If the person borrowing the van for a test drive was a prospective buyer of
it then he should be sued in small claims court for  his irresponsible and
ignorant behavior. He should be the one to pay for his mistake. So, what are
you going to do about it Scott?

William Polowniak
1989 Vanagon GL
1988 Mercedes 300 SE

----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian Cochran" <rangerbrian@HOTMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, February 18, 2002 10:52 AM
Subject: Re: Gas in Oil fill

> Actually, the oil dipstick (at least on US models) runs through a tube to
> the left of the oil fill pipe.  So, reasons #2 thru #4 below don't work.
> The other reasons could be that one would have to continue to to hold the
> filler nozzle, since there isn't a tight fitting hole.
>
> Some people are just baffled but "the way things work".  There are all
sorts
> of stories reveal the ignorance of vehicle owners.  The focus should be on
> the owner lending his Vanagon to someone like this.  I would just turn
> anyone loose on a vanagon without some sort of briefing.  The vanagon
isn't
> the ordinary style car.  If I lend mine out, I'm going to give all if its
> quirky details to the borrower.
> brian
> 84 westy
> seattle
>
> tobin wrote:
>
> Okay, I gotta ask: how could anyone *possibly* do this?  We hear
> about this happening from time to time on the list, and it blows me
> away every time.  I just don't get it.
>
> I mean, picture it: Someone is used to American cars with the
> gasoline fill tube behind the license plate, so pulls back the plate
> and finds a tube with a cap on it there and starts to go at it
> thinking it's where the gas goes.  Okay, I can follow it to that
> point.  BUT:
>
> 1) The "gas cap" is marked "oil" (although it may not be legible if
> it's really dirty);
> 2) It's got an OIL DIP STICK right through the centre of the cap (the
> one marked "oil," remember?)
> 3) The dip stick has to be pulled out before the cap can be unscrewed
> (unless they demonstrate impressive dexterity);
> 4) The dip stick will have OIL on it.
>
>
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