Date:         Fri, 4 May 2001 10:26:10 -0500
Reply-To:     CTONLINE@webtv.net
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Terry Kay <CTONLINE@webtv.net>
Subject:      Sioux Falls South Dakota or Bust!
Content-Type: Text/Plain; Charset=US-ASCII

I saved this trip report until Friday, because it contained zero Vanagon
content.
Left Chicago area at 6:30 am with a friend of mine, who volunteered to
take a drive with me.
He had no idea, where or what we were doing, or where e were going.
Set the cruise at 85 mph, on the Bimmer, and sucked up pavement on I-80
rapidly.
I thought via my Rand McNally, that our destination was about 495 miles
away.
No, No, No.
We arrived at this college campus where the Westy was suppose to be,
about 3:30 pm, and the trip gauge read 628 miles !!

"Yep, there she is" I say to the co-pilot, and we park behind it, and
here comes this skinny, goateed, hippy type college student, "Hey Man,
are you Terry?"

I'm Thinking no-way.

I look over the Westy, and the first thing I do is crawl under it to
see, what the bottom of an alleged 32,000 mile van should look like.
Clean----like brand new clean.
Engine, transmission, axles, floor panels, wheel wells, front
end----perfect.
I crawl out, and open the doors, and the inside is absolutely spotless.
I'm impressed.
I start the van and it defiantly needs a valve adjustment, and it has an
exhaust leak, but I can live with this.
Now the Westy comes with a 5x8 aluminum pop top trailer,and I knew that
the trailer plug was messed up, as per a phone conversation with the
kid.
He was suppose to have had it repaired prior to my arrival.
NOPE---
I had brought a tool box full of tools just in case---so I started
wiring the plug---oops !
No tail lights, on the van.
Oops! no turn signals.
Oops ! no brake lights.
I said to the kid-" what the hell is this?"
"Wow man, I've been driving this for 9 months, and I never knew that"
Hmmm.
After removing the fuse panel, and after checking out the lighting
circuits, it turns out the back of the emergency flasher switch had come
off, and was leaving an open circuit to all the rear lights, and front
turn signals.
Hmmm------
I remove the switch from the bottom of the dash, put the back back on
it, and take two wire ties  and put it together.
I have lights.
I saw in the pictures at E-Bay that the back end of the Westy was down
on the aft side, and when I inquired about it the idiot told me it was
sitting in a small ditch.
I bought it.
I bought it until I got there,and it was sitting on level pavement, and
still down in the aft section.
And one headrest was missing, and when I asked him about this, I got
another educated reply--" Hey, man, I dunno what happened to It, man"

Now comes the money thing.
He wants $4700.00 for it, and I'm sitting on the curb, hot (it was 87
degree's in SD!) tired, aggravated, with my head in my hands, and I say
to the kid, "I'm going home.
"wada ya mean man?"
"I mean I'm getting in my car ( pointing to the BMW), and getting the
hell out of here."
"You never mentioned one damn thing about the lights that I conveniently
had to repair, nothing about the valves, needing adjusting, nothing
about a leaking exhaust system, nothing about the headrest missing, and
you lied about the back end laying on the ground, so what else is
screwed up with it?"
"Hey man, I didn't know all this stuff, what do you want to give me?"

He also told me he needed the money to buy a new motorcycle he had put a
deposit on.
Now I've got him.--------------

"OK, how about $4000.00?"

" Wow man, I've got allot of other people calling me on this"

I get up, and start walking to the car, and I said" you better make up
your mind now, because when I get into this car, me, and the cash leave"

"you got cash, Man?

Yep.

"Ok Man, your screwing me, but I'll take it."

With this my friend jumps into the van, I pay the kid, and we get the
hell out of there.

We came back the northern route via I-90, stopped in a truck stop just
into Minnesota, to get some sleep, where the refrigerated semi trailers,
kept us awake most of the night.

The next morning we were east bound, and ,
we took some hand held radios to communicate  with each other, and my
buddy says to me ---"Hey, how fast are we going?"

I respond ---"78", with a grin.

"How much more pedal do you have?"

"Plenty"

"Good, keep it there, I don't want to blow this think up, in the middle
of no where"

The Westy blew around quite a bit, as there was 20-30 mph gusts, and it
was pretty funny watching it, from behind.

And what was really funny, was when other cars passed it they always
seemed to look, and wave, or thumbs up at him.

Pretty humorous.

Anyway, got home at about 5:00 pm, Saturday, afternoon, the Westy made
it,  we made it, it got 17 mpg, ( the Bimmer got 28) and used no oil,
nothing fell apart, and nothings leaking or hanging.

I think I did good.

I'm Orgasimicly Happy.

Later,

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Terry
74 Westy (Clementine)
85 GL