Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2003 09:16:38 -0700
Reply-To: Leon <korkwood@WSHOST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Leon <korkwood@WSHOST.NET>
Subject: Re: Cost of Ownership
In-Reply-To: <8940AD19-CED2-11D7-B413-003065DB8634@mac.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-15; format=flowed
Good assessment!
There is one more factor that plays major role in how much people
spend to keep their Vanagons running.
Competence(or rather incompetence)of mechanic.
In many cases not doing anything works a lot better as there is little
chance mechanic can screw up anything if he is not working on Vanagon.
There are soooooooo few good Vanagon mechanics around that chances of
running into bad one are pretty high. They either don't do any work
and charge you or do very sloppy job and charge a lot.
Lots of "newbies" end up wasting lots of dough and still end up stranded
in the middle of nowhere. Archives are full of those stories.
The ONLY way to keep Vanagon running is... to learn as much as possible
about it and read manual and do regular maintenance yourself.
Go under and check leaks etc. Check boots etc. Lube if needed.
Replace fluids etc etc.
It's not Honda Civic. Leon
85 Subwagen Westy
On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 22:42:47 -0500, Conrad Klahn <conradk@MAC.COM> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> So I wanted to wait until Friday to chime in on this, as I have always
> found this an interesting topic. I couldn't wait another hour or two as
> I feel the prose now.
>
> I have driven cars into the dirt - spending very little on upkeep along
> the away. What was the car worth after doing so? Very little. As a
> mechanic once told me about a Honda Civic I had brought in for repair,
> "This is a $2000 Honda. It's going to cost you $2000 to fix it. And it
> will be worth about $2000 when you are done." I took that to mean that
> it was worth absolutely nothing as I had brought it in - probably
> fairly close to the truth.
>
> I didn't care a lot about that Civic and never really did intend on
> keeping it for a long period of time. The Vanagon is a different story
> though - as I'd like to keep it for a long while.
>
> I pulled out the Vanagon's gas tank last weekend, and will be putting
> it back in this weekend. What I found was brittle fuel lines, cracked
> vapor lines and marginal seals. I probably could have ignored this and
> spent nothing to repair it. (The previous owners obviously ignored
> this.) I went ahead and spent the money to take care of it though -
> because I want the Vanagon to be worth something in the future. While I
> am at it, I am replacing the high-pressure fuel lines and injector
> seals. [Please follow Stan's advice and take a look at your lines this
> weekend.]
>
> I knew the tires on the Vanagon were marginal when I bought it - the
> sidewalls are now cracked after having spent a couple of months in the
> Texas heat. How long will they last? Yes I could probably get another x
> miles on them, but why push it? I am getting new wheels/tires before
> going on any trip over 5 miles away - cost of about $600 but worth it.
>
> I've also learned my lesson on using the wrong oil filter and oil. I
> wish I had known to put in a Mann+20w50 before driving 1400 miles
> (after buying the Vanagon in Chicago) + 1200 on various camping trips.
> Cost of ownership includes the price of ignorance and stupidity
> sometimes as well. The 1.9's mains are toast and that $135 2.1 I bought
> is going in next weekend.
>
> I believe the people who have spent money on their Vanagons are more
> likely to have very well maintained and cared for vehicles. I applaud
> this. It is possible that some of us who have spent very little have
> the same situation, but I bet if you took the same person who has spent
> a great deal of money on theirs to look over ours, they'd find
> something to fix.
>
> In my opinion, cost of ownership is paid for now or later - you put
> money into it now, or assume that it won't be worth anything when
> you're done. My difficulty has always been focusing on the "need to"
> items - but hopefully I am turning a corner now. The front suspension
> is #3 on the "to do" list.
>
> Conrad
>
>
--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/
|