Hello from Atlanta-----We own 2-- 81 air cooled vanagons, and we do most if
not all our own repair work.  The reasons for this are:
1.  We like to do this work, do the mental exercise, the planning, the
buying, the satisfaction....  It is worthwhile labor.
2.  We want to keep the cost of vehicle maintenance to within reason and to
get our money's worth on
 a procedure or repair.
3.  Although there must be totally reliable VW repair service somewhere in
the universe, I am tired of making return trips to the shop to have them fix
things that were not properly fixed after I wrote a check and delegated the
authority
to repair my vehicle.......   Hey, wait--- there IS a totally reliable
service facility out there, isn't there???
4.  Male bonding with my 14 and 16 yo sons.  These guys need to know that
putting new CV's on a half axle is better than buying "rebuilt CV's already
installed on a half axle", and they should be able to do this CV
installation.  If the boys only do the CV's one time with me, they will
learn a life lesson (of which the by-product may be to never do CV's
again!). By the way, how does someone "rebuild" a ball bearing CV joint?
5.  Vanagons (air cooleds, anyway) are not that difficult to maintain, and
are much more home-mechanic friendly than newer vehicles that are often
considered throwaways.  Vanagons are attractive and well-built,  and do not
look "dated" if kept neat and clean.

Regards,

Christina and Michael, Austin and Warrick Nichols