I contacted the local Hella agent in Dunedin, New Zealand. They didn't know
anything about the Raintronic, so they contacted the distributor. The part
number they had, which they wouldn't tell me, was not the US 87313.

I was then told that Hella NZ brought 2 units into the country for
evaluation, but decided not to bring in any more, as the price is "beyond
most people".

I was very generously offered one of these two units for the paltry sum of
$210US plus 12.5% tax. Then I was told this is the sensor only, and that
there were no relays in the country; one would cost me a further $95US!
Plus 12.5% tax. The total is more than 1.5 weeks' salary for me.

I cannot help but think that Hella NZ doesn't know what it's talking about.
But the consumer in NZ is often ripped-off in this way; the price
difference here isn't accounted-for by currency exchange rates.

I have also inquired at the VW dealer, but they'd never heard of it. They
will fax the VW distributor.

What is the US price? Bulk buy discount for vanagon.com members?

Does anyone know whether Bosch makes a similar unit?

Andrew

Andrew Grebneff
mollusc nut
84 VW Caravelle
Geology Department, University of Otago, PO Box 56 Dunedin, New Zealand
andrew.grebneff@stonebow.otago.ac.nz