I have to agree with Stan on his assessment of the Vanagon for long drives.
At least for my purposes.  I came to that conclusion while 'lurking' before
my purchase.  I envy those who have taken their Westy on long trips to out
of the way places but I've read the horror stories of break downs with parts
availability being nil.  Luckily, being in San Diego County, there are
camp-sites from the mountains to the oceans within 50 miles.  I love my
Vanagon.  We've gone camping in it, picnic-ing, tail-gating, hauled a dryer
and a loveseat (at the same time!) with it and picked up a storage unit from
Home Depot that we never could have hauled with our other cars.  My dogs
love it and my kids love it and my husband likes driving it because the
seats and driving position are comfortable for him.  (He's had 3 back
surgeries)  We're looking forward to taking in a drive-in this summer (give
me some tips for the best positioning) and as soon as the beach heats up a
bit, it will be the beach mobile.  But it's not my daily driver and I would
be constantly on edge if I took it far from home.  It's just not worth it to
me.  There is so much this car can do for me that our other cars can not
that I don't feel badly saying that there are a few things I'd rather not do
in it.

Debra Clark
Santee, California
90 Multivan
clark10006@cox.net