Date:         Fri, 4 Sep 2009 14:06:06 -0500
Reply-To:     John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Subject:      On Vanagons, Maintenance, And Reliability
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

There has been - over time - an awful lot of chatter about how reliable
or unreliable, and how easy or difficult it is to maintain our beloved
machines.In this on-going debate which rears it' head periodically, is
the simple fact that these machines - starting with the last ones sold
in America - 1991 models - which makes them the youngest - they are 18
years old - and the rest - back to the '80 models - makes them 29 years
of age. That alone sets the stage for lots of maintenance, and lots of
potential mechanical problems. Add to that the lack of PO maintenance,
and you have a machine that is as best  - suspect at all times. Only
when you - the current owner - take the time and apply the effort - to
maintain it properly - can you consider it dependable. But given that I
have been a Vanagon owner since 1990, I can attest to a reliable line of
thought here. . Fix what is broken, then apply good preventive
maintenance - and the van will operate pretty much trouble free and not
likely at all to leave you sitting on the side of the road at night in a
thunderstorm halfway between somewhere and nowhere 80 miles from the
nearest service station/garage.

Consider this. Modern tractors for 18 wheeler tractor/trailer rigs
nowadays carry a one million mile warranty. But what's the catch, you
might ask? The catch is - the warranty is good only if the rig is
maintained to a tight maintenance schedule. And that is the key to
reliabilty in the Vanagon. - timely maintenance and service. Do that -
and you van will last well past your lifetime.

Regards,

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver