# Volkswagen of America reduces price of Special Lubricant (Krytox)



## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

Hi Everyone:
Volkswagen of America has given all of us an "Easter Egg" - with effect from April 1, the MSRP (suggested retail price) of the Eos roof lubricant G 052 172 A1 has been reduced from USD $71 to USD $51.
Happy Easter everyone...
Michael
*Eos Special Lubricant (Krytox)*


----------



## just4fun (Oct 29, 2006)

*Re: Volkswagen of America reduces price of Special Lubricant (PanEuropean)*

Just like you hoped they might. I suspect your dropping hints to your "sources" may have influenced this decision. Thank you Michael, and great work. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Kevin


----------



## kghia (Nov 16, 2006)

*Re: Volkswagen of America reduces price of Special Lubricant (PanEuropean)*

YEA!!!
did they also reduce the dealer cost?
because 1stVWParts.com was selling them for $52.02, on their usual markup of 20% over cost.
This will be great if the dealers reduce their parts-counter prices (although I hope that this is accompanied by service dept actions too)
William


----------



## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

*Re: Volkswagen of America reduces price of Special Lubricant (kghia)*


_Quote, originally posted by *kghia* »_This will be great if the dealers reduce their parts-counter prices...

I expect that the dealers probably will. In the United States, manufacturers may not set retail prices (there is a law about that, hence the reason why you sometimes see products being sold for prices higher than MSRP), however, I suspect that most franchised dealers will probably sell the product at very close to the recommended retail price. You might see that certain dealers in very high-rent areas sell for slightly more, but on a national scale, this will be offset by other dealers who have lower overheads selling for slightly less.
Michael


----------



## dndfrank (Mar 18, 2007)

Bummer, 
I just bought mine last week.


----------



## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

*Re: Volkswagen of America reduces price of Special Lubricant (just4fun)*


_Quote, originally posted by *just4fun* »_Just like you hoped they might. I suspect your dropping hints to your "sources" may have influenced this decision. 

Volkswagen is a pretty co-operative company, and they do listen carefully to suggestions from owners. I know that many of the automotive engineers who work in VW product support worldwide also read about our owner experiences in the forum - so, I guess they thought it would be a good idea to try and make this special lubricant as affordable as they possibly could. It is a patented DuPont chemical - thus, VW has to buy it from DuPont, and they don't have total control over the price - but I think they have done their very best to lower the price as much as they can.
Michael


----------



## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

*Re: Volkswagen of America reduces price of Special Lubricant (PanEuropean)*

By the way - if you are a new member to the Eos forum and you are not sure what this special lubricant is used for... here's where you can find the answer to that question: How to solve (or prevent) Eos Roof leaks.
Michael


----------



## andythai (Dec 26, 2006)

*Re: Volkswagen of America reduces price of Special Lubricant (PanEuropean)*

Hi everyone,I got my lubricant last week for about $95!!!!! and I dont think they will reduce the price(here everything only goes up)but after reading Michaels great thread about the lubricant,I would even pay double that.........thanks again Michael.....Andy


----------



## EOSinthesun (Mar 27, 2007)

*Re: Volkswagen of America reduces price of Special Lubricant (PanEuropean)*

Paul,
Thanks for the heads up on the special lubricant. I will try to get some today from my friendly VW dealer - or at least order some. I don't have any problems with my roof but have read the posted messages on this subject, and, since I live in the desert where summer temps can reach 120 degrees F, I want to keep my seals nice and lubricated.
The real reason I'm messaging you is to comment on your vast knowledge in this forum as well as your willingness to help EOS customers, present and future, with their purchases and subsequent issues with their autos. It's comforting to know that should I ever have a problem with my Goddess, there's someone out there who could help me solve it.
On behalf of all the EOS owners, a heartfelt thank you and a Happy Easter with some great touring - topless, of course.


----------



## EOSinthesun (Mar 27, 2007)

*Re: Volkswagen of America reduces price of Special Lubricant (EOSinthesun)*

Oops - I meant to address you as Michael and not Paul - sorry


----------



## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

*Re: Volkswagen of America reduces price of Special Lubricant (EOSinthesun)*

No problem for the name confusion. Thanks for your kind words. 
I will be doing some 'topless' touring this month - but on my motorcycle, not in my VW. The VW is in Canada - I keep my motorcycle here in Switzerland.








Michael
*Michael's Convertible*


----------



## EOSinthesun (Mar 27, 2007)

*Re: Volkswagen of America reduces price of Special Lubricant (PanEuropean)*

Nice wheels, Michael. Do you travel much on your motorcycle?


----------



## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

*Re: Volkswagen of America reduces price of Special Lubricant (EOSinthesun)*

80,000 miles in 4 years - far more mileage on the moto than I would ever put on my car. I usually try to spend a few months each summer touring Western and Central Europe.
Michael


----------



## Canadian Lurker (Nov 11, 2006)

*Re: Volkswagen of America reduces price of Special Lubricant (PanEuropean)*

Michael,
Can you confirm whether this new pricing will be applicable to Canada or not?
Thanks,
JJ


----------



## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

*Re: Volkswagen of America reduces price of Special Lubricant (Canadian Lurker)*

It should be, but let me check...
Michael


----------



## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

*Re: Volkswagen of America reduces price of Special Lubricant (Canadian Lurker)*

JJ:
I just checked with my VW dealer in Canada (Volkswagen Richmond Hill), and they advise me that the suggested retail price of the special lubricant G 052 172 A1 has decreased to CAD $66.45 as of April 1. This sounds about right to me - it was about CAD $90 before.
Michael


----------



## callmeal (Sep 8, 2006)

1stVWparts.com has reduced their price to $37.42 USD








Allen 


_Modified by callmeal at 7:13 AM 4-15-2007_


----------



## wkc (Mar 25, 2007)

Good deal!!!


----------



## smith46 (Oct 17, 2006)

*Re: (callmeal)*

Sweet! Just ordered a pair of bottles.


----------



## muggo11 (Oct 2, 2006)

Just had my 10000 mile check up and bought a bottle (for $51)! Now to put it in a safe place!


----------



## pepino1977 (Jan 5, 2004)

Someone please remind me how long one bottle will last. I am confusing all the other Krytox products in different oz volumes (like the GM one for instance). In other words I guess how many applications will that particular bottle posted above last?


----------



## just4fun (Oct 29, 2006)

*Re: (pepino1977)*

The 30 mil (1 oz.) bottle should do approximately 2 full applications on all required seals if applied if applied at the proper rate.
The seals should be well whetted over the full surface area, but not dripping.
(I'm not sure whetted is really correct terminology with respect to lubricating seals, but I'm taking advantage a bit of artistic licence here)
Kevin











_Modified by just4fun at 8:08 PM 4-27-2007_


----------



## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

*Re: (just4fun)*

A few weeks ago, at a Phaeton owner GTG in the United Kingdom, I spoke with a very knowledgeable VW engineer who told me that it should be possible to get as many as half a dozen applications from a one-ounce bottle of the special lubricant, provided that the person doing the work used a suitable applicator (e.g. a very small, fine sponge) to apply the lubricant to the seals, rather than pouring the lubricant on as is illustrated in our "how to do it" post at this link: How to solve (or prevent) Eos Roof leaks.
I have a lot of respect for this engineer, thus I am kind of reluctant to disagree with him - it could be that he is correct. However, there might be some significant advantages to using our well established (and to this point, well proven) technique of using half a bottle to do the first lubrication, as illustrated at the above-referenced post, then perhaps using a small fine sponge applicator to do the next 3 or 4 touch-up or "refresh" applications. What I am thinking here is that perhaps we could stretch the life of the lubricant bottle and reduce costs a bit by doing one thorough lubrication at the beginning of each summer season, then doing touch-up applications with a sponge for the rest of the year. That has the potential to cut the annual lubricant cost down to one bottle a year.
The bigger issue, though, is to make sure that we don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. We have vehicles that probably costs us at least $10,000 per year in depreciation, maintenance, and insurance - so, to compromise the performance and satisfaction we get from the vehicle just to reduce lubricant costs by $50 a year would not be a wise decision.
I remember that about 15 years ago, I was stationed in Burma and flying a fairly large plane there during the monsoon season. Burma has one of the worlds strongest monsoons, with over 10 feet of rain falling each year. I was having an awful problem seeing out the windshield of the aircraft to find the runway (no navigation aids in that country back then) during landing, and got into a bit of a row with the aircraft maintenance engineer. He pointed out that rain repellent cost over $200 a bottle, and I was asking him to use about 4 times as much rain repellent each month as he would have used on an aircraft that was based in Europe or North America. I pointed out that it was costing $200,000 a month to operate the darned aircraft, and if I couldn't land the damn thing at the destination because I couldn't see out the window to find the runway, no-one was going to be too impressed with his efforts at cost control with respect to consumable liquids...








Michael


----------



## just4fun (Oct 29, 2006)

*Re: (PanEuropean)*


_Quote, originally posted by *PanEuropean* »_
However, there might be some significant advantages to using our well established (and to this point, well proven) technique of using half a bottle to do the first lubrication, as illustrated at the above-referenced post, then perhaps using a small fine sponge applicator to do the next 3 or 4 touch-up or "refresh" applications. 
Michael

I concur with Micheals assessment. 
I used slightly less than half a bottle on my first application and did every seal, including the trunk lid seal (which is not required).
I have since re-applied lubricant to the top seals only (the ones on the roof and sun roof).
how often lubricant will need to be applied, and to which seals is still to be determined and could be affected by several factors including whether or not your car is stored indoors or out, how often it is washed, dusty conditions, etc. 
But it is very possible a thorough application, followed by spot touch ups as required will be adequate, and one 30 mil bottle could easily last the year.
Kevin








*Footnote:* I used a chisel tipped foam paint brush to apply my initial application, I'm not sure if this had bearing on the amount of product needed for the initial application.


----------



## archiea (Nov 29, 2006)

michael... big thumbs up on the bike... nice set up.. looks like you could survive on the road for weeks with your kits. care for a breakdown for us armchair adventurers?


----------



## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

*Re: (just4fun)*


_Quote, originally posted by *just4fun* »_...I used a chisel tipped foam paint brush to apply my initial application...

That is *exactly *the tool that the VW engineering expert that I spoke to in the United Kingdom uses, and what he suggested we use to minimize the amount of lubricant consumed per application. He noted that the finer the cell structure of the foam, the better, so far as controlling the amount of lubricant applied is concerned.
Michael


----------

