Date:         Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:31:54 -0700
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
Subject:      Was:  Re: A friend bought a NEW Camero Z28..blah blah...Now
              Preaching to the choir about vanagons..
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252"

I concur with all that Scott is saying here.
  The main reasons I went out and found my Vanagon are all the reasons Scott
outlines..
  I have a perfectly fine camping vehicle that's served me well on 6 winter
long trips to the tip of Baja, and about 15 years of work and hauling around
dirtbikes, towing a racecar all over the country, etc..But...It is now
sitting in my field, pretty much unused any longer, because the vanagon does
just about everything the Ford 250 4X4 Powerstroke diesel with the Alaskan
camper does, and does it much cheaper.  I think I paid ~$30k for the truck
and another $9k for the Alaskan..I paid $3k for the Vanagon.  The vanagon
hauls plenty of lumber, sleeps me and my family all right, goes to Mexico
and back without breaking the bank (yet) and is economical to use as my
daily driver.  (I don't commute, but I always have lots of tools and
bicycles needing transport)
  Now, at the start of a construction project, if it is a big one, I use the
Ford to haul my jobsite trailer over with all my big tools and I lock that
in place.  The van, with no overhead rear cabinet and no left rear closet
and it's fold down bed, carries 4X8 sheets of plywood inside, will take 14'
boards with the rear hatch closed, gets in and out of places my pickup never
could fit, and is generally good for everything except hauling a trailer or
pulling out stumps..Then I go get the pickup.
  There really is not another vehicle being made nowadays that equals the
Vanagon for versatility..
  Oh, and fuel consumption?  25 now on my inline four gas motor certainly
beats the 11 I get with the Ford..
  Don Hanson


Date:    Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:09:08 -0700
From:    Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: in the midst of the first oil
         crisis

Actually guys.............
Vanagons get GREAT fuel milage for WHAT THEY WILL DO !
particularly a camper of any sore.
Look how good 20 mpg ( gas ) or high 20's to low 30's ( diesel ) looks
to a typical RV driver !
The same adventure,  more fun,
and 2 or 3 times the mpg !!

In all cases.........if you are using a van where a car would do, you're
burning more fuel than you need to.
but if you are hauling stuff, or people, or camping ..............then
the fuel needed is very justified.

And...........
there are not many half ton vehicles that can this kind of millage AND
you can layout fully and sleep in them, or cook in them, even live in them
.I consider Vanagons the near ultimate survival vehicle among fuel
burning rigs.

'Everybody knows' that more supply won't really make the price go down.
the price is basically political.
it's been amazingly inexpensive actually over the years, considering the
effort and expense it takes to get that juice to the pump at the gas
station.
And ..........interestingly .............look at all the things that do
need subsidizing or bailing out - or they are a lot of bankrubcies -
airlines, the post office etc......many systems operate at a loss, but
not the oil industry !
  It IS the age of oil and the age of the car - but that's ending. it's
the Age of the Electronics now starting to really get going.
We're super lucky we can even drive still.

scott
www.turbovans.com