Date:         Mon, 4 Sep 95 20:40:54 EDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         jag@cs.rochester.edu
Subject:      Re: Diesel 82 Westy


> Date: Sat, 2 Sep 95 22:35 AST
> From: A_OLIVARES@upr1.upr.clu.edu
> Hi all! Somebody called me today and offered me a Diesel 82 Westy, I pro
> promised to him to go and see it on Monday. Is anybody out there who
> could tell me anything about diesel Vanagons? The guy is asking $4,800.
> Is that price worthy? 

If I remember right that is about what the '95 Blue book says for an '82.
Prices locally may vary though, especially since I image it's not that
easy to transport them in to Puerto Rico. Did you go and see it? What
condition was it in?

Of course you also need to think about if you really want a diesel.
As far as I know only the standard diesel was sold in the US. The engine
gives 50 hp. To overcome the drag at 60 mph requires 30. 20 hp is
what's left for hills, accelerate (Not much beyond 60 anyway...)
20 Hp is not much for near 4000lbs of car...
There is also turbo diesel version which should be comparable to the
gas engine (at least the one in the early vanagons). It is popular
in Europe, and a few might have been bought over there and brought here. 
(Anybody knows if they were sold in Canada?)

On the positive side, there are many diesel owners out there who
are perfectly happy with it. I'm one of them. Some reasons I'm happy
are:

The diesels are economic, and I'm a poor grad student. They are cheaper
to buy used than their gasoline counterparts (-$600 according to blue book),
and cheaper to drive (I get an average 29 mpg)

They are easy to fix (no complicated electronic control of anything,
Engine has only two electric things: glowplugs, and fuel shutoff solenoid).
Parts are cheaper and easier to find than for the wasserboxer.

It's relatively flat around here. I wouldn't want to use the diesel
vanagon as a daily driver in a hilly city. The weakest point is 
of course acceleration uphill; virtually nonexistant :(. On the
other hand, with the diesel one eventually learns to build up and
conserve momentum, and that has many advantages. (In addition to keeping 
your speed up, it saves fuel, less wear, calmer ride for passengers...)

I don't have an urge to be the first one out of every redlight,
and I'm happy going at a cruising speed of around 60. (Also saves
money: no speeding tickets, and therefore lower insurance. Too bad 
the diesel vanagon is not rated separatly by the insurance companies)

I've got lots of saved diesel info from this list and rec.autos.vw,
but it's unedited. Tell me if you're interested. 

Martin Jagersand
(Looking for the diesel cabin heater. Optional in US)
(standard in Canada?)