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Date:         Wed, 31 Jul 2002 13:04:08 -0400
Reply-To:     jbrush@AROS.NET
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Brush <jbrush@AROS.NET>
Subject:      Re: Why I LOVE  My Westy
In-Reply-To:  <00d601c238bd$39c54840$98795142@n0e4e8>

In <00d601c238bd$39c54840$98795142@n0e4e8>, on 07/31/02 at 11:08 AM, psavage <psavage@PACIFIC.NET> said:

<snipped>

Very well put. Sounds like good advice from someone who knows :-)

>(OK, my next statement might spark flames, but so what?) >In my opinion, a non-Westy just isn't worth the cost & hassle. It's the >Westy's comforts & design that make it all worth while. Without the >Westy, you'd be better off with another vehicle.

Here I would disagree a bit. I would rather have a westie, but I can't afford it, so I make do with my plain box. I am single with three children and we would not give it up for anything else on the road. It has a full set of curtains, so I just take out the rear seat back and throw in a mattress and I can camp anywhere if I am out by myself. Take out the middle seat, and there is plenty of room for whatever I need.

On those long trips, the children each have their own seat and they have more room than they deserve. When dad wants a sandwich or a drink on a long trip, just go to the back and get what you need, no reason to stop. We camp with a tent, but the porta-potti is strapped in behind the driver's seat so we don't need to use the disgusting holes in the ground, or when its time to go, its right there. We use a huge inflatable boat in the mountain lakes, so we drive there for the day, blow it up, and can change our clothes comfortably in the van. When its time to deflate the boat, shove it into the van, pull the plugs, and roll it up, right there at waist level rather than fumbling on the ground, in the dirt.

When its time for lunch or dinner as we travel, just pull over and turn the passenger seat around, plenty of space for making sandwiches, or pull out the table and cook dinner anywhere. Recently, we were in Montana and my ten year old wasn't feeling well. He had the whole middle seat to lay out on and he was comfortable enough that we didn't have to abort the whole trip.

The view from up high, out all those windows, is a pleasure for all because they can see everything. Easy in, easy out.

Its slooowww going up the long mt passes, but I have pushed my share of Aerostars and others up plenty of hills as most people don't know how to 'look ahead' when they drive as it is. I can run in the fast lane with most folks, and the mileage is almost always over 20mpg. It would be nice to go faster, or have more power, but that's the price to pay.

I could go on, but the point is that even tho I understand the "westie or nothing" opinion, the vanilla van still provides benefits and options that no SUV comes close to. (and for a lot less than $30K plus the insurance.) Throw in the part about the 12 foot roll of carpet that fits all the way inside, add the look on the face of the clerks when I put the new ping pong table in the back with room to spare, and how I can carry the 4X8 sheets of wood and there is ample reason to put up with the idiosyncrosies (sp) of the VW vanagon.

From a maintenance point of view, it is no more expensive than any of my other vehicles, and I have always lived with used cars, so I cry when I have to throw hundreds of dollars at it, but the reality is that it does all that I need, I enjoy it, and if it costs me $XXX.XX a year, well, that is a whole lot less than monthly payments on an "vanagon wannabie" that doesn't provide any of the freedoms that the vanagon gives. I do freely confess, that I don't use it as an everyday driver anymore, so I do expect fewer problems. I can see how driving it everyday in traffic would be pretty abusive to a vehicle like the van, with 200K miles on it.

My children would leave me if I ever got rid of our vanagon. (hey, now there's an idea........) Nah, I will keep them, and the van.

Its also necessary for those who may be relatively new to the neighborhood to note that we seldom hear from folks who have no problems. Its natural that a lot of the traffic here is from folks who need help, or want to make some changes. I am confident that the number of folks with no real problems (and I count myself in that category) outweighs those who have disasters on their hands. When the motor in my van finally, inevitably passes away, I will replace it, rather than go into huge debt to buy a newer vehicle. I have yet to see anything else on the road that I am interested in.

Just another opinion. To each, his very own.

John


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