Date:         Sun, 8 Jul 2001 10:42:05 -0400
Reply-To:     John Flaherty <jflahert@MAINE.RR.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Flaherty <jflahert@MAINE.RR.COM>
Subject:      Re: How much pay for van?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Ok, here's the story of my Vanagon.

I haden't had a bus since I sold my not-running '79 bay window to a farmer
as a storage shed in 1991. In 1999 we were looking for a second car. My wife
saw an add in a four day old paper for an '84 Vanagon for $900 and suggested
I call. I yessed her but privately assumed that after four days it was
either sold or a rustbucket that wasn't worth owning. So I didn't call.

A few days later, on the weekend, she asked if I had ever called. I told her
I'd forgotten. (Which, by that time, wasn't a lie.) So she called. She was
told the van was still available. We made an appointment to look. He told us
the van was parked on the street in Portland, outside his apartment.

Frankly, I was expecting the worst. If it hadn't sold in a week, I was sure
it was a waste of time to look at it. We turned the corner onto his block
and......

It was BEAUTIFUL!!! No rust. Anywhere. No dents. Good interior. Climbed
underneath. No rust. Everything looked perfect. I got up, smiled, and told
my wife that at that price I'd take it even if it didn't run. It would be
worth fixing up.

The man came out and we started it up. It ran and drove great. I couldn't
believe that this vehicle was only priced at $900. At that price it would be
like stealing. So I did what any red-blooded American would do in that
situation. I offered him $750. To my surprise, he accepted.
(No, it didn't turn out that there was a major problem I missed. He had
bought a Honda, and didn't need two vehicles. Though just a passenger van, I
have a feeling that he'd been living in it, and didn't need it now that he
had an apartment. And the reason it was still available was that he hadn't
been home much. There were too many messages on his answering machine to
sort through, so he'd just deleted them. My wife was the first person to
reach him directly.)

Since then I've put about 30,000 miles on it, and maybe $2,500 into it. This
includes replacement of most of systems other than engine and transmission.
The cooling, braking and front end have been done. The steering rack and
clutch have been replaced.

The engine is still strong. But, if I had to replace it, that's all I'd have
to do. The other peripherals have been replaced. While some of it's problems
can be frustrating, such as a false reading that I was running hot even
after replacing the cooling system, on the whole my Vanagon has been more
reliable than I'd expect a 17 year old vehicle to be. What makes the Vanagon
is expensive is the fact that I'm trying to maintain it. Usually, with a
vehicle that age I'd be running it into the ground as cheaply as possible.
But I've looked at new cars, and there's nothing on the market that I like
as much as my Vanagon. Were I to replace the engine and trans, I think I
could easily get another 100,000 miles out of it.  Figuring another $4000 to
do that, that yields me at least 130,000 miles on an investment of around
$7,500. From what I've seen of used cars in that price range I'd be lucky to
get 130,000 miles out of them. And I wouldn't enjoy driving them nearly as
much.

John Flaherty
Portland, Maine
'84 GL