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Date:         Fri, 15 Jan 1999 13:39:55 -0500
Reply-To:     Phillip Bouton <pbouton@NACCHO.ORG>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Phillip Bouton <pbouton@NACCHO.ORG>
Subject:      Re: Vanagon Reliability-final comment?
Comments: To: Patrick Hatcher <PHatcher@BIOPOP.COM>
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;

OK, Toyota was a BAD example. They are great cars with wonderful longevity and maintenance records. Any cars besides Toyota that I should not be picking on? Anyone else makes vans or campers that are as reliable or not after ten years and 100k+ mileage? Any as fun as a Vanagon/Westy) ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>:-) Phillip Bouton

-----Original Message----- From: Patrick Hatcher [mailto:PHatcher@BIOPOP.COM] Sent: Friday, January 15, 1999 10:24 AM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: Vanagon Reliability-final comment? Importance: High

Sorry Phillip, gotta disagree.

You asked how reliable a ten year old Totyota was? I drove my '86 Toyota van for 150K until I sold it to help pay for my Westy, my sister drove her '85 Toyota Van to 200K till she parked it (the interior was trashed and she wanted a sportier car), and a good friend is still driving her '85 at 250K, and here's the catch . . . all with NO MAJOR ENGINE PROBLEMS. Sure, you've gotta replace an alternator, belts, and batteries every now and then, but these engines are rock solid. Think about it, over 650K total with no major engine problems. Where can you find that? A Toyota van. When I'm out in a cold rain hunched over my wasserleaker, I sometimes wonder why I sold my Toyota.

Then I remind myself, no Toyota I've ever driven is as much fun as my '85 Westy. No 'frige, no pop top, no unique German Engineering that attracts men and women alike to ask, can I look at your van?

A few month ago someone mentioned the true true test for a Vanagon (Westy)lover: if you can sit in any seat in the van and get a silly grin on your face, your caught.

So, I'd buy another 15 year old beater Toyota van with 200K+ in a heartbeat, but I'll never find another type of van that is as fun as my Volkwagen.

-Patrick <>< Radford, VA '85 Westy GL "Vicki"

>How can you get reliability out of a ten year old vehicle? There are >no guarantees. Problems with vanagon are not that different from >other ten year old vehicles, only on the vanagon list 80% of what is >talked about is how to fix problems. So that is mostly what we hear >and see and expect. How reliable is a ten year old Toyota? > >If you want a reliability (i.e., expect to not have to keep replacing >worn parts or rebuild the engine once every 100k or so), then just >don't buy a ten year old vehicle, no matter what make it is. >-Phillip


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