Date:         Sun, 21 Aug 2005 12:39:55 -0700
Reply-To:     Doug in Calif <vanagon@ASTOUND.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Doug in Calif <vanagon@ASTOUND.NET>
Subject:      Vanagon mentioned on Car Talk today
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

A woman called in with a automatic transmission question to Ray and Tom's Car Talk show today. 
She was asking about her 90 Vanagon which she recently took on a long trip and apparently the auto trans gave out.
She asked if it was her downshifting it to get up over the hills and slow her down on the way back that caused it to go out. 
The woman spoke praises about absolutely LOVING her vanagon and wanting to keep it even to the point of perhaps swapping out the 
auto trans with a 4 speed. 

Ray and Tom, consistently talk down all VWs I have noticed and made several jokes asking her to come clean to all the 
repairs she has made to which she replied "only the trans, but, okay, I did do the head gaskets..." They said the vanagon
is a vehicle that is really fun to drive and it inspires the open road and taking trips and camping, but its a "ying and yang" thing, that you pay for the fun with
huge pain and suffering with expensive repairs. That if VW had made a vanagon without the down side they could sell millions of them. 

It sounded like she was taking auto classes and wanted to learn how to work on her vanagon and may have done the heads herself and 
mentioned she thought she could learn how to swap out the trans to a 4 speed, to which Ray and Tom told her there were not enough 
classes on the planet to learn how to convert it over. 

I was happy to hear the recent news that I believe it was autoweek or somebody, just recently did the write up on touring in a vanagon?
They mentioned the place in Utah where folks can actually rent westy's for going camping in one to see what they are really like.

It was so sad to listen to two guys who are so fun and funny, put down this wonderful gal who obviously has great affection for her
90 VW vanagon, and she is looking for a way to make it perhaps more reliable and enjoyable, and is willing to study, work, put in the effort whatever it takes 
to hang on to what most of us have realized is one of the best rigs on the road. 

Ray and Tom just dont get the vanagon thing.

Doug