Date: Sun, 9 Sep 2007 18:01:13 -0400
Reply-To: Wesley Pegden <wes@CS.UCHICAGO.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Wesley Pegden <wes@CS.UCHICAGO.EDU>
Subject: Re: 50 worst cars, and the vanagon isn't one of them
In-Reply-To: <008301c7f329$9466c400$bb5f9904@gpa207joel>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
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?
-Wes
joel walker wrote:
>> Is the Vega in there?? Couldn't find it. It should be!
>> To this day, I can't believe Chev made, or sourced, that failure of
>> an
>> engine with its' piston/rings scraping away on aluminum cylinder
>> walls.
>> How could they do that? Surely they must have known.
>
> they knew. they just didn't care.
>
> the air filter on the vega was $40 back then. you replaced the ENTIRE
> metal air cleaner, not just a paper element. the whole thing was a
> sealed unit... into the trash.
>
> it had metric AND sae nuts and bolts all over the engine.
>
> the interior panels were plastic, and the holes/slots for door handles
> and window cranks were cut out jaggedly, as if by hacksaw.
>
> and the killer was, my mother bought one (against my advice), and it
> lasted about 30,000 miles ... but beyond the warranty! ... when the
> front lower a-arm fell off the car as she was backing out of a
> neighbor's driveway.
>
> it wasn't just a failure, it was a disaster!!
>
> and nobody sued GM, like they did with ford and the pinto.
> wonder why?
>
> OVC: my vanagons NEVER had those problems!!! i've never even heard of
> a vanagon lower (or upper!) a-arm falling off. :)
>
> unca joel
>
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