Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 09:11:28 -0400
Reply-To: Mike <mbucchino@CHARTER.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Mike <mbucchino@CHARTER.NET>
Subject: Re: vanagon difficulty
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
I have to agree with you there, David.
I've owned 2 Air-cooled and 3 WBX Vanagons in the past 17 years or so, and have had very reliable operation. I've personally experienced NO "poor-design"- related failures of a single part or system on any of them. Just "poor-maintenance"-related failures in every case of a problem. That goes for any vehicle, nothing exclusive to Vanagons there. Some folks like to run around yelling that the sky is falling, I still form my own opinions about everything.
I have a '03 Toyota Rav4 AWD that my wife bought new. It's been reliable, and I've done all the maintence properly, but now when it needs anything, it's often a HUGE expense; as in it would 'total' the car, if I left it in the dealer's clutches.
I recently had a check-engine light cause me annual inspection failure. It was a Bank 2, Sensor 1 air-fuel sensor heating circuit failure code P1155. I ordered a universal O2 sensor and borrowed a sensor replacemnet tool kit from Autozone and spliced it into the factory pigtail. It would not clear the code and a new code was added to the list; P1150 (B2,S1 A/F sensor failure). The universal sensor was not truly universal, and I needed a genuine sensor from the dealer; they wanted about $500 for it. There's 4 of these in the car, 2 upper A/F's and 2 lower O2's; the dealer quoted me $7000 for the job. They said that includes the entire exhaust manifold including both cats and the 4 sensors with gaskets, hardware and labor. Just in case they couldn't get the sensor out due to corrosion.
I wouldn't have let them have the job, if they were the last mechanics on earth! I do all my own work, including engine overhauls, and I bet I can find a way to do the job for less than $7000 bucks!
I ordered the proper A/F sensor from Autozone for about $200 (still not cheap!) and bought an O2 socket from HF for about $5. I replaced it (easily!), cleared the code and passed inspection. Those crooks would have said that they "couldn't get it out" just to rape me for the $7000!
Next up; rear diff starting to whine; I wonder how much that'll cost? Any guesses? Aprroximately the cost of a nice late-model Syncro, I'd guess.
Mike B.
----- Original Message -----
From: David Kao
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Sent: Monday, September 07, 2009 4:21 AM
Subject: Re: vanagon difficulty
Comparing to a 2001 Passat that I currently own in my opinion the Passat
is a far more difficult vehicle to own despite that it is only 8 years
old. The first time when the check engine light came on I could never
solve it myself. Eventually it was fixed by a dealer under warranty
by reprogramming the ECU. That's something I will never be able to do
myself. That was almost 5 years ago. It just got a smog check yesterday
and it passed thanks god.
I know next time when the check engine light comes one again either
it will break my bank or I have to give it up. I was told it would cost
me $3k to replace both catalytic converters. The market of a used 2001
Passat is no more than $5k. I can not imagine how in the world I have
kept my Vanagon for 25 years. The only answer to this is there is no
such a thing as Vanagon difficulty for the 25 years passed. My total
cost of owning it for 25 years excluding oil and gas is less than $1k
per year. So to me there is really no such a thing as Vanagon difficulty.
I remember been warned by someone that the wasser boxer engine is
so unreliable that a trip to Yosemite will break it. Well, In the past
several years I have driven my Vanagon to Yosemite something like 5 times
a year. I am totally confident that the engine is in fact incredibly
rugged and reliable.
David
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