Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2000 15:35:35 -0500
Reply-To: Stephen Steele <steeles@HORIZONVIEW.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stephen Steele <steeles@HORIZONVIEW.NET>
Subject: 2k test drive (long, sorry)
Content-type: multipart/alternative;
Well, it was a whirlwind trip.
We saw rain in the desert, snow in the mountains and had the wind at our
back.
My son, Tyler, and I flew into Phoenix on Halloween and were met by the
seller/PO, Dave. A quick trip to Dave's, followed by a buzz around Chandler,
AZ revealed the Westy to be exactly the vehicle as advertised and wanted
(see: http://www.geocities.com/d13nadeau/vanagon.html). The interior was
near perfect and the exterior was prototypically Arizona rust free (well,
almost). The engine exhibited a significant valve lifter clatter for the
first several miles....I could see Dave's heart in his throat..."It's never
done this before"..."Don't worry, it'll stop. Mine does it once in a while.
It'll stop."...It stopped after about three miles. Perhaps the clatter was
because Dave had changed the oil to 20-50W trying to correct a drop in oil
pressure.
We set out on the freeway (I-10). The van ran great, the lifter noise was
gone, it shifted smoothly,... until a desert rock hauler blew by us at a
gazillion miles an hour, bouncing a fist sized red rock right at the van.
The hit was stupifying. Luckily, the rock hit the metal above the driver's
side radiator grill and not the windshield. I turned to Dave and asked him
why he hadn't told me about the big dent in the front of the van...his
heart poked through his shirt collar again. Later inspection revealed only
a smallish (5mmx5mm) chip in the paint...tough metal in these VWs. We closed
the deal after a great lunch at a Chinese strip mall place (rated by Tyler
as very low on the Schmatlz scale ((no Christmas light strings and
semi-precious art in lighted, semi-tasteful display cases)) but the food was
great). Dave was apologetic about the previously unmentioned cracks in the
windshield and I thought he was about to suggest I pay less than the agreed
upon figure because of them; but, I couldn't in good conscientiousness allow
him to do that, so I cut him off saying "a deal is a deal" and I dutifully
paid him under half of what the van would be worth back in Ohio.
That evening we met with listee Karl Woltz and his wife, Stephanie, for a
meal at a great Mexican restaurant. Karl was instrumental in my trip to AZ
in that without his initial inspection I would never have had the courage to
make the trip based on just some internet pictures. The meal was great but
the company was better. We continued the evening with inspections of our
Westies (his '85 is amazing at +375Kmiles...no engine conversions for us!).
Thanks again, Karl.
The trip through Sedona, Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon and on to Albequerque,
Santa Fe, Taos and Pueblo, CO was a South West vista for our minds and
eyes. The 26 hour trip home from Pueblo followed Rte. 50 to Kansas City, KS
and on to St Louis via I-70 and then I-64 to Cincy and home on I-71 and Rte
35. Total miles = 2,333.3 .
SIGHTINGS: We saw eight Westies in Sedona (most were later models), one in
Oak Creek Canyon, one enroute to Grand Canyon,two Westy EVs in Santa Fe,one
loaf Westy in Rio Grand Gorge; at the top of the gorge we saw an 88-89 red
Syncro and in Taos a "panel" Syncro painted desert cream/ochre with ladder
and rack on the back and two butter colored Westies...one +/- '87 and one
early loaf.
The '84 performed flawlessly on the entire trip. I didn't have to touch the
tool box. And the dehydrated bananas were eaten, not used. We averaged 18
mpg, used no oil and cruised at 65- 70 mph on the flat highways. The'84 is
not the hill climber that the '91 is; but, given its age and camper weight,
I was very pleased with its performance. We camped two of the four
nights...but found the high desert a little colder than anticipated.
Never-the-less, we enjoyed the trip and the thought that many of you had
offered potential help was comforting.
Because of this list I am now the proud owner of the ultimate get away
vehicle.
--
Stephen Steele
'91 Caravelle
'84 Westy
Chillicothe, OH
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