Date: Wed, 16 Oct 1996 13:16:07 PDT
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: VWNUT@smus.bc.ca
Subject: Re: Achieving high mileage
> I noticed in your .sig that you have reached 300k+ km in your
> Westy. I have recently become an owner of an 84 7-passenger with
> 160K on the odo. I have also been reading this list for the past
> month, and it seems riddled with issues related to durability (*not*
> very typical for VW). Would you have any tips on how I can better
> my chances at achieving the kind of durability that you seem to have
> experienced?
>
Actually, I bought it this year with 322k already on it, from the
single PO. I have receipts since new showing bare minimum (IMHO)
maintenance, such as oil changes at factory interval of 12k km using
10w30 oil. He did spend significant $$ on repairs when they were
done, but didn't do much unless something broke, as far as I can
tell. (the main thing which 'broke' was the tranny at 166k - report
says it stuck in high gear & had to be towed in. At that time it was
deemed heads were also leaking, so a rebuilt engine and trans from
VW Canada was put in $12k before tax!)
Careful reading of records also revealed to me a somewhat carefree
approach to the vehicle - ie: driving 4000km+ in less than 3 days
after the new engine was in - something tells me there wasn't a gentle
break-in done!
As for general durability of VWs, I would rate them very high - I
have now had 9 VWs, all but two of which I have driven to over 200k.
I use either synthetic 15w50 oil changed at 6-8k, or in the diesel,
20w50 changed every 4-5k.
The *only* serious weakness in the Vanagon imho is the waterboxer
heads, which is a real pain, but considering the quality of the rest
of the vehicle, not all that bad. If I am faced with this problem, I
will likely go with a VW inline4 - no big deal.
I think the number of durability issues you see on the list are
due to the average age/mileage of the buses - most are 8-10+ yrs old.
The difference is a VW owner *expects* to keep his bus in good shape
for a much longer time than say a D*dge C*r*van owner. At 8 yrs old,
a Caravan is probably on its 4th owner, interior worn out, burning
oil, paint peeling, and waiting for the scrap heap.
Shawn Wright (VWnut@smus.bc.ca)
'88 Westy (336k)
'85 Jetta TD (358k)
'69 Wife
'97 1st child (! :)
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