Date:         Fri, 11 Mar 2005 14:53:38 -0600
Reply-To:     Jim Felder <felder@KNOLOGY.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jim Felder <felder@KNOLOGY.NET>
Subject:      Re: Wilder's Law
Comments: To: jbange <hfinn@INGRATES.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <6.2.1.2.2.20050311112720.020f6380@66.51.205.14>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed

Maybe it's like Boule's Law--the of work required to keep it in
satisfactory condition expands with the money available to improve it.
I know I'm like that. There's stuff I wouldn't look at twice, then I
get a little extra money and next thing you know I'm needin' it bad.
Not to mention the stuff it must have to run.

Jim

On Mar 11, 2005, at 1:54 PM, jbange wrote:

> At 09:22 AM 3/11/2005, you wrote:
>> Are you suggesting that "Wilder's Law" says more about people than
>> Vanagons?
>
> Now that you mention it, it kind of DOES say more about the nut behind
> the
> steering wheel than the vehicle. Logic would dictate that (say) a $1000
> Vanagon would require more work to get it "up to snuff" than a $10,000
> Vanagon. Wilder's Law, though, says that the more you spend initially,
> the
> more you will spend later. What this indicates to me is that the amount
> necessary to bring the vehicle up to "satisfactory" condition is
> entirely
> dependent on the new buyer's financial state. I propose a corollary to
> Wilder's Law: "Vanagon owners will tend to spend the most their
> disposable
> income will allow on their Vanagons". It's probably something to do
> with
> this strange contagious  mental illness that is spread via ownership of
> rear-engine VW's. If you'd asked me a year ago what I thought of old
> VW's,
> I'd have said "Not much; sounds like a lot of trouble I don't need".
> But
> here I am, pouring thousands of dollars into a 14 year old van and
> wishing
> I could spend MORE! I expect to reach the $10,000 mark ($2100 purchase
> price included) before I reach the 1 year mark in July. I am clearly
> sick,
> but I couldn't be happier.
>
> John Bange
> '90 Vanagon "Geldsauger"
>