Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2010 10:49:53 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Eurovan...info needed off the list..
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If he has the ching for it, and wants to go with a later Eurovan with VR6
engine ...
like he's sort of a 'fancy guy' and can take it to fancy repair shops or VW
dealers...
he might be happy.
A friend of mine ( rich guy, so spends a lot on cars and vans ,and is a
former Vanagon GL and Syncro owner ) got a late model Eurvoan Multi-van for
about $ 14,000, then put another 2K in it.
VR6 engine, auto trans. Now 8 months later he's thinking of selling it
becuse they don't use it much.
here's my point ...for someone with the dollars to take care of it ...( and
they are known for expensive auto trans failures ) ...your friend might be
happy with a late VR6 engine Eurovan. Those are more of a 'modern car' with
systems like air bags , ABS brakes, electronically control auto trans etc.
The 'other' type of Eurovan - the early 93 and 95 or so, five cylinder
ones.
I even own one I got real cheap.
I can not even begin to say enough .....run the other way !
If ever there was a van with a bad reputation for costs of repairs, and
unreliabilty, and hard to work on, the 5 cyldiner Eurovan is it, as far as I
have been able to determine so far.
I know of two of those vans that people spent...hard to believe,
............$ 15,000 in repairs within about 2 years, and STILL gave up on
the thing and dumped it for almost nothing.
hey, I'll give your friend a fine deal on a gorgeous torquise (called
Carabeean Green I think ) pop-top 93 Eurovan Multivan .....
with 5 speed manual trans even ..........not running, needs an ECU
supposidly. Has rust around the edges. Brand new 195 R15 C tires even.
Make him a hellava deal on it.
And I suppose you learn how to work on anything, and get used to how they
are ...
but even after messing with it a lot, I still think they are absolutely a
nightmare to work on. Awful design in that regard.
< I dream of handcuffing the designers of that nightmare layout to the van,
and forcing them to work on it endlessly until their fiingers are bloody,
and they swear to never design anything that badly ever again , then make
them work on it another 100+ hours >
As cars and vans go.......Vanagons are just sweet to work on, pretty much.
Nice westy interior though - on an EV MV.
The poptop design is not as friendly or useful as a Vanagon Westy poptop.
Not even close in that regard.
Tell your friend that really high end fancy Vanagon Campers cost as high as
$ 50,000.
Heck, tell him one company can sell him one for well over that.
That should make him think Vanagons are great 'up there' vehicles. And they
are too. They're great. Put him in a nice auto trans late model Westy with
big displacement GW waterboxer engine.
I don't know about your friend, but some people 'think' that if something
is expensive, it must be good.
Some people aren't that mechanically or automtiviely savvy, and only can go
by appearance and price.
So turn him onto a fancy 50,000 plus dollar Vanagon , and he'll be happy !
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Hanson" <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 8:03 AM
Subject: Eurovan...info needed off the list..
> Excuse me for violating the list with an off topic query on other than
> friday, but this is somewhat time-sensitive and it is 'sort of' related to
> vanagons.
>
> A friend is looking for a small camper to use as his headquarters in the
> NW US while orgainzing a bike race. He sort of suggested he needed
> something like a Vanagon or maybe a Eurovan...and now I think he's leaning
> towards the Eurovan...He isn't likely to become a Vanagon Guy, I think he
> just wants a workable small camper that he'll be able to use without too
> much TLC or problems.
> So he's just asked me, "What is the best year to look for in a Eurovan"
> and "Which years shoud I avoid"? I told him I would ask around..and he
> needs to get this going...so I didn't want to wait till Friday... If
> someone
> came up with a "Go Westie" style vanagon for sale, he would probably be ok
> with that, but this guy (I don't know him all that well) seems more of the
> "dealership" type who might be better off with a Eurovan and all that
> implies.
> anyone?
> Don Hanson
