Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2001 09:39:37 -0400
Reply-To: Rod Smith <rodwreck@SE-TEL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Rod Smith <rodwreck@SE-TEL.COM>
Subject: Re: '87 Westy FS in NE Ohio
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Stephen;
I can relate to your sad experience.
While looking for our "perfect" Westy my wife
and I fell into a very similar situation.
"No Rust! New paint! Runs Great!" were just a
few of the owners glowing remarks as he described
his van on the phone.
Anyway, to make a long story short, a 5 hour ride
from eastern Ky. to southern Indiana resulted in a
5 minute inspection of one of the saddest Westys
we looked at during our search.
Shame the way some people will waste another's time.
Rod
'84 Westy
Canada; Ky
----- Original Message -----
> 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
>
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