Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:49:04 -0500
Reply-To: Greg Potts <greg@POTTSFAMILY.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Greg Potts <greg@POTTSFAMILY.CA>
Subject: Re: Heart vs. Head
In-Reply-To: <71d9cdf90911191508p4ec119e6r23250fa2532accc7@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
You're right. That was a typo, or maybe a brain cramp. 36000 miles is
closer to the truth.
Jake de Villiers wrote:
> 65,000 miles in seven months!!! No f***ing way!
>
> On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 2:30 PM, Greg Potts <greg@pottsfamily.ca> wrote:
>
>> Hi Mark,
>>
>> I remember the trials you had with Peregrine, and I am only gonna say this
>> once. "Go with the Vanagon."
>>
>> I bought a 1987 wolfsburg weekender last April and have put about 65,000
>> miles on it since then, driving it daily for service calls and camping in it
>> on weekends when my Baywindow Westfakia isn't appropriate. It's been far
>> from trouble-free, but overall I am way ahead of what I would have invested
>> if I'd bought a domestic or Asian import.
>>
>> Yes, the Japanese make a durable engine, I won't argue that. But the rest
>> of the vehicle is so vanilla that it becomes just an appliance to get from
>> point A to point B. There's precious little distinctness in them; nothing to
>> separate them from the herd that does things the same as everyone else.
>>
>> On occaisions when I have had issues with my 'gon, the list has TOTALLY
>> been there to help me out. You're not gonna get that with ANY other kind of
>> vehicle out there, excepting maybe a baywindow.
>>
>> My brother just bought a 1995 Honda Oddyssey for his wife. It's nowhere
>> near as useful as a vanagon. You can't sleep in it, you can't haul plywood
>> with it. You can't even find it in a parking lot, because there are WAY too
>> many vehicles shaped exactly the same or darn close to it.
>>
>> <curmudgeon mode>
>> About a year ago I chewed out a newbie on the Full Moon Bus Club for asking
>> the group if they should sell their bus. I got miffed whem it out they had
>> already posted it on thesamba. But really, did they expect ANYONE on the
>> FMBC to tel them they would be better off without it?
>>
>> Which is where I am headed now... If you expect a balanced opinion from the
>> Vanagon list, you have another think coming!!! There are many truly great
>> people on this list, but precious few of them are "balanced", if you know
>> what I mean. And don't get me wrong, I am totally OK with that. I thrive on
>> it. I suspect you do too, or else you wouldn't be here asking questions.
>>
>> </curmudgeon mode>
>>
>> Research your purchase VERY carefully, and take the plunge. The right
>> vanagon is out there somewhere.
>>
>> You're not going to get advice like this from a Hondayotazukibaru forum, if
>> they even have such a thing, and they won't invite you out on weekends to
>> such amazing events like High Country Bus Festival, EveryBus, BusFusion, or
>> the True Canadian Winter Bus Campout.
>>
>> Now skeddaddle, before the curmudgeon comes back and tells you that it's
>> your wallet, you make the call.
>>
>> Happy Trails,
>>
>> Greg
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Quoting Mark Hineline <hineline@HELIX.UCSD.EDU>:
>>
>> In a month or so I'm going to sell my 2001 VW GTI (1.8 liter) so that
>>> I can buy one of two vehicles. The heart wants a hardtop Vanagon (it
>>> actually wants a Syncro Westfalia, but the heart isn't writing the
>>> check). The head says no, get a mid- to late-80s van produced by a
>>> Japanese automaker. First syllable rhymes with "boy." Second and third
>>> syllables rhyme with "quota."
>>>
>>> The head argues: good heat and air conditioning. An engine that will
>>> last hundreds of thousands of miles. More power in proportion to mass.
>>> Same relationship between the driver and the sheet metal in front of
>>> the vehicle. Radiator and engine are in the same county. Fabulous
>>> turning radius. No real need for the added interior volume.
>>>
>>> Heart says: yeah, but you'll still want a Vanagon.
>>>
>>> Anyone have any arguments that the head will listen to?
>>>
>>> Mark Hineline
>>>
>
>
> --
> Jake
>
> 1984 Vanagon GL
> 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
>
> Crescent Beach, BC
>
> www.thebassspa.com
> www.crescentbeachguitar.com
> http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27
>
--
Happy Trails,
Greg Potts
1973/74/79 Westfakia "Bob the Tomato"
1987 Wolfsburg Weekender Hardtop
www.busesofthecorn.com
www.pottsfamily.ca
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