Date: Tue, 22 Jun 1999 17:04:27 EDT
Reply-To: Ssittservl@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: S Sittservl <Ssittservl@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: blasphemy
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> Date: 6/22/99 10:16:45 AM CDT
> From: mgajewski@MANVILLERUBBER.COM (Mark Gajewski)
>
> ... I'm wondering if anyone knows of any reasonably priced, fast and
reliable
> weekender type vans/mini-vans out there that get good gas mileage? ...
> Do any of the Big Three's minivans (gag) have pull out bed options like the
> weekender bed? ... I have even considered buying an EV MV(beautiful
> vans, really) but they are so ridiculously overpriced I can't bring myself
to go
> for it....
> Thanks for any suggestions.
> Mark
Some thoughts:
- Used Eurovan MV. The prices for the used ones strike me as being within
reason - I think around $10000 for a '93. Newer, quieter, more reliable,
etc.
than a Vanagon.
- Big ol' used American full-size conversion van. Fold-out bed, Captain's
chairs, and lots of room. Pretty easy to find.
- Reasonably popular minivan of your choice. Take it to a van conversion
place - some of them will do minivans. Have them put in the bed, etc.
Maybe even one of those fiberglass tops to add some headroom.
(Just look under "van conversions" (or something similar) in the yellow
pages.)
- ...or an already-converted minivan, used or new. Not a lot of them around,
as far as I know, but they're probably no harder to find than a Vanagon.
- Figure out about what you're willing to spend on a new vehicle (over and
above what you can sell one of your current vehicles for, if you're planning
to do that). Then, figure an amount around, oh, say, half of that, and
think
"what could I do with that money to make the trip more pleasant in the
Vanagon, instead of buying a new vehicle?" Add sound proofing? Stereo
system with headsets for everyone? TV/VCR for the passengers? Have
somebody soup up the engine somehow to make it more powerful?
Take an extra half-day off of work on trip weekends, and use the extra
time to make the drive at a more leisurely pace? If you come up with
something, maybe you've saved yourself some money; if you don't,
then maybe you'll be just that much surer that it's time to get something
else.
By the way, I dont think I'd let gas milage influence your decision too
heavily - the difference between 20MPG and 15MPG on your 600-mile
round trip is only about $10 worth of gas, which is probably peanuts
compared to the cost of the vehicle.
-Steven Sittser
| 
