My vanagon is no more. Saturday evening it caught on fire. Not quite sure what caused it. I was driving, and had gotten about a half mile from my house, when I experienced some serious hesitation in 4th gear. I put it up into 3rd, and it picked back up, but as I approached the stoplight, and put in the clutch, it died completely. So, with the momentum I had left, I coasted into Taco Bell's parking lot, and out of the way of traffic. As soon as I stopped, smoke engulfed the bus. I ran around back to discover flames coming out of the license plate cover, and drops of fire dripping onto the ground underneath. I popped the hatch, and  scrambled to get all of my stuff out of the van. Running into Taco Bell screaming like a maniac for the fire extinguisher, I waited while the MINIMUM WAGE IDIOT, WALKS!!! to get the extinguisher. As I was trying to contain the blaze, the van tried to start itself, and was lurching itself towards the parked cars. People began flying out of the place to move their cars. Luckily the fire dept. showed up and pulled the ground off. I didn't dare lift the deck lid before that, in fear of the whole thing going up in my face. Anyway, after 20 minutes of soaking the engine and the interior of my van, I assessed the damages; The engine is fried. All the wiring is fried. The poor computer is nothing but left over micro chips. The right rear plastic molding melted into oblivion, not to mention anything else that was plastic in that area (tail light cover, rear park light cover, vent, etc.) The outside right rear of the van is charred. The interior sustained heavy water damage: There was water half filling the gauges, glove box and door step up areas. The upholstery is soaked and wreaks of barbeque. Really though, the damage didn't pass the engine compartment, and the rest of the van (outside of the water damage) is untouched. In fact, from one side, you wouldn't know. So, I wait for the insurance to show up and reimburse me. Here are some questions for the list; What would it cost me to replace the engine, the wiring (all wiring in the engine compartment, and make sure everything works front to back) and paint the rear (or whole) of the bus? What about water damage (smell, etc.) I would just like to know in case I want (or they let me) to keep the bus after I get the money. Also, any thoughts on what may have caused this to happen. I'm thinking fuel line problem.

This has been an unfortunate loss for us. The bus ran perfectly (I thought) and everything worked. It had served us well on many a trouble free trip. We will be sad to let it go if we have to. Please check your fuel lines and hoses regularly. I'm lucky it was me driving and not the wife and kids.

Thank you all for your input over the past year. I will remain on the list however, because I believe in it and will soon replace this bus with another. After 8 VW's this is my first fire, and it hasn't soured me a bit.

TonyD
'87 GL (barbeque style)