18-20 is great mpg if you're utilizing the capacity of 6-7 people: you'd have to make 2 trips in an "economy" car to get the same number of people the same place; or have two cars with twice the manufacturing costs, space issues, cast off parts, etc... Those figures get even better if you're in a diesel pulling 27mpg. Chris
-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Joy Hecht Sent: Sunday, September 09, 2007 5:40 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: 50 worst cars, and the vanagon isn't one of them Actually, I'd guess vanagons aren't on the list because if we thought they were that bad, we wouldn't have them! And I'd hardly call an average of 18-20 mpg decent gas mileage, unless your comparison is a hummer. Yeah, Wes, you are blinded by love. But that's okay, we all are!
Joy
:::-----Original Message----- :::From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf :::Of Wesley Pegden :::Sent: Sunday, September 09, 2007 6:01 PM :::To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM :::Subject: Re: 50 worst cars, and the vanagon isn't one of them ::: :::People keep bringing up how vanagons aren't on this list. I mean, of :::course they're not, right? :::The major design flaw of the vanagons is the head gaskets, and still :::many go 100k or even 200k between gasket jobs. Other than that, many :::aspects of the vanagon seem very well designed. It's an incredibly :::functional vehicle, whether comfortably hauling 7 passengers or camping :::equipment, that gets relatively good gas mileage (decent even by today's :::standards), and is relatively easy for a backyard mechanic to work on. :::Did I mention it looks cool? ::: :::It seems most of the rest of its quirky mechanical reputation is due to :::its rarity and novelty in this country (especially away from the west :::coast)... your typical mechanic hasn't seen one before, and so has no :::experience with them, making owning one a major pain if you can't do the :::work yourself or are lucky enough to live next to a good vanagon :::mechanic. ::: :::Am I missing something here? ::: :::These are old vehicles. Of course they need some parts replaced. And :::since there aren't many vanagons around, it's harder to find mechanics :::who can do the work. ::: :::Am I just blinded by love? |
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