Hi, I've just joined the group for reasons which'll very soon be obvious ;-)
My wife and I are seriously considering the purchase of a neighbor's 1981
Vanagon L-based Adventurewagen, with just over 103,000 miles on it. It's
white, and cosmetically in what I'd call near-excellent condition. New
clutch 9,000 miles ago, engine rebuild 7,000 miles ago, brand new tires. The
gas gauge currently doesn't work, there's a hole in the windshield wiper
fluid reservoir, and the vent in the roof doesn't seem to want to open, but
everything else appears to be fully functional. Our neighbor is asking
$4,000; I'm wondering if this is a reasonable price, and if not what you'd
recommend we offer.

In searching for someone to inspect it, I got some disturbing feedback this
morning from Frank's Automotive, a local foreign vehicle repair shop. The
manager pretty strongly warned me against purchasing an '81 model, due to
its aircooled, underpowered nature. He said that driving it in the midst of
a hot California summer, and especially in the inclines leading up to Lake
Tahoe, etc very quickly burns out the engines. He pointed me to '83 models,
which he says were the first year that water cooling appeared, or better yet
an '86 or newer model, which has a more powerful engine. Thoughts? And while
I'm at it, one other thing I'm wondering about....due both to the vehicle's
height, its underpoweredness and its high center of gravity, how scary is it
to drive in a crosswind? A friend with a Westfalia (popup top) had this
concern.

Thanks in advance!
==============================
Brian Dipert
Technical Editor: Mass Storage, Memory, Multimedia, PC Core Logic and
Peripherals, and Programmable Logic
EDN Magazine: http://www.edn.com
5000 V Street
Sacramento, CA   95817
(916) 454-5242 (voice), (617) 558-4470 (fax)
mailto:bdipert@edn.com
Visit me at http://www.bdipert.com