Date:         Sat, 25 Oct 2003 15:08:36 EDT
Reply-To:     Vwdude1957@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         digest Herbie Dave <Vwdude1957@AOL.COM>
Subject:      88 Vanagon for sale in Tampa, CHEAP.
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Everyone,

I mentioned having my Vanagon for sale about a month ago. I bought the van
with the intention of it being my daily driver. I had been searching for a
vanagon for a few months (with no luck) when I found this one. I was desperate and
I bought this van knowing it had some minor electrical issues.  I got the van
home and started checking the wiring. The temp gauge didn't work (plug at
engine fell on exhaust and melted) and I found some wires in the dash had been cut
(for what, I have no idea). The A/C also wasn't working. Originally I had
planned to tackle the jobs myself but the heat of the summer put a damper on
those plans. I thought about paying a shop to fix everything but that wasn't in my
budget, so I decided to sell the van. Story of my life. I love Vanagons but
hate the repair bills! LOL.
Part II. Since I wasn't going to insure the bus until I had everything fixed
I've only driven the bus home (when I bought it) and around my neighborhood to
keep the battery up. Recently, I needed to haul something and I had to use
the bus. On the way back home the oil buzzer came on. I revved the engine and it
went off.  Fortunately, I was close to home and I parked the bus. The next
day I started the van and let it run. The buzzer didn't come on. I took it for a
drive out of the neighborhood and once the van warmed up the buzzer came back
on. This time, revving didn't make it go off. I parked the van again (no pun
intended). I decided to drain the oil and check for anything unusual. The oil
was full and although a little dirty it looked fine. I put on a new filter,
added some castrol 20-50  and cranked it up. Then came the horror! Upon cranking
the engine I heard a rattling noise. I never heard it before. It quieted down
but I can still hear it. This news isn't good. I definately don't have the
time to take out the engine and investigate this and I definately can't afford
to pay someone to do this job. A few people on this list expressed interest in
the bus when I listed it last month. My asking price was what I paid, $1800.
I don't know if I should bother trying to fix it (will have to add the repair
bills to the price) or sell it as is. Any suggestions? What do you Vanagurus
think I should do?   Here are the details. Overall, the van is in nice
condition. It's an 88 that has been painted dark blue metallic (99 BMW color.) The bus
is all one color, including the fiberglass bumpers.  It has a German front
tag, full bra and roof rack bars. The van also features the original alloy
wheels with nice tires. The exhaust is custom (no cat) and and is only a few years
old.The bus drives nice and the automatic transmission shifts smooth as can
be. The engine runs smooth (other than the noise). It has electric mirrors but
one doesn't work. The model is a 7 seater GL (including folding rear). Interior
is in good shape and fairly clean (except for stain on cushion over
engine).Has the full A/C but supposedly a pressure switch is bad. The front windshield
has been replaced (with new rubber). Body is nice and shows no exterior rust.
There is some surface rust on the passenger inside front step. There are some
scratches and stone chips but no dents. Comes with a sony CD player.
If anyone is interested in buying the Van As-Is please contact me at
vwdude1957@aol.com. Please put VANAGON in the title or I will consider your mail SPAM.
Please don't low ball me here. Remember, I have mouths to feed and a
replacement vehicle to buy. We VW people have to support each other. If you can do the
work youself this is a great vehicle. I'll even throw in a box full of
factory VW Vanagon engine gaskets and seals that a friend gave me.
Thanks for your time in reading this. For pics go to
http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/com.hp.HPGuestLogin?username=herbieguy&password=76927695
AT the bottom of this page you can click on the full screen tab to see a
larger version of the image. If you need other pics let me know.