So Jill Schmidt says: > > 1) I can spend $5000 including tax. Do you think I'll be able to find a > van that feels new to me, is an '86 or newer, and has <100 K miles? Welcome to the list Jill. Don't be in too much of a hurry to get a van. You should take as much time as possible and look at as many vans as possible to get a real feel for the van and how much the asking prices vary. In other words, don't buy the first one you see. > 2) Would it be better to buy one with a rebuilt engine or at least the > heads redone, assuming that it usually needs to be done somewhere around > 100.000 miles? Or if it has had this work done is it a sign the little > pup has been driven too hot and other things will go wrong? This is a tough one because even though a rebuild has been done, you don't know how good of a job it was. If you find a seller that tells you that it's been rebuilt in the recent past, be sure to ask for the paperwork so you can see who did it. At least that way, you know which shop did it. You can decide whether or not you want to do the leg work of checking out the shop or not. If the seller doesn't have the paper work or anything that shows it's been rebuilt, I'd just walk away from it unless the price was maybe $2000 or less and the body was in good shape. That way, you still have the money left over to get a decent rebuild done. That's really the only other good option, buying a vanagon that has a good interor/exterior for a low price and using the rest of the money saved for fixing the mechanicals. > 3) I heard there is no "Idiots Guide" for the Vanagon-is this true? I had > one for a Rabbit and for a Toyota truck and I saved myself big bucks with > the easy instructions. Well, yes and no. The instructions in the Idiots Guide are good for the early air-cooled ones but the later "Wasserboxers" are not included except for the one year that had the rabbit engine. The rest, well, it's some what similar but really, the lack of an Idiots Guide is probably one major reason this list got started. Many of us had previous air-cooled vans and migrated to the water-cooled van and are left without a decent manual to work with other than the expensive 'heavy-duty' Bentley manaual which is pretty vague on many procedures or has no procedures at all. But, fear not! This list has accumulated alot of information from the likes of Joel and others and can help you with most of your needs. Yahoo! So, you really need to have a look-see at the FAQ as well as chew the fat (or grits in Joel's case ;) ) with the members to find out what you need to do in your specific case. I don't have the address for the FAQ handy, but I'm sure someone else can provide you with that info. soon. If not, Joel will post it on Weakly Status and Possom Cuisine List. ;) Cheers! Steven Johnson sjohnson@pcocd2.intel.com
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