Date:         Mon, 23 Apr 2007 22:42:04 -0700
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
Subject:      The two kinds of Vanagon owner..
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252"

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