Hi Stewart,
Thanks for the response and  honesty,  it is much appreciated.

> For your purposes you really need a Class A motor home with heat, shower
> and toilet, not to mention air conditioning.

No, because I've been there and done that, on our move back home to Iowa
4 years ago. (33' fleetwood)  I sure couldn't get down the curvy and
sometimes steep gravel roads I have to travel.  Not to mention height
problems with trees and low railroad track under passes.

> Westy and be presentable for making sales calls, especially with the
> weather extremes Iowa has.

Well, I don't sell anything  and farmers don't complain about my jeans
or if there happened to be manure on my boots.  (They'd definitely be
wary if I came in a suit)

> a Westy, and you really don't want to get stranded in a blizzard
> somewhere.

You can say that again.  I only travel from early summer to late fall so
that's not a consideration.  Though it will be my full time vehicle too.
 As far as repairs, well my husband has fixed about everything from our
old vanagon, Benz, combines, tractors (Case included)  and semi
trailers.

I'm a determined buyer, to get a Westy.  Just a little cautious about
some little problems that could end up being major hassles.

Here's one I 'm really looking at it is a 1988, but am concerned about
this antifreeze  and transmission leak stuff ...any opinions?

        "The  Van was purchased on  July 3 1992 and it had 64057 km or 39804
mi. on it. I believe it had one previous owner.  It appears to have had
a trip to Florida as there was a repair bill  from a Volkswagen dealer
in Pensacola for an ignition module.
 Here's a brief maintenance history.
 Oct. 1 /93- replaced two exhaust pipes
 June 12/95-replaced two exhaust pipes
 1997�muffler was replaced cant find the bills
 April 15/98..Front brakes were done rotors turned/front calipers freed
up/pads replaced/front bearings repacked
 Oct 14/98�Transmission fluid changed.  differential  gasket changed
transmission leaking but didn�t have it repaired then because of cost.
Tried some sealers but still leaks wee bit.
 July 23/99�.Changed both front power window assemblies account
seized/tailpipe/exhaust pipe/muffler/rear brake shoes & brake cylinder kit
 Aug 6/99 tuned up
 Oct 4/99 changed  water pump. After I had the water pump changed I
noticed it was leaking quite bit of antifreeze(it always had used a bit)
I found a site on the internet(fastforward.ca) that said these things
leak a wee bit from day one and the only cure is to eventually  change
the head gaskets and heads. But they also mentioned Barr sealer
sometimes cures it so I tried that and it worked .
 The general condition of the  body is pretty good the only rust is a
small spot at the bottom of the left rear tail light. There is a small
crack on top of  the front bumper on passenger. There is a small crease
at rear of sliding door.  The gasket on the fibre glass roof  has
separated a bit at the left back side(I had it glued by a auto glass
dealer shortly after I bought and it stayed pretty good(7 or 8yrs). The
tires have about 35000km(22000mi) on them . I replaced them somewhere
around 95000km(59000mi). As far as interior every thing still works
fridge, stove, water pump(at least they did last summer)
> Its fully equipped power windows etc, automatic, cruise control(not working), has air conditioning which I think needs a recharge as was blowing hot air last summer .The two front seats were equipped with arm rests on both sides but the drivers side inside one is missing and the passenger side inner one is hanging limp. Its doesn�t use any oil but as I said earlier the transmission needs a gasket kit as it leaks a bit  and the antifreeze leak is cured for now. It has 131000km(81400mi) on it and I feel its in pretty good shape for a 12 year old vehicle.
>