Date:         Tue, 24 May 2005 07:24:27 -0500
Reply-To:     John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Subject:      Re: Did I buy the Right Vehicle? Am I hearing all the bad.
Comments: To: Adam Thacker <87westy@THACKER.CA>
In-Reply-To:  <004d01c5604f$190136c0$6401a8c0@10forward>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Adam,

You are going to get a concentration of questions and responses about
the problems of the Vanagon based vehicles.  However, keep in mind that
there are far more Vanagons out there, than are represented on this
list, AND, even the NEWEST Vanagons and Westy's are 15 years old.

I'm on my second Vanagon and wouldn't have anything else. I'm and old
aircraft mechanic, and I see n the Vanagon a very good comparison to
airplanes so far as maintenance goes. With airplanes, there is a
continuing stream of maintenance that gets done to keep them flying
safely for literally thousands and thousands of hours. The same is true
of the Vanagon.

Buy a van, get it up to speed maintenance-wise, and then keep up the
routine maintenance - have a schedule - and the thing will last you
forever with few major problems. Like the Everyready  Rabbit  - it just
keeps going and going and going.

To aid you keeping your vehicle operational - there are vendors on this
list who specialize in Vanagons, and they are available with a lot of
information about the vehicles. Additionally, there are other groups who
are into engine swaps to more modern engines, which also aids extending
the life of the vehicle, and increasing reliability.

The more you learn about the van, and the more you do yourself, the
greater will be the reliability. You will learn to "read" your vehicle,
predict it behavior, and head off problems before they occur, and
thereby avoid those aggravating unscheduled roadside breakdowns that can
get expensive and frustrating.

Good luck. Enjoy your van for a long time.

Regards,

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver

Adam Thacker wrote:

>I have wanted one of these van's for years and looked around for 2 months to
>get one in good condition in my price range (87westy) I would love to take
>this thing across country but now after reading this list I am unsure if it
>will make it without me crossing my fingers the whole time. Am I hearing the
>worst of the worst? I am reading a lot of problems with these van's now and
>I am nervous I don't know if I can take this thing out of the city or trust
>it on a long trip. Engines blowing, CV Joints, Bearings, Hoses Popping etc.
>Can people please provide me some positive stories of trouble free ownership
>and trips with regular maintenance? Am I hearing all the bad news only?
>Thank you your comments are welcome.
>
>./athacker
>
>1987 Westfalia
>http://www.thacker.ca/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=1987-Westfalia
>
>
>
>