Germany, I was lucky enough to stumble into the local Frankfurt Oktoberfest. The first keg hadn't been tapped in Munich, yet, but the party had already begun in Frankfurt.

Is it Worth Owning a Diesel Car?

When it comes to diesel powered cars, most of the advantages are very well known. Most people know that they get much higher fuel mileage. We used to hear that diesel's last longer, but this can be debated after that the Japanese have changed the gas engine for the better in the 80's and 90's.

Most people know that if they live in a state with vehicle inspections, and when the “Check Engine” light is on, the car won’t pass the inspection. Under the Clean Air Act of 1990, states are required to implement vehicle emission inspection programs in cities with low air quality. Most States have emissions testing requirements for vehicles. But the sad truth about these emissions inspections is that almost no one is testing emissions any more. In the early 90’s these cities tested what was really coming out of the tailpipe of the car. Now, if your car has no warning lights on from the emissions system, it is considered to pass the emissions testing, but if the “Check Engine” or other emissions warning lights are on, the vehicle is considered to be failing the emissions test. In many cases, the vehicle may be running very well and clean, but one sensor is malfunctioning, causing the computer fault.

While using the car’s check warning light system sound good to politicians, it is a curse to car owners with gasoline engines. To get past the emissions inspection, the owner either has to fix their car, or spend a certain amount of money trying to fix their car. In some states, it is $500. Sometimes this fixes the problem, and sometimes not. If not, then the owner knows that he will have to pay the same amount of money next year to get past the inspection. According to CarMD.com, in 2010, the average cost related to fixing a “Check Engine” light fault was $356.

One secret that almost no one knows is that in most states diesel powered vehicles are exempt from emissions testing. If your diesel car runs, it will pass the emissions test. You never have to worry about how much money fixing the check engine light or other emissions light will cost you. Furthermore, diesel cars have no evaporative emissions system, like gasoline powered cars have, that can fail. Diesel powered cars don’t have the same emissions system that fails on many older used gasoline cars.

The advantages to owning a diesel powered passenger car are many. Not only is the fuel mileage and range superior, but they will never have to be fixed just to pass an emissions test. The internet is full of forum posts about people having to spend thousands of dollars on emissions related components that have failed. Diesel powered cars will never have this problem!

HansAutoParts is Proud to Sell Elring Gaskets

HansAutoParts is proud to start selling Elring Parts. In the worldwide search for affordable high quality auto parts the German company fits the build. The name Elring is highly respected for its long standing commitment to quality. In some cases, the OEM Elring part is virtually the same price as the aftermarket part that it replaces. Elring products should be a good fit for HansAutoParts and your VW or Audi car.

HansAutoParts is proud to sell Contitech Timing Belt kits. Contintental Contitech are one of the major OEM suppliers for VW and Audi timing belt components. If you want to replace your parts with original quality parts, look no further than Contitech.

June 2014 Newsletter and VW's Worldwide Brand

How would you rate the quality of VW cars? Would Americans and Germans have the same views in terms of quality? The answers would surprise you. My opinion is that VW has been slowly changing its image over the past 20 years from the "people's car" and the old, basic beetle, to upscale, well built, exciting cars. According to a 2013 "Auto Bild" magazine pole, Germans view Audi and BMW as the best quality, followed by Mercedes, Toyota, and then VW, which was tied with Mazda. So in Germany, Audi is number one and VW is number 5 in terms of quality.

Pete Rothenbacher - Celebrating 12 Years in Business

It's been over twelve years since I started selling parts for VW cars on the internet, and I would like to thank all of my customers over the years for making that possible. I have always tried to sell good quality products at a great price. I believe that customers should have a choice of affordable aftermarket parts as well as more expensive OEM parts. While 12 years have gone by, I am still trying to do the same thing, give customers a choice.

My first product was a timing gauge for setting the timing of the older diesel injector pumps. I found that I could buy the gauge and make an adapter for much less than everyone else was selling the same part for. My father in law owned a machine shop, and offered to make all of the VW timing belt tools for me to sell. After that, I figured that I should sell timing belts and tensioners, if I'm selling timing belt tools. The rest is history. I now stock around 5000 different parts for VW and Audi cars.

While I first started selling parts for VW cars on ebay, within a few months, I launched My first website, eMiata.com, which I still own. My second website was DieselVW.com, because I focused on the diesel side of VW car parts. My main parts websites for many years were DieselVW.com and VolkswaParts.com. Then in 2011, VW's lawyers contacted me and wanted to protect their trademarks that they claimed I was using in my domain names. Since then, my main website has been HansAutoParts.com, and while I have many different websites selling parts, all traffic must use HansAutoParts.com to check out. The website, HansAutoParts.com, is named after my father, Hans Rothenbacher, who was born in Germany, and died the year before. I received my love for diesel VW cars from him.

For many years, I focused on VW's with diesel engines, but now my focus is on all VW and Audi cars sold in the USA and Canada. Every few months, I add hundreds of additional Audi car parts to my website. While there are tens of thousands of parts that I don't stock, I try to have the largest variety of VW and Audi car parts anywhere.

My main office is in Charlotte, NC, but I also have a warehouse in the UK and mainland Europe. Hopefully, in the future, I can expand my global presence and give more customers the choice of affordable parts, instead of only having the option of purchasing overpriced Genuine VW parts from the traditional supply chain.

April 2014 Newsletter

The last few months have been busy here at HansAutoParts.com. Hundreds of new OEM and aftermarket parts have been added to the website and warehouse shelves, and the reorganization of the warehouse is almost complete. At last check, HansAutoParts offers over 6600 different parts for your VW and Audi Cars. Last year, the decision was made to buy a special narrow isle forklift to better utilize the warehouse space. After that, the warehouse shelving had to be moved to fully utilize the new forklift. The new warehouse layout should give us the space we need to add the thousands of new parts we expect to import in the next few years. Each part needs it's own place, and with over 6600 different parts, a lot of space is needed!

February 2014 Newsletter

What did you think of VW's Superbowl Commercial where VW said that they have more cars on the road with over 100000 miles than any other car maker? While VW Group is number two in worldwide sales after Toyota, I was very surprised that VW can claim the most high mileage cars.

January 2014 Newsletter

A Few Days With a VW UP - While the USA will not see the VW UP, I found it to be a good little car, with a few compromises. The build quality was good as well as the handling. It is meant to be VW's smallest and cheapest car. With a small 1.2L gas engine, acceleration was only bearable. Gas mileage was great and the front seats were roomy enough for a 6 foot tall guy.

Amazing Must See Volkswagen Phaeton Factory Video From Mega World Germany

If this isn't the factory of the future then I don't know what is! Volkswagen is clearly leading the industry in terms of what a car factory is, turning upside down your concept of what a car factory should be!

Is it a luxury hotel? A Concert Hall? No, it's a VW Phaeton factory where you can watch you car getting made! You can even help put the car together, if you want to!

Enjoy this great Youtube video from Mega World Germany.

What's New

New turbo kit for 2005 and newer VW 2.5 I-5 Engines. This 24 piece kit will help simplify the task of turbocharging the VW 2.5 Engines on the Jetta, Golf and Eos. Includes a complete exhaust system including the turbo exhaust manifold, turbocharger and downpipe, intake system consisting of silicone rubber elbows, expanders, hose clamps and mushroom filter. NO EXHAUST WELDING/CUSTOMIZATION REQUIRED! If you want to add a turbo to your 2.5 engine, this kit is exaclty what you need.

If you Love Your VW, You are Not Alone. VW Sales Up 6.5%.

AP News is reporting that Volkswagen AG posted a 6.5% increase in September sales over the same month last year. Volkswagen sold 801,000 vehicles in September and overall sales are up 9.7% year to date over last year. So far this year VW has sold 6.71 million vehicles! If you love your VW car, you are definately not alone!

Seasonal Information for Winter 2012/2013

Winter is coming to the US and Canada! Now is the time to add antifreeze to your coolant, if you have been using pure water for the summer. That old battery that has made it through the summer might need replacing when the temperature drops. While most gas VW's will start the same in summer as in winter, diesel VW's are another story! Now is the time to replace the glow plugs, if your diesel has been getting hard to start. The older diesel's absolutely needed good glow plugs to start, but the newer direct injected diesel's should eventually start without them. If your diesel's injector pump has been losing prime overnight, now is a good time to address that by either fixing the air leak, or replacing the injector pump.

Lastly, think about how much nicer it is to work on your VW or Audi when the temperature is not freezing cold! If there is a repair that you can do when it is 60 degrees outside, instead of 20 degrees with snow and ice, it might be a good time to get that repair out of the way!

That's me in the picture with the snowball in front of my father Han's Rabbit Diesel.

Happy motoring!

This Is the New Website!

You asked for it, and we gave it to you. You asked for a more up to date looking website, and we gave it to you. Please enjoy! We will be continueing to tweek the parts menus. With over 3500 different parts for VW cars in stock, helping you find the correct part for your car is our highest priority. I can always use your suggestions on how to make it better, and what parts you want to see for sale.

What's New

We purchased some new VW TDI engines and have parted them out to offer a wide variety of new OEM parts. While these parts are new and straight from the VW factory, they are sold without boxes. If you are looking for OEM engine parts for common rail TDI engines at low prices, you have come to the right place. Thanks in part to this purchase, over 150 new items were added to the website in the past 2 weeks!

Seasonal Information for Summer 2012

Summer is a great time for a road trip in your VW or Audi Car. You might not have as nice a family vehicle as the 1950 Type 2 Bulli in the picture, but all VW's make great cars to travel in. Be sure to top up all of the fluids and check for leaks before you leave. Remember, if you have a brake down and need parts fast, HansAutoParts.com offers next day shipping on most parts. Don't be stranded when the dealership tells you that a part has to be shipped all the way from Europe to the dealership! Happy Motoring from your friends at Rothenbacher Enterprises!