Date:         Mon, 23 Jun 1997 23:21:29 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         ronclay@ldd.net (Ron Clayton)
Subject:      Re: Lemon ? Advice, opinionŠ

Hello Griffin:

You may take my "advice and opinion" as just that, I'm not a mechanic but I
felt
I should at least offer.  I had an '84 that was drive several years without
a cat. converter.  Driving for a long time without the O-2 sensor or C.C.
means the engine ran rich  most of the time.  this shortens engine life by
among other things, alowing gas to dilulte the oil.  Have your dealer do a
compression test
while he is checking everything else.  I would say if you really like the
van and have the bucks, bite the bullet and do an engine rebuild now, maybe
the dealler will participate, given that he probably knew the engine was
bad all along.  If not, let him keep it and look for another in better
shape.
Good luck.





>original mesage<
>Hello,
>
>I could use some advice and opinions.
>
>My wife and I boutght an '85 Westy a couple of weeks ago. The background is
>that my wife was diagnosed with metastatic cancer last year. We moved and
>went through about 10 months of surgeries, radiation, chemo, and a
>transplant. Everything is going well now.
>
>Well, my wife wanted to do something she had always wanted to do, which is
>get a VW camper van. We went to a dealership here in MPLS where a freind of
>ours is the general manager. We bought this van without a lot of research,
>which is not what I usually do, because my wife wanted it so bad.
>
>Well, there have been lots of problems. My question is, do you think that I
>should ditch the car (it has a 30-day warranty) or keep it?
>
>Here is what happened:
>
>We made a list of things that the dealer would fix before we got the car.
>Mostly minor things.
>
>--Car has broken odometer stuck at 113,500. Dealer assures us it is no more
>than 115K
>--Exhaust system needs overhaul. Dealer finds out after we buy the car that
>it has no catalytic converter. Takes 2 weeks to get one.
>--A week after we have it, I start to do some mtce. I put windshield washer
>fluid in the front, and it goes onto the pavement.
>--I try the rear window washer, and it spills onto the back cushion. After
>investigation I find the line is broken open near the roof
>--The air filter is black before I replace it.
>--The oil was supposed to be changed but the oil filter is dirty and a Fram
>(which the dealer doesn't use)
>
>After this all happened I got the car inspected by an inspection service
>(the VW repair shops are booked up for weeks). He says not much wrong, an
>oil leak here, that kind of thing. But his major concern is the he says
>there is a rod knock that needs to be chacked out.
>
>I am going in to the dealer Wed for service. I am going to ask them to fix
>all these things that have piled up. I am also going to have them go over
>the car from top to bottom and tell me what I need to do to make it
>driveable.
>
>I have an '88 Golf that I have serviced at the same place and they do a
>good job. I found out today that used cars are serviced by a different
>group.
>
>Anyway, my major concern is that the car is in poor shape and will need $$$
>in repairs shortly. I worry about that because of the sorry shape that the
>car and engine were in. Can a Westy that was not cared for be OK with good
>service from now on? Or should my wife and I look for another vehicle??
>
>Thanks for your comments.
>
>Ed Wehling
>griffin8@primenet.com
>
>Wendy Griffin and Ed Wehling
>7796 Hinton Av. S.  #4
>Cottage Grove, MN   55016
>612-459-8824
>griffin8@primenet.com