Date: Sat, 20 Apr 96 14:54:31 -0500
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: "Steven J. Hughes" <hugh0028@gold.tc.umn.edu>
Subject: New Baby Story: Mint '87 Westie! 57K Miles! Needs front Table!
Greetings and Glad to be back on the List:
I unsubscribed from the list last fall for a while (grad school and all...), but
as of Thursday night, Deborah and I became the proud owners of a 1987 Westie!!
We bought it from Countryside VW here in St. Paul for $10,400, hard-negotiated
down from an asking price of $10,995. The vehicle is virtually mint--only 57,000
miles! Paint and everything in Excellent condition. Must have been garaged
during the winter, and only driven on trips. We know we paid above average
retail, but it is in well above average condition, and Countryside replaced a
lot of parts to bring it up to the current state (their internal repair ticket
shows $1200 (retail) of repairs).
Unfortunately we will be back at the dealership Monday morning because there is
a PROPANE LEAK somewhere between the main shut-off valve and the appliances, and
the Alternator and Oxygen sensor LEDs fail to fully extinguish.
It is amazing that they sold it to me with the leak--they promised that they had
checked the propane system out etc. etc., but as soon as I had a chance to
fiddle with everything I smelled and heard the leak below, right near the
hardware at the bottom of the vehicle. The very quiet hiss goes away shortly
after I close the main valve, so I can at least contain it. "We checked
everything out and it works perfectly." Yeah. Right. All I can say is I'm glad I
didn't park it in my garage that first night..... I suppose this episode
underscores the need to have that main valve off if you aren't using the
appliances.
Now about this Oxygen Sensor and Alternator light business:
It seems that when I start up, all the warning lights go on as expected. Then
when I am ready to go, I give the gas a little kick, hear a small relay "click"
somewhere and the Alternator/O2 Sensor lights _almost_ turn off. It's like they
reduce to 1/2 illumination. Furthermore, they seem to be operating in unison,
like there is a short somewhere. Does anyone know why this is happening? is it
normal? So they'll check it out at the dealership on Monday.
Which reminds me: I just did a Web search and found a list of Vanagon recalls.
I'll print out the relevant ones and bring them to the dealer to confirm that
they have been done. Anything else that I might want to have them check out on
this visit? It is a recent enough purchase that I could make a case to have them
do other work for free or cheap, but I don't see this working too far into the
future.
Finally: The front table (the one that stows behind the driver's seat) was
missing from the vehicle. This turned out to be worth $300 out of the final
price when I noticed it--which, by the way, was the day after the deal was
signed and they had a $200 deposit from me. Amazing: They initially offered me a
$150 discount. I asked what the cost of the table was, and then frowned them up
to the $300 discount--proves that the deal is never over until you drive away!
Dealer cost on this part is $415!. THey offered to sell it to me for that, but I
took the price cut, hoping that I could get a used part somewhere. Does anyone
know where I could find this table and how much I'll pay for it?
For what it's worth, the the original owner's name was "Lillian Joost" of
Addison, IL. I have a previous address and phone number (it was written on the
inside front cover of her maintenance record) but Lillian no longer lives in
Addison, as I tried to call her to see if she still had the table.
SO: Anyone know where to get a table? Or, failing that, anyone know Lillian
Joost?
Any and all suggestions appreciated!!
-Steve
____________________________________________________
Steven J. Hughes, M.A.
University of Minnesota
Division of Pediatric Neuropsychology
UMHC Box 486
516 Delaware Street SE
Mineapolis, MN 55455
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