VANAGON archives -- November 2005, week 2 (#140)

Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2005 17:29:49 -0800 Reply-To: TJ Hannink <tjhannink@YAHOO.COM> Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com> From: TJ Hannink <tjhannink@YAHOO.COM> Subject: Re: Vanagon Musings In-Reply-To: <001d01c5e590$954203b0$6501a8c0@noner4688xfd1h> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

I love my Camper but wouldn't recommend a Vanagon to anyone who isn't willing to get dirty and do all the maintenance themself.

As far as Stan's theory goes, I still haven't invested $6k (my purchase price) into my Camper in the +4 years and +90k miles I have had it. I (actually my employer) paid more to park it last year than I did to maintain it.

A lot has to do with the condition of the vehicle when you buy it and the amount of preventive (not corrective) maintenance it had received by the previous owners. Its well worth your time and money to shop around before taking the plunge. I put a lot more value in a stack of receipts than a fresh detail job.

Good luck,

Tim

_____________________________________________

Stan Wilder <wilden1-1@SBCGLOBAL.NET> wrote: If you don't like auto repair work, don't buy a Vanagon. It stands to reason if you paid more to get a really good and dependable Vanagon Westy then you wouldn't have to worry much about working on the van. Not so! Vanagons require a considerable amount of preventive maintenance and a great deal of mollycoddling just to keep them on the road. I've stated this before but here goes again; "You will probably spend as much on maintenance and parts within the first year of ownership of a Westy as you paid in the purchase price". As for me I paid $2000.00 and spent well over $3000.00 that first year. I replaced both the engine and transmission that first year, along with tires, brakes etc. etc. If you've been lurking on this list it should have scared the hell outa you. Get yourself a nice Chevy or Dodge conversion van and fly past the Vanagons and Westy you see on the highways struggling to keep them up to 68 mph.

Stan Wilder Engine Ceramics 214-352-4931 www.engineceramics.com

TJ Hannink Goldibox - 1987 Vanagon Camper, Wolfsburg Edition 1981 Bluebird Wanderlodge, FC-33 Winter Park, Florida http://home.earthlink.net/~tjhannink/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wolfsburg_campers http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FC_wanderlodge FAVOR website: http://home.earthlink.net/~clubvanagon

--------------------------------- Yahoo! FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click.

Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!

Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com

The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.