Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 15:27:55 EDT
Reply-To: Kim@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Kim Brennan <Kim@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: Anyone not having problems?
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
In a message dated 7/14/98 5:56:49 PM, dmc@CYBURBAN.COM writes:
>Judging by the amount of problems I see being discussed here, I must
>admit I am getting the impression that owners of these vehicles are
>having to tinker with them on a daily or weekly basis to keep them
>running.
>The other impression I get, is that VW mechanics are hard to find, VW
>dealers are pretty hopeless, and VW parts are horrendously expensive.
Some ground info. The Vanagon when designed was an interim vehicle. VW was
intending to move to a front engined, front wheel drive, van to compliment
there water cooled Golfs (Rabbits) which were replacing the original Beetle.
The Vanagon first started off with a complete reworking of the shape (making
it better aerodynamically, than the 2nd generation Bus), but continued to use
the same basic engine as the Bus. Even the old Bus's were underpowered, but
increasing the weight in the Vanagon wasn't helping matters, so VW tried an
experiment and basically put water cooled cylinders on the air cooled engine.
This gave the beastie more power. However, as with many other experiments it
had drawbacks.
The parts were one offs. No other vehicle used them. I.E. Expensive. The water
cooled design was literally an experiment to extend the lifetime of the model,
until a better researched design could replace it (Eurovan). As an experiment,
the design had flaws, and the leaky cylinder heads is the main one.
Other designs features necessitated by putting a water cooled engine in the
rear, made repairs more expensive. I don't know of other vehicles that have to
run plumbing all the way from the rear to the front, and back again (which
makes for some VERY long coolant hoses). Maybe race cars (and I assure you
repaired those are more expensive than Vanagons!)
And with all that said, the ergonomics of the inside of the Vanagon, are the
reason owners such as us, just won't give up on them, despite the problematic
drive train design. Simply put a Vanagon has MORE room on the inside, and
occupies LESS space on the outside than any mini-van. The Westfalia Camper
versions, are jewels of interior space utilization. I've been in many
different mini-vans (Toyotas, Nissans, Fords, Dodges) and I always felt
cramped, and uncomfortable in them. The factory AC in my Vanagon keeps ALL
people inside the van cool, not just the front two. In my Vanagon, 6 ft+
people sit comfortably in any seat, even if there are 7 people in the van at
the same time. And that right there is main reason I got my Vanagon.
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