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Date:         Fri, 10 Dec 2004 18:40:38 -0500
Reply-To:     Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
Subject:      Re: Looking at buying a Westy, some questions.
Comments: To: Robbie Cotner <robw_z@YAHOO.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <20041210195518.16923.qmail@web21325.mail.yahoo.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

The price seems fair but it would probably be cheaper to buy a new Hyundai of your funds are still tight. This is a 20 year old vehicle. You need to carefully check the condition of the cooling system, especially the steel coolant pipes and of course the radiator and heater cores. The front end and all the brake hydraulics are ready for replacement including some of the steel brake lines. If this is a northern vehicle, the condition of the wiring is also an issue. Green copper does not conduct well. I am not trying to scare you but you will need to set aside repair money and soon. If the transmission or clutch hasn't been repaired, consider that also.

Dennis

-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Robbie Cotner Sent: Friday, December 10, 2004 2:55 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Looking at buying a Westy, some questions.

Hey all, this is my first post. I've been dreaming of owning a Westy for about 4 years now, being in college my funds are short and the few that have come up for sale near me have been too much. Now I have found one locally that I am very interested in, it has been sitting in the owners driveway for several years now and I finally asked about if they would sell it, after two months of deliberation they said yes. It is an '85 Westfalia full camper, they've owned it since new. The odomoter shows 103,000 miles but it has been broken for several years, from talking with them I'm going to assume it has 110,000 miles. The rear bumper is pushed in, and it's been lightly sideswiped on the sliding door and on the drivers side, also has been lightly cornered in the drivers-rear. It has no rust though, and the paint is good. The interior is immaculate except all the rubber trim-piping has shrunk and bunched up in places. The van has no known problems from driving it, they seem to have maintained it well. What has me really worried is ofcourse headgasket problems, as this has the 1.9L- they say it has never had any major repair done in it's 110k mile history; this both comforts me in knowing it hasn't needed a head-job yet and worries me in that it could need one very very soon! What are some good ways to diagnose cooling problems? The coolant was full, but the coolant light flashes in the dash all the time for no known reason. As for the price, they want full blue-book according to KBB.com; $2500. Seems like an alright price to me should it have no problems? Thanks for any info anybody can give on what to look for when buying a Westy and the head-gasket problems! -Rob

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