At 10:04 AM 4/4/03 -0500, you wrote:
>greetings all~ im hoping to find a westy/vanagon/any camper , in good
>condition to buy. i know its gonna be real hard to find one in good
>condition for hat amount of $$ (less then $1500) but i figure its
>worth a try. im driving from pa to washington state and back this
>summer and need a reliable car to live in that will get me back and
>still be alive and well.
>any suggestions?

I really don't think you'll find one in any sort of condition to trust for
that trip at that price.  A running vanagon loaded up with rust fetches
over $1000, and the camper packages add $2000 to $3000 to that. Your best
bet would be to buy one for around $5-6000 do the trip and then try to sell
it for the same price.
Forcing a $1500 vanagon to make that trip before you know what to expect
from it is setting yourself up for a disastrous summer. I'm not trying to
lay a cloud of gloom on you, but I think you'll be making a mistake setting
yourself up like that.