Date: Mon, 8 May 2000 13:13:14 -0700
Reply-To: Shawn Wright <swright@SLS.BC.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Shawn Wright <swright@SLS.BC.CA>
Organization: Shawnigan Lake School
Subject: Re: Instant horsepower (Pinwheel)
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
At 01:31 5/8/2000, Karl Wolz wrote:
>On the other hand, I've had several Fords, a Mercedes Benz, and several
>other VWs and a Volvo, none of which lasted past 120,000 miles. When
>finally gotten rid of, the doors did not close properly, windows rattled
>badly, the seats and carpeting were worn out, and big chunks of plastic were
>missing (like dash pieces, etc.), not to mention that most of the vehicles
>in question were finally gotten rid of due to non-functioning trannies (I
This sort of experience reminds me of my BT (before Toyota) days. My '78
Horizon, my parents' '84 Escort, my aunt's 86 Sable, all were trash by 100
k. My friends' Foxes and Jettas are junk at 160k. My '84 Tercel was fine
at 200k when I lost track of it (I sold it in '86), my '86 Corolla was in
beautiful shape at 160k when my wife made an ill-advised left turn into
oncoming traffic (and except for the bend in the middle, still looked great
when they hauled it away). Our '90 Corolla wagon with 120 k looks and acts
more-or-less new, and I have every expectation of it going 300k without
serious troubles. My brother's '85 Subaru he junked because of body rot at
185k, but mechanically and interiorwise it was fine and we drove it for
another 30,000 miles until we got tired of having the underbody
rewelded. Still looked great, everything tight etc. except for the rot.
==========
You guys must be hard on vehicles. My current VWs, and '88 Westy, and an
85 Jetta TD have 358k and 430k kms on them respectively. Both vehicles
could be said to still be in good to very good condition. The Westy interior in
particular has held up amazingly well, having been used as a camper
regularly all its life. The Westy is on its 2nd engine/trans, while the engine still
runs well, it is currently undergoing a 2nd rebuild (190k since the first).
My Jetta has held up even better - still on original transmisson, starter,
alternator, etc. after 430k kms. I replaced the original diesel engine at 280k
(it was still strong, but I wanted more power) with a used TD, and it stills runs
well. And I only paid $4100 CDN for it more than 10 years ago. Show me
another car with this kind of longevity, fuel mileage, and cargo hauling ability...
My Dad is on his 5th VW, his 1st an '81 Rabbit Diesel was nearing 500k km
last time I saw it. Three of his 4 Jettas have gone to well over 200k km trouble
free.
========================
Shawn Wright
Computer Systems Manager
Shawnigan Lake School
http://www.sls.bc.ca
swright@sls.bc.ca
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