Bought my 81 air cooled in 1989 with 97K on it. Its now over 200K and the
only repairs of consequence have been caused by those stupid oil plugs.
The one over the clutch area pushed out and the result was a new clutch
and a big bill, the other was a big bill to have the remaining plugs
removed, tapped, glued, taped, and welded in so it would stop leaking all
over the place.  :-)

Oh, I had the exhaust system replaced as well, come to think of it as it
had a few pin holes

However, I don't expect my Ford Taurus to make it to 200k even tho I take
good care of it as well. I don't think its a vanagon thing, I think its a
high mileage deal and the average vehicle is never gonna see the high side
of 200K without some major $$$

The truth is, if the motor falls out of my van, I will pay to put a new
one in before I will drop $22K or more for a new vehicle that can do what
the vanagon can do. Its just good economical sense to invest in what you
have if you want to keep it. I don't think vanagons are any more costly
than anything else, we just see the 'bad' stuff here in the group, and
hardly ever hear of all the good running vans.

John