Date:         Sat, 22 Jun 1996 20:12:50 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         rickgo@halcyon.com (Rick Gordon)
Subject:      re Eurovans- to buy or not to buy

>I have an '85 Vanagon Camper that is getting over the hill and was interested
>in the Eurovan.  I notice only 1993s available, and they mention a
>"Weekender" package.  Is this comparable to the Vanagon's camper package, ie.
>stove,sink, frig, poptop, etc?  Why no '94 on models?  What about
>reliability, or other general information?  Any feedback would be greatly
>appreciated!

Okay, I'll bite, since for a variety of reasons I'm home reading email
instead of galavanting around the countryside in my EV!

The 1993 EV Weekender is not the same as a Vanagon Camper. There is no
kitchen cabinet - you have a little electric "heat remover" underneath a
jump seat, and you have the pop-top & fold-down bench so you can sleep
four.
There was no 1994 model.
There is a 1995 model, the EV Camper, which is still in the distribution
channel, although supposedly they are sold out at the factory. It is a
longer vehicle, sold in Europe as a delivery van, which is retrofitted as a
camper
by Winnebago. Fortunately however they used a very Westfalia-like design.
(There is some other camper which is sold by Winnebago which is really a
bloated beast - not the same thing!)

Reliability seems to be mixed, but what else is new! Its a complex vehicle,
and there have been mixed reports. I haven't heard of anything significant
across a broad range of them however, except maybe the automatic
transmission being "shifty".  They have pretty extensive warranty's on
them. People in *very* cold areas have complained about the heating
capability of the Camper. It's a lot more powerful than the Vanagon. Its
got an Audi 5-cylinder engine with a cam that gives you a flat torque curve
from 2200-4500 rpms. This makes it pull out fairly well, but means you
shift a lot before you get up to speed. Engine seems to run very smooth,
but it takes a little getting used to after the Vanagon.
It doesn't have airbags, it does have ABS as an option.

The 1997 EV will supposedly have a VR6 engine, although I believe that its
cam has been altered to put the emphasis on torque instead of HP. Whether
they put a camper conversion on this remains to be seen. They didn't sell a
lot of the 95 version in part because it was so expensive; to put the VR6
in they'll want a few K$ as well, and there was some resistance to that. It
seems likely that they probably will do some, but I certainly don't know
when.

Best advice is find a local dealer and take one for a spin. Going price
seems to be around US$28K for ones with a $33K sticker price. Get them to
throw in the extra seat. If you like the amt of power it has now, it'll
probably be a bargain compared to next year's price!

-rick


Rick Gordon
Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
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