Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 15:29:56 -0400
Reply-To: VW Doka <vw.doka@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: VW Doka <vw.doka@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: vanagon difficulty
In-Reply-To: <25788184.8365.1252005109181.JavaMail.mcneely4@127.0.0.1>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Not sure where you live, but in Northern California, I sure don't see
many mid-80s Japanese vehicles.
IMO, mid-80s Japanese vehicles weren't the greatest feats of
engineering. Late '80s and beyond were quite excellent, but before
that... fagettaboutit...
As for getting stuck... 17 years and counting... never needed a tow.
Ran out of gas a few times. Needed a few jump starts. Even had to
replace a water hose once. But, I've never need a tow...
Can't say that about the Camry the wife used to drive, or the mid-80's
Civic I had.
Everyone has different experiences, and generally, you'll hear about
the bad ones far more often than the good ones.
Cheers,
Jeff
On Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 3:11 PM, <mcneely4@cox.net> wrote:
>
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 1:45 PM , VW Doka wrote:
>
>> The best rebuttal I've heard so far is:
>>
>> "How many mid-80's Japanese vehicles do you see on the road?"
>>
>> In my experience... very, very few.
>>
>> I'll stick with the T3. It's unique, extremely useful, and in my
>> experience, very reliable (never been towed home yet in 17 years of T3
>> ownership).
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Jeff
>
> Well, I said I'd say no more. But, yes, I do see a good many mid-80s
> Japanese cars on the road, and tons of early 90s ones. But, if Toyota had
> for some bizarre reason discontinued the Corolla and anything like it in
> 1994, there would have been alternatives very much like it available --
> people drive newer cars because they can get them. We drive old vanagons
> because there isn't anything like them to get. Haven't done a count, but I'd
> wager that the proportion of mid-80s Japanese cars on the road (of those
> originally sold) is considerably higher than the proportion of mid-80s
> European cars on the road (of those originally sold). Vanagons may in fact
> be present in larger proportion of those originally sold than most European
> vehicles. Japanese ones ????? But, what was available to replace it? For a
> time, the Eurovan, a vehicle that lacks many capabilities (road clearance
> for one), and was never supported in this country.
>
> The vanagon is a cult vehicle, and we in the cult keep driving them (some of
> us at least) because to us they are "cool," or "neat," not because they are
> easy to keep going. If we have mechanical expertise and time for ongoing
> repairs, and don't mind getting stuck (as many on this list frequently have)
> and dealing with the hassles, or if we even find those perversities
> attractive, then great. So much the better for some.
>
> Enjoy your vanagons. I hope to enjoy mine, if I can ever get past the
> accumulation of repairs that seem to keep cropping up.
>
> This has been therapeutic. I hope it doesn't go on forever.
>
> Dave Mc
>
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