Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (August 2001, week 2)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Sun, 12 Aug 2001 23:57:11 -0400
Reply-To:     Stephen Steele <steeles@HORIZONVIEW.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stephen Steele <steeles@HORIZONVIEW.NET>
Subject:      '87 Westy FS in NE Ohio
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

A co-member of Central Ohio Westies has been looking for one for me in his locale. I'll post a copy of my report to him on the subject van.

The owner says.."FS '87 Westy GL, Auto, AC, excellent shape, new engine at 90k, 133 K now, middle seat added, kitchen in like-new condition...$7900".

I say, "It sounds just like what I'm looking for...we'll drive up."

This is "How not to sell your van"... report follows:

We drove to New Philly after church. This will probably be our last longish trip before the baby arrives. I talked to the owner again this morning, before leaving, verifying that it was all that I thought he had previously told me. "Excellent mechanical shape with no body damage and no rust." says he. .... Four hours later (3 driving plus stops) ... When we pulled in I looked into the open garage before I got out of our car....I could see rough caulking completely around the entire pop top and luggage rack seals (bummer).

The positives were a very good interior with slight wear. The engine ran well and shifted fine. The AC was typical for a Westy. The pop top screen was patched, with more holes throughout; the canvas was dirty from air/road leaks because of the above caulking. Shutting the doors on the van caused the pop top to lift/flair because of the bad seal. He had installed a middle seat after removing the kitchen equipment. He hadn't bothered to retrieve the stove/fridge for our inspection; for that matter he didn't even bother to remove any of his junk from the van. The exterior was scratched and touched up to the point that some areas looked like a roadmap! A large dent in the rear hatch was caused by his Hobie Cat shifting forward on its trailer. All four bumper caps were cracked and hanging crooked. Both bumpers were dented. But the worst was that the bra covered damage from a deer strike resulting in a broken/missing lower radiator grill; the area between the two grills was straightened with a ball peen and nothing else done to it but cover it with the bra, bare metal and all. Severe bumper seam cancer was evident and there was a two inch patch starting on the passenger's side windshield wiper area.

During a quick test drive and another crawl underneath I found a leaking right head gasket, transmission seal leaks and a broken, dry left CV joint and boot. The underside of the engine was completely rusted and showed no sign of any maintenance. The Purolator oil filter was ancient. The valve covers looked like they wouldn't hold up for another season. ( In reflection, I will opine that the engine wasn't replaced at 90K...maybe the heads were...there is no way that that engine had only 43K on it!) Passenger car tires caused the van to heal in tight turning. Rear brakes clattered on hard stop.

When we arrived back I told him that it wasn't the van that I was looking for. He then asked me to critique the van. I hesitated but thought, " What the heck this guy just let me drive three hours"... so... I began by telling him, "The asking price is in line for a van in excellent shape...this one is not". Beside the above, I told him he needed to remove the shifter housing and clean it up so the grit and grind didn't scare away most potential buyers. The radiator fan was noisy. Oh yeh... before we started to look at it he told me the "only two things" that he knew weren't working...a bad driver's side window switch (it was the regulator not the switch) and the front heater switch was bad, not the motor, just the switch. I asked him if he had tried switching the working rear heater fan switch with the front one to insure it was just the switch...I might as well have been speaking Swahili. BTW he is a teacher and tennis coach.

All told, the guy let us drive 3 hours each way based on his misrepresentation of an excellent condition van, asking the price for it and not preparing or knowing his own van that he has owned for twelve years.

-- Stephen Chillicothe OH


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.