Date:         Thu, 4 Jan 1996 11:41:53 PDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Shawn Wright, SMUS Network Analyst" <swright@smus.bc.ca>
Subject:      Re: VANAGON digest 758

> Guys,
> 
> have any of you owned a Subaru?   The reason I got into VWs was because
> of my '75 Subaru wagon.  There is absolutely no ambience,  tinny,  
> plastic-ee {real low grade plastic,  cheap at that},  no likable 
> idiosyncracies which means no character...and to beat all they are
> VERY hard to work on unless you have the right SHOP tools.  My brother-
> in-law a Subaru dealer mechanic loves 'em because he has a box full
> of the specialized tools...when I got the estimate for CVs and a brake job
> $1800.00,  I sold it and bought a '77 rabbit which had 200K on it when
> I traded it in for an '85 TD Jetta which I sold for $2500 when it had
> 250K on the motor.  I hardly think that ANY Subaru can hold its value
> for obvious reasons so when you put that tinny difficult little engine
> in your Vanagon is it really an upgrade?  My first 1.9L wasserboxer
> had 106K when I replaced it with a new VW 1.9L boxer which now has
> 70K on it and is running impecably and wlll keep on running well because
> I take care of it.  That engine cost $2500 installed with a 10-12
> warrentee.  I really think we VW guys are spoiled by the quality and
> reliability of the VW...is the grass really greener?  Try selling
> your '83 Subaru for over $1000 regardless of the mileage....then
> put your '79 westy with 200K on the ticker and see the phone ring
> off the hook.  
> 
> john Grazul
> Rutgers University

I've been lurking on this issue since it came up, and it has 
surprised me how long it took for someone to make a point like this. 
As a bus newbie, but a long time VW owner (7 of em), I'd consider it 
sacrilege to place anything but a VAG powerplant in a bus or other 
VW. But, I thought, there MUST be a REAL problem with the wasserboxer 
for so many of you to be considering this option, which has kind of 
made me reconsider an aircooled Westy also...

So what's the deal? Is the Wasserboxer REALLY that bad? Or are we 
talking a limited share of owners who wish to turf it? I do all my 
own work, so if it's the maintenance and shop costs that are the 
issue, then that's not a big deal to me. 

Shawn
85 Jetta TD (335K with genuine VW power... ;-)

*--------------------------------*
| Shawn Wright, Network Analyst  |
| St. Michaels University School |
| 3400 Richmond Rd, Victoria, BC |
| Canada                 V8P 4P5 |
| (604) 592-2411 Fax: 592-2812   |
| swright@smus.bc.ca             |
*--------------------------------*
I haven't lost my mind;  I'm sure it's backed up on tape somewhere!