Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 14:18:51 -0400
Reply-To: Geza Polony <gezapolony@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Geza Polony <gezapolony@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Subject: Re: The two kinds of Vanagon owner..
Spoken like a true VW bus person. Vanagons being the last of the VW Busses.
The VW ethic also means you get to groove on nature while you're waiting to
get it fixed...towed...whatever.
Cars are supposed to break down--that's what they do--and we need, as a
society, as a planet, to come to terms with that, to accept it, with all the
cosmic implications it may have.
That's what differentiates the true VW bus driver from the RV driver, who in
the case of a breakdown is swearing about how he can't get the 440 HP ski
boat he's towing to the man-made lake in time to watch Fox News on
satellite. He doesn't get the cosmic implications of it.
Grooving on nature is impossible in an RV, inevitable in a VW Bus.
You're right, this does beat working.
On Mon, 23 Apr 2007 22:42:04 -0700, Don Hanson <dhanson@GORGE.NET> wrote:
>Ben's got it right..You either re-work all the weak points in your van, or
you "hope for the best(but expect the worst)"
>
> Now I may be off in my thinking, but personally, I would rather have a
machine that I've brought up to whatever level of "perfection" I can afford
(time or money) my own self. Yeah, If I were a billionaire, I would just
have a bunch of vehicles and some people to take care of em for me...but
there are few of those..Jay Leno, Lyle Lovett (with motorbikes) Paul
Neuman..etc..
> Even a brand new vehicle screws up often..A brand new camping vehicle,
ever more often...I once inherited an almost new Bounder when my father
passed away and my mom no longer wanted it..Got talked into taking it to
Baja instead of my 'regular' Baja outfit..usually a splitty, or a Ford
pickup, or something simple....By the time we reached our furthest point
south, I was steering with a set of vicegrips on the steering column...The
wheel fell off in my hands! (when we got back to the US and our mail, there
was a "recall" notice from GM saying.."You should have your steering wheel
checked at the dealer before you continue driving your new Bounder"...No shi+!
>
> I spent that whole winter 'fixing' Mo-Ho stuff on the beach in
Baja..."What good is a VCR if your generator won't run " or "Hey Honey, the
holding tank is full..what do I do?" Or, Honk! honk! Frantic waving out a
window, pointing down near the right of the Mo-Ho...Steps are hanging
down...A flat? Of course it is the inside dually and the jack doesn't work
in sand...Like that...
>
> No, Give me a twenty year old vanagon and $10 grand...Keep your new
Mini-Winie, your Adventure Wagen, Your Prevost motorcoach..
> When my van's alternator belt broke recently near Boron, California this
past trip...I knew exactly what it was..No Flatbed ride to the dealer. No
"Bosch Hammer." instrument to hunt up to "diagnose the fault"..I just fished
around under the bed and found my tire chains..took off all the hooks from
the tensioner rubber thingie and used that to drive the water pump and the
alternator till I got to a town with a parts store, camped in front till
they opened and got a new belt.
> You can't even see the belts in some of the newer cars...If you have
satellite reception, you can maybe call ONSTAR and ask..."Hey, Onstar, where
is my frikken alternator?" Or if you are a millionaire, you discard that
car and get another new one brought to you..
> Me, I would rather KNOW my van, inside and out, from personal
involvement.Sure, you have to spend some money to get it right (enough) but
when you are satisfied, you actually know you have good stuff, done right.
You won't ever get your money back out, but then when you drive a new car
off the lot, you lose a bundle anyway...
>
> You start with a new camper, you just start over with new
problems....New *expensive* problems that aren't user serviceable...Call the
dealer, call the flatbed...call you mommy..they still break..Gimme one I can
fix most of the stuff on before it breaks (again?) and I think that is a
better way..of course, I may be a little "off" in my thinking..
> Don Hanson
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