Vanagon EuroVan
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Date:         Mon, 17 Jan 2011 14:15:14 -0500
Reply-To:     Doug Alcock <doug.alcock@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Doug Alcock <doug.alcock@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: first time buyer
Comments: To: Brad Pauly <bpauly@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <AANLkTi=wmJLLQ5i3-uVJd1CoGvbnsgLTzVrG0tE=6yEK@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Hi Brad -- welcome to the list. You've already received some good links to peruse. I bought an 84 Westy 12 years ago. My advice is to spend the most money you can upfront to get the best van you can afford. The expresion 'needs a little work' ranks up there with with 'the cheque is in the mail' as one of the big lies in history. If you can't/aren't willing to do the work yourself you're going to be buying your mechanic a Mercedes.

One of the replies to your post said you'd be looking at 5 to 10K to get your van in shape. I agree with that. It may not come all at once -- but it will. I paid $6500 to get my van on the road 12 years ago -- since then I estimate I have about $30K invested in it. New engine, new trans, new darn near everything.

Took a lot of years to work out but now my van is reliable, looks great and is much less likely to be seen stranded at the side of the road.

You can't put a price on the travels, adventures, and places we've seen -- but if you were going to it adds up to $250 a month about the price of a car payment or a lease.

But it really is best to put the money in upfront rather than dribs and drabs (some of them large) along the way. I bought a cheap fixer-upper because I was unconvinced that my wife would be into the Westy lifestyle. She turned out to be an instant die-hard (who knew).

If I was doing it again I would look for a rust-free hulk with a blown engine and trans. Rust-free is very important. Then I'd get someone to put in an engine conversion (I have an I4 in mine) and a rebuilt trans and while that was going on I'd look at stuff like rad/gastank/brakelines. You could probably do that for about 15K --- but you'd have a van that was going to be trouble free for a long time.

I wish you good luck and hope to meet you down the road someday.

Cheers, Doug

On Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 12:27 PM, Brad Pauly <bpauly@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Everyone, > > I think I'm finally ready to take the plunge. 10 years ago I was > searching pretty seriously but never pulled the trigger. This time I > think I'm ready. I was hoping to get some first time buyer advice. > I've been looking for '86 and newer Westys. Originally I was set on a > full camper, however, I think I'd be really happy with a weekender (at > least at first). > > I'm not really a "car guy." I'm actually an engineer on paper so I can > understand most of that stuff. I do like tinkering, but it's been with > bicycles all my life which are decidedly less complex. I have two main > questions. > > Should I avoid out-of-state vans? Not having experience working on > cars it makes me a little nervous. If I could find a good local > mechanic to make sure things are okay I'd feel much better though. > > What about older vans? Am I needlessly limiting myself with '86 and newer? > > Thanks for any advice or feedback! > > Cheers, > Brad >

-- http://www.dougalcock.com


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