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Date:         Mon, 11 Aug 2003 18:00:49 -0700
Reply-To:     Brian Dipert <bdipert@PACBELL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Brian Dipert <bdipert@PACBELL.NET>
Subject:      Advice requested....'81 AdventureWagen
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi, I've just joined the group for reasons which'll very soon be obvious ;-) My wife and I are seriously considering the purchase of a neighbor's 1981 Vanagon L-based Adventurewagen, with just over 103,000 miles on it. It's white, and cosmetically in what I'd call near-excellent condition. New clutch 9,000 miles ago, engine rebuild 7,000 miles ago, brand new tires. The gas gauge currently doesn't work, there's a hole in the windshield wiper fluid reservoir, and the vent in the roof doesn't seem to want to open, but everything else appears to be fully functional. Our neighbor is asking $4,000; I'm wondering if this is a reasonable price, and if not what you'd recommend we offer.

In searching for someone to inspect it, I got some disturbing feedback this morning from Frank's Automotive, a local foreign vehicle repair shop. The manager pretty strongly warned me against purchasing an '81 model, due to its aircooled, underpowered nature. He said that driving it in the midst of a hot California summer, and especially in the inclines leading up to Lake Tahoe, etc very quickly burns out the engines. He pointed me to '83 models, which he says were the first year that water cooling appeared, or better yet an '86 or newer model, which has a more powerful engine. Thoughts? And while I'm at it, one other thing I'm wondering about....due both to the vehicle's height, its underpoweredness and its high center of gravity, how scary is it to drive in a crosswind? A friend with a Westfalia (popup top) had this concern.

Thanks in advance! ============================== Brian Dipert Technical Editor: Mass Storage, Memory, Multimedia, PC Core Logic and Peripherals, and Programmable Logic EDN Magazine: http://www.edn.com 5000 V Street Sacramento, CA 95817 (916) 454-5242 (voice), (617) 558-4470 (fax) mailto:bdipert@edn.com Visit me at http://www.bdipert.com


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