Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2023 16:13:04 -0700
Reply-To: Dan N <dn92610@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dan N <dn92610@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Shout out to Ken and Dennis The RARE vW bus vender
In-Reply-To: <CACvdLxOMoYVrpPGiGLrnee2dBANxAacriYEm2XOghr+jGkwMjA@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Thank you David....
and sorry.... I had a few nightmares last night about landscapes ... :-)
On Fri, Mar 17, 2023 at 3:58 PM David McNeely <davmcneely40@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Those of us still driving will be in EVs exclusively for most uses in just
> a few years. And the nightmare scenario you paint is totally unnecessary.
> First, electric cabling should all be buried. Second, solar panels should
> be on every roof available, and covering every parking lot. Local should
> be the name of the game. And we should be enabling public transportation
> as the main mechanism for people to get to National Parks and between
> cities. That's how people traveled before automobiles took over. If
> someone in Chicago wanted to go to Yellowstone NP in 1890, he took a train
> to the nearest jumping off spot, then a stage coach to the park. Today,
> that coach could be a bus. And like at Denali, most national parks could
> be operated without private cars allowed into most of the roads in the
> park. And before you say that Denali is able to operate that way because
> it has few visitors, that is not true, and the visitors are all
> concentrated in just 4 months, making the visitor density comparable to the
> most visited parks.
>
> On Fri, Mar 17, 2023 at 3:45 PM Dan N <dn92610@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I think EV vehicles make sense for the environment but what worries me is
>> this...
>>
>> Our grand-children and great-grand-children won't see as nice a landscape
>> in the National Parks as we do today.. Imagine a landscape such as Joshua
>> Tree NP etc. etc. with electricity poles and cables crisscrossing the sky
>> and charging stations everywhere for the convenience of the visitors and
>> campers?
>>
>> I won't be here anymore to see it myself but somehow a few more guys like
>> Musk could destroy nice landscapes with bad moves...err.. in the name of a
>> clean environment...
>>
>> On Fri, Mar 17, 2023 at 3:17 PM David McNeely <davmcneely40@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Of course, the young ones are not interested in learning Vanagons (or
>>> any particular "obsolete" vehicle). It just doesn't make economic sense
>>> from their standpoint. There are lots of Toyotas, Fords, modern VWs
>>> ........ . Few of our old vehicles. Heck, I even found that the local
>>> junior college auto tech program won't take in any vehicle over five years
>>> old. That includes my Toyota Prius, which is why I found out.
>>>
>>> On Fri, Mar 17, 2023 at 11:51 AM Dan N <dn92610@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> *"And from my perspective, would the person servicing it be capable?"*
>>>>
>>>> Well... they will say they are capable because they have the Bentley
>>>> book on the shelf... and the real capable mechanic is busy jumping from one
>>>> van to another to help solve the problems...
>>>>
>>>> I have a story... my daughter was travelling recently with her '90
>>>> tintop from Oregon to Arizona. In Tucson a little rubber hose connected to
>>>> the thermostat tower blew. She found a shop in Tucson and waited for 3 days
>>>> to have a spot for repairs. They replaced the hose and some other
>>>> unnecessary stuff. On her way back to Oregon, some hundred miles north of
>>>> Tucson, the coolant light blinked (not overheated). I told her to check the
>>>> coolant level in the expansion reservoir, it's very low (they didn't bleed
>>>> properly)... she filled it up. Some hundred miles later, the same thing
>>>> happened. I told her to check the level every morning before hitting the
>>>> road. She happened near the GW store so I told to get a new blue cap and
>>>> have the cooling system bleed well. No one had a spot for her and GW didn't
>>>> do it. So I have to instruct her how to bleed over the phone and email. She
>>>> did it with the help of her boyfriend. They made it home safely.
>>>>
>>>> So... yes... There are still some good mechanics with experiences on
>>>> vanagon out there... BUT... how many young ones want to learn to replace
>>>> them after they are gone?
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Mar 17, 2023 at 11:03 AM David McNeely <davmcneely40@gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> In part, this is a matter of "aging out." If these folks are to stay
>>>>> in
>>>>> business, they must hire young folks into their shops. There just
>>>>> aren't
>>>>> enough old folks who know our vehicles still around. Just this past
>>>>> week,
>>>>> I tried to set up a shop visit for my camper. Best shop locally by
>>>>> reputation is one called European Auto Haus. Best tech there used to
>>>>> be
>>>>> "Obie," who was trained in Germany on VWs back in the day. He was
>>>>> super.
>>>>> But Obie of course could not work forever. He had to move on to
>>>>> retirement, well deserved. Sadly, European Auto Haus responded by
>>>>> saying
>>>>> that there are six Vanagons in shop currently for work, but none of
>>>>> them
>>>>> will get serviced before summer, and that they could not promise a
>>>>> date for
>>>>> my van earlier than
>>>>> August. And from my perspective, would the person servicing it be
>>>>> capable? mcneely
>>>>>
>>>>> On Fri, Mar 17, 2023 at 10:52 AM Eric Caron <ericcaron96@comcast.net>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> > The recent post about why do you purchase from Amazon reminded me of
>>>>> the
>>>>> > good old days of purchasing from our venders like Vanagain. One of
>>>>> the
>>>>> > best things was that I could ask questions about the products
>>>>> especially
>>>>> > about correct fit or how to install.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > I realize that now, Ken is the only vender that I can still
>>>>> do
>>>>> > that with. He is incredibly generous with his time. I really don’t
>>>>> know
>>>>> > how he does it and runs a family business as well.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > In tech emergencies I have called Ken and he has answered the phone
>>>>> and
>>>>> > helped. Last time was when a friend was helping to install Ken’s
>>>>> power
>>>>> > steering rack. It was a simple thing but we would not have figured
>>>>> it out
>>>>> > without Ken answering the call.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > I try not to call unless I need to. Another time when a
>>>>> friend
>>>>> > was here we were stuck and called Dennis. And sure enough he talked
>>>>> us
>>>>> > through the problem.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > In the old days I used to talk to folks at Bus depot, but though I
>>>>> really
>>>>> > appreciate the business, and I hope to drop in to visit one day, the
>>>>> folks
>>>>> > on the phone can’t help with issues, as they don’t know VW buses.
>>>>> And,
>>>>> > sadly the site is very hard for me to use. They do however, have a
>>>>> lot of
>>>>> > great bus items and nice to have them on my coast!
>>>>> > Van Cafe, was great before it was sold. Peter and others there
>>>>> talked me
>>>>> > through many part installations.But, that ended.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > I even once got tech help from GW, but they don’t seem to do work
>>>>> there
>>>>> > any longer. Though to be fair, They were very helpful in emailing
>>>>> > information back about specific products like how to update the
>>>>> engine
>>>>> > management system.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > So, I really appreciate that Ken sends out help videos, has useful
>>>>> > articles and info on his site, and I don’t know how he does it, but
>>>>> even
>>>>> > answered the phone and gave help directly.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > I do miss the days of calling the different venders to make orders,
>>>>> and
>>>>> > get personal direction on the products.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > I think they mean well, but other then Ken I don’t think vanagon or
>>>>> VW bus
>>>>> > people answer the phone, or can directly assist.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Hang in they're Ken.
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Eric Caron
>>>>> >
>>>>>
>>>>
| 
