Volks, In my hunt for another Vanagon I stumbled across an 84 Westie for '$4000 obo'. We took it for a test drive yesterday, it is a little rough around the edges but the person seems honest enough about the problems with it and the reasons for selling are sincere. The problems include; some seam rust and a 2" spot of rust beneath the flue, purple interior (yep!), noise fuel pump, starter that doesn't always want to grab, torn CV boot (no clicking), broken and welded exhaust manifold (will replace engine), one stove burner has a 'hot spot' due to a broken center piece, refridgerator doesn't work on propane, transmission make a funny noise. Of these problems I can fix or live with most of them. The ones that bother me are the noisy transmission and the fridge. The transmission shifts fine and doesn't pop out of gear but it makes the same winey noise as reverse does in 1st and 2nd. Perhaps it makes this noise in 3rd and 4th but road noise takes over from there. According to the owner it has done that ever since she owned it (2.5 years). Underneath the van there is a tiney bit of transmission oil on the bellhousing. Looks like the transmission should be replaced. How hard is it to trouble shoot the fridge? How available are shove parts? Anyone have experince in painting the cabinets? The rest of the problems are 'simple' mechanical issues that I can easily deal with. Good points on the van (yes there are some!); good tires, good canvas, good price, clean interior, Pioneer CD player, bike rack and the wife likes it!
-- David Marshall - Vanagon List Admin - Quesnel, BC, Canada -- -- 78 VW Rabbit, 80 VW Caddy, 87 Audi 5KSQ, 85 VW Cabriolet -- -- 88 2.0L VW Syncro Double Cab, WANTED: VW / Bombardier Iltis -- -- David's Volkswagen Home Page http://www.volkswagen.org -- -- Fast Forward Autobahn Sport Tuning http://www.fastforward.ca -- -- david@volkswagen.org (pmail) or vanagon@volkswagen.org (list) -- |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.