Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2000 14:50:05 -0400
Reply-To: Brian Cirulnick <techrat@VM.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Brian Cirulnick <techrat@VM.COM>
Subject: Re: woe is me
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>From: John <johnpatt@WARWICK.NET>
>Subject: Re: woe is me
>
>From what I've read the Vanagon reputation has been damaged by the
>following:
>
>1) Lack of regular, professional maintenance. Changing the
>engine oil does NOT constitute a complete "maintenance"
>service!
----------
I guess I should feel fortunate. Despite my lack of technical knowledge
about the Vanagon, my mechanic is a 10 minute drive from where I live, has a
'73 green and white bay-window as his daily driver, and has been doing VW
repairs since '65 (the year I was born).
While he's not a Vanagon maven, he really likes my '85 because it sticks to
the road and has power steering. So far, all the work he's done for me is
great.
After replacing every damn sensor on the vehicle, all my power-loss and
bucking problems have completely vanished. It was like getting a new engine!
Suddenly, I can go uphill without having to floor it. I'm averaging about
20mpg. Not bad considering I'm on this machine's original powerplant. No
major oil-leaks so far either. And the temp stays just a smidge above dead
center of the LED.
And only God knows how many miles are on it -- the odometer has been dead
since 76,000 and that was probably 3 owners ago. When I bought it, the
previous owner said I should guess at 139,000, and I'll bet he was
underestimating.
I've poured about $2000 into it since I bought it for $1500, so in all, it
was still cheaper than buying any new car, and it has carried more loads
already for me that it's paid for itself about 4 times over.
Not only do I feel confident about spending more money to keep the machine
running, at this point, I've poured enough time into it to justify keeping
it until it's wrapped around a phone pole. In other words, the machine would
have to be a total wreck for me to give it up.
It will never be a show vehicle (too many dents, just a little seam rust),
but then again, I don't care about that. The Vanagon is a hard-working,
reliable, tough-as-nails machine, and considering its age and miles, I'd put
it against anything else on the road.
So to the author that originally whined about the high cost of Vanagon
Maintenance, I say, "if you don't like it - sell the vehicle to a VW
enthusiast who doesn't see the expense as anything more than getting
continued value out of aging equipment".
http://ipc.obsolyte.com/personal/vanagon.html
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