Dave,
If you are going to be in San Francisco, you are in luck!
If you've got the time to shop around, you're bound to find
something good; expect to pay top dollar this season of year,
however.  Around CA, prices drop about 50% if you buy
October thru March.

Do you seek a Westfalia or Vanagon?  If you're interested
in a good, clean Westy I can give you the name of the guy I bought mine
from.  He's a good, honest, guy--& normally has
a nice selection of Westys on his little lot.  His name is Marty Hoch & he's
listed as Hoch Motors, Santa Rosa.
Tell him I referred you.
Just let me know, otherwise you have the resources of the list
&, in the Bay Area, the newspapers.
Good luck!

Phaedra
'85 Westy

----- Original Message -----
From: k1cajun <k1cajun@PIPELINE.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2001 5:44 AM
Subject: seeking advice about long-distance Vanagon buying

> Hi, I've been off-list for about 9 months.  Went on vacation and
> delayed going on-list, was automatically unsubscribed, moved
> 1000 miles, and delayed going on-list until I was ready for the
> onslaught of list messages.  OK, let 'em rip!
>
> I'm looking for another Vanagon for my wife (she asked).  I missed
> out by a month on a couple of good candidates in my area (they're
> still listed on one e-classified).  So I have to widen my search area.
>  Some potentials show up in other states (mostly CA, CO, and
> WA), but I would have to fly and drive or ship back.
>
> What I wonder is if anyone has good experiences with the process.
>  Has anyone ever bought one sight-unseen and shipped it ?  Any
> dealers have a good enough reputation for this ?  Any with a bad
> rep ?  If you want to reply off-list about a dealer, feel free.
>
> I will be vacationing in San Francisco at the end of this month, so I
> will definitely plan to look around while I'm there.
>
> Thanks for any advice,
> Dave L.