Date:         Wed, 12 Aug 1998 20:40:06 EDT
Reply-To:     D1ARCHER@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         David Hicks <D1ARCHER@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: My first visit shopping for a Vanagon
Comments: To: tbuchana@XYLAN.COM, Vanagon@Vanagon.com
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

Terry,
Price, I discovered while shopping for my own 1st van over the past three or
four months, is largely determined by location. So, where are you located?
Second, turning back a speedometer is not an unheard of practice. The things
you look for are very much like the things you found. Does this person have
service records? If so you should always look at them to see the prior
mileage. If not, you should be cautious of buying a vehicle that looks to be
in bad shape anyway.
I looked at one vehicle that was advertised as being in "excellent" shape. It
had been re painted and the paint was peeling near the right front. There was
rust on the right rear. There was a dent near the vents in the back on the
left. The engine had 130,000 miles and looked like it was leaking oil. It was
advertised as having a new engine and recent transmission. The transmission it
turns out, was done at 93,000 miles. AND, there was no paper work for the
engine, it just looked like it had been steam cleaned!
I drove a long ways to look at this. After that I learned to ask specifics
about the condition of the vehicle. The more detail you can get, the less
needless driving you may have to do. I was fortunate to talk to some repair
people who gave me great advice when they said, be patient, there are fewer
for sale during the summer weather months. Wait and get what you want. If you
find one that needs some work and the seller is asking a good price, okay.
Just budget for the repairs.
Good luck,
David
91 Multi in great shape. :-)

p.s. It's been interesting to watch the add for that vehicle that I looked at.
The price has dropped a little, but it's now advertised as being in "mint
shape". HAH!