Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 12:32:02 -0800
Reply-To: Katherine Lee <katherine@DNAMEDIA.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Katherine Lee <katherine@DNAMEDIA.COM>
Subject: Re: Vanagon Reliability (Long)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Hi Kevin & fellow listmembers:
As some of you may recall, I was the person seeking travel advice about
Yosemite and other points Californian. Well, I've survived to tell the
tale of various real and imagined mechanical troubles with my 89 Westfalia,
which still has less than 150,000 km. First the reliability statistics ...
I'll tell you a bit about my trip (which in the end was not all that
pleasant) in another posting, if there's enough interest.
Some of the related events that have made me think twice about keeping this
particular van ... last May, after an oil change, we headed on a trip
around the Olympic Penninsula. When we turned around and headed up the I-5
to return to Vancouver, we ran (almost) completely out of oil. The oil
pressure warning light came on steadily, along with that dreaded buzzing.
My partner was not too happy about trekking up the freeway outside south
Seattle (not a great neighbourhood, from what I understand) to the nearest
exit so we could get the AAA out to tow us. I was not too happy about the
engine job I had to have done.
And just at Christmastime, as we were heading south on the I-5 (maybe the
I-5 is jinxed for us) just outside of Kelso, WA, I experienced the engine
hesitation (the skipping feeling, with loss of power when trying to go
uphill, or otherwise working the engine a bit more than usual) that recent
listmembers have been discussing, and saw huge clouds of steam billowing
out from the back of the van. We pulled over, and saw that one of the
coolant pipes was spraying liquid all over one of the (new) exhaust pipes.
I guess it had rusted through. Fortunately, I'd noticed it early enough,
and we managed to top up with water and drive slowly to the next exit,
where a local garage sawed off the rusty bit and reclamped the hose. The
hesitation/skipping hasn't happened since, so I'm attributing it to the
weather, which was unseasonably cold just before Christmas.
Aside from minor things which I can do myself (changing the oil, replacing
switches and bulbs, etc.) here's what I've spent since purchasing the
Vanagon in May of 1998 (most figures are in CDN $, and since I don't have
receipts in front of me, these are ballpark numbers including taxes):
$1400 on replacing all four piston rings (due to the oil-buring problem
primarily in one cylinder that led to our "running out of oil" on the I-5)
$ 700 on replacing various exhaust pipes (probably original since 89, and
rusted out)
$ 600 on new front disc brakes
$ 25 US (= $31 CDN) labour charge for hacking off a rusted piece of
coolant pipe and reclamping the hose to the remaining pipe
$ 10 on a second-hand headlight switch
$ 600 on 4 new Michelin LTX tires
plus whatever it costs for about 30 liters of oil and a couple of filters
(for that many top-ups and changes for 10,000 km) of driving (say, about $2
a bottle).
Total repair costs: about $3341 CDN for 10,000 km or 9 months of ownership.
I'm sure that I'm forgetting other bits and pieces in my general haze of
travelling to and from the repair garage. I realize that some of these
items are part of regular maintenance, and that eventually things wear out
(the exhaust, hoses/pipes, brakes, tires). But the engine has presented an
unusual expense (and not the seemingly typical coolant-leak syndrome), as
far as I can tell from the messages on the list.
Aside from costing me an arm and a leg, (and breaking down when I try to
travel anywhere :-( ) I DO enjoy driving the Vanagon ... when it works, it
handles really well, it's easy to take off on weekend outings even if the
weather is bad, and comes in handy for schlepping big stuff around. And
yes, there is a certain cachet to driving a VW van ... it must convey an
air of adventurousness (and a huge wallet). I do have two thoughts,
though, and they are: 1. I wish this blessed vehicle didn't cost so much to
maintain (the corollary of this thought is: do all Vanagons cost so much to
keep? and if people didn't have problems with their Vanagons, would there
be anything to talk about on this list ;-D), and 2. I wish I hadn't traded
in my (relatively) reliable Syncro for a 2-wheeler that seems to break down
every time it sees the I-5 (hindsight is 20/20 ... the Syncro, if I'd held
onto it long enough probably would have been just as costly). I know that
you just have to get mechanical problems fixed, and make sure you maintain
a vehicle properly, but psychologically, it's hard to have confidence when
things break down (seemingly) out of nowhere on the freeway.
Still debating whether or not to toss this one in (and keeping my eyes open
for a replacement Syncro),
Katherine
________________________________________________
Q:
> What kind
> of reliability might I expect from a vehicle like [this one]? What kind
> of annual repair costs? My wife is starting a small business and we
would
> probably use the vehicle as both a daily driver and as a weekend camper
to
> travel to events where my wife will sell and promote her products, so
> reliability is a pretty big concern for us.
A:
Man are you making a misstake! this is and never will be
a very reliable vehicle. It wasn't when it was new. that is on of the
biggest reason they didn't sell. Add to that age and milage, you are
looking for trouble if you want reliability. A second toy/car,
yes. A must have to get yo work, NO!
Please add your comments and experiences. I love the look and image of
these vehicles, and a van would be most practical right now, but finances
dictate that we not be nickeled and dimed with repair costs and time
constraints while moonlighting forbid us from spending a lot of time on
doing repairs ourselves. Can't bear the thought of drinving one of those
hideous American made vans.
Thanks in advance,
Kevin
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