Vanagon EuroVan
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Date:         Fri, 13 Aug 2004 11:02:10 +0200
Reply-To:     Calle Fallberg <calle.fallberg@TELIA.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Calle Fallberg <calle.fallberg@TELIA.COM>
Subject:      Re: Who Supports The List / The Money Has Already Been Spent
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Ah - but you know this is depending completely on where on the globe you´re living ! In northern europe almost every company with the need for a transport vehicle is using a japanese or european brand. The exeption being medical care, the Voyager makes a great ambulance. (Oh- and the Police, seems like they get a kick out of using the same big vans and trucks as Schwartzenegger, Travolta, Tommy Lee Jones, Harrison Ford and the other big heroes do in cop movies)

Why is this ? Well some years in the late eighties it was politically correct to use a US fullsize van so many carpenters, plumbers and other with similar need for space bought them but very soon all the drawbacks came to surface:

Gas consumption beyond belief No reliability whatsoever, a US car with more than 100.000 miles on it is concidered close to a wreck, a japanese the same distance well used and a midsize european almost new Poor assembled, the used vanparts soon started to pile up along the freeways They also had really bad handling, there was a "minibus" debate where the familyhaulers were almost banned ( regardless of brand ) because of the many accidents with high casualties involving US Vans

OK, lots of this is BS but the fact remains, you rarely see a US truck or van outside the big cities but the Vanagons still serve their owners well with lots of pickups in the concrete, excavating and carpenting trades....

Calle

Who got the latest work ( change of brake pipes and upper suspensionarm bearings ) preformed by the local Volvo dealer :-)

----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Cardo" <rrecardo@WEBTV.NET> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Friday, August 13, 2004 6:19 AM Subject: Re: Who Supports The List / The Money Has Already Been Spent

> Pinky, > I am a multiple owner of many VW's and several Vanagon's over the years. > I have enjoyed every one of them to the fullest. > Here is what is getting depressing. > Not only does any prominent VW dealer, anywhere I've been cringe when > they see me rolling in their door, they have sometimes blatantly refused > to perform service on my VW vehicles. > I made a few calls to VWOA and they casually mentioned it the dealer's > option. > They seem to have no jurisdiction on who works on what. > It is a pretty sad day when a dealer will not perform any kind of > repairs on their own vehicle. > Also I have found in my travels that one cannot locate hardly any > independent shop to work on these beautiful vehicles. > They do all but laugh in your face. > I am semi mechanically adept, and am able to some of the service > operations on my own. > But there are limits to my aptitude and I find myself stifled sometimes. > I will say this. > Any GM vehicle was totally within my grasp as far as maintaining it, > never had a shop anywhere refuse me service on any of their products, > regardless of how old it was. > It seems that parts availability on the older GM running gear is alway > current, and available regardless what vintage it is. > Now my question is, if VW was such a superior Vehicle, why the > dispersions with a request for service on an overpriced ( at inception) > vehicle? > And I think this is the basic problem. > The Vanagon was not a popular item,didn't sell well, and was difficult > to maintain. > Folks looking for a Van looked the other way because of price, and > servicability. > How many UPS. REA, as well as any other service oriented businesses > actually bought the Vanagon to service their customer's? > I have never seen a plumber, carpenter, roofer, chimney sweep, tile > setter, or any other business of this sort running a Vanagon. > Price, defensibility, and parts availability was the main cause of their > sales failure here in the US. > Again I'm sorry for making all aware here of the truth , and the facts. > I still enjoy driving my toy VW's, even though they do sit a bunch while > waiting for service to be completed, or just trying to find someone to > do the extreme maintenance that I can't do, or waiting for the parts > that never arrive in a timely fashion, at a resonable cost. > My GM vehicles at that point are the back up, defensibility factors. > Nice Talking to You. > > RC >


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