Date:         Fri, 26 May 2000 10:16:45 -0400
Reply-To:     Ed Stevens <ejstevens@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Ed Stevens <ejstevens@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      Re: Thinking about a Previa, anyone owned both Vanagon and Previa?
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

on 5/26/00 1:22 AM, Andrew Grebneff at andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ
wrote:

>> I'm considering buying a Previa, nonturbo, 2wd.  Anyone had specific
>> experience with one of these.  I know I'll never love it like a VW, but can
>> anyone offer candid opinions of how does it compare to our beloved Vanagon?
>

Gretings, nice to be back on list.

I have an 84 wolfsberg Camper and had a 91 Previa (nonturbo, 2wd).  Previas
are great cars, solid truck-like, I had 150k on mine with no problems, i
know of some over 250k.

Great vehicle, you should enjoy it.  There are some elements that take a bit
of getting used to

(1) Underpowered, But far more power than a Vanagon. gets to 90 and cruises
there nicely.

(2)  Transmission has a habit of searching up and down a gear, but rock
solid tranny.

(3)  Engine noise.  Engine is under driver and passenger seats.  Some
vibration and noise.  My wife could climb into the back area for our kids
but I could never do it.  Clearly an area where the Vanagon has it beat.

(4) engine accessibility.  those service items under drivers seat are great.
Those under the passengers seat are not.  They require unbolting the seat.
Makes changing spark plugs a chore. Well worth understanding what else can
be done whenever you have to unbolts the seat.  Especially if you are paying
a mechanic to do it for you.

(5) Awesome rear seat setup.  splits in half and folds up and out-of-the
way.  The half split allowed me to fold up the seats (one at a time) when
the van was quite full and it was raining, nothing got wet.  [BTW this
feature played into my replacement vehicle - a 1999 Honda Odyssey].

(6) Air conditioning - Rather noisy from the tall drivers perspective as the
roof unit it is right behind my ear.

My advise to others who may be interested would be to try to get the 4WD,
middle Captains chairs, corduroy or leather upholstery, sunroof (VERY HARD
to find) and turbo models.  By all means get dual airbag models and ABS if
you can shop for a 94 or later model.  Forget about getting a manual shift
model, few were ever available

These puppies topped out at 35k when they went out of production (1997).
Many people leased them instead of buying at those prices.  Now the leases
are ending and no one will buy out their own lease because the lease prices
are out of line with the market value of these beasts.  Toyota dealers
cannot buy the vehicle without dealing with the contractual lease price.  So
off they go to the auction sites.  Few Toyota dealers have the savvy to
realize that they should be buying these beasts and putting them on the lot.
So you can get them cheapest at auction of from individual sellers, dealers
think they are made of gold.  Don't be afraid of high mileage, have it
checked.

BTW I ended up selling mine to a guy who was planning to ship it to Saudi
Arabia and sell it there.  These vehicle have an extremely reliable and
durable reputation.  And it it well deserved.

hope this helps, email me privately if you want more