Leon, I like the saying  " it is Not an Honda Civic"   Cool...I work on
Hondas for the laast 30 years and just bought a 1986 Wesy..
Roberto.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Leon" <korkwood@WSHOST.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, August 15, 2003 12:16 PM
Subject: Re: Cost of Ownership

> Good assessment!
> There is one more factor that plays major role in how much people
> spend to keep their Vanagons running.
> Competence(or rather incompetence)of mechanic.
> In many cases not doing anything works a lot better as there is little
> chance mechanic can screw up anything if he is not working on Vanagon.
> There are soooooooo few good Vanagon mechanics around that chances of
> running into bad one are pretty high. They either don't do any work
> and charge you or do very sloppy job and charge a lot.
> Lots of "newbies" end up wasting lots of dough and still end up stranded
> in the middle of nowhere. Archives are full of those stories.
> The ONLY way to keep Vanagon running is... to learn as much as possible
> about it and read manual and do regular maintenance yourself.
> Go under and check leaks etc. Check boots etc. Lube if needed.
> Replace fluids etc etc.
> It's not Honda Civic. Leon
> 85 Subwagen Westy
>
> On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 22:42:47 -0500, Conrad Klahn <conradk@MAC.COM> wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > So I wanted to wait until Friday to chime in on this, as I have always
> > found this an interesting topic. I couldn't wait another hour or two as
> > I feel the prose now.
> >
> > I have driven cars into the dirt - spending very little on upkeep along
> > the away. What was the car worth after doing so? Very little. As a
> > mechanic once told me about a Honda Civic I had brought in for repair,
> > "This is a $2000 Honda. It's going to cost you $2000 to fix it. And it
> > will be worth about $2000 when you are done." I took that to mean that
> > it was worth absolutely nothing as I had brought it in - probably
> > fairly close to the truth.
> >
> > I didn't care a lot about that Civic and never really did intend on
> > keeping it for a long period of time. The Vanagon is a different story
> > though - as I'd like to keep it for a long while.
> >
> > I pulled out the Vanagon's gas tank last weekend, and will be putting
> > it back in this weekend. What I found was brittle fuel lines, cracked
> > vapor lines and marginal seals. I probably could have ignored this and
> > spent nothing to repair it. (The previous owners obviously ignored
> > this.) I went ahead and spent the money to take care of it though -
> > because I want the Vanagon to be worth something in the future. While I
> > am at it, I am replacing the high-pressure fuel lines and injector
> > seals. [Please follow Stan's advice and take a look at your lines this
> > weekend.]
> >
> > I knew the tires on the Vanagon were marginal when I bought it - the
> > sidewalls are now cracked after having spent a couple of months in the
> > Texas heat. How long will they last? Yes I could probably get another x
> > miles on them, but why push it? I am getting new wheels/tires before
> > going on any trip over 5 miles away - cost of about $600 but worth it.
> >
> > I've also learned my lesson on using the wrong oil filter and oil. I
> > wish I had known to put in a Mann+20w50 before driving 1400 miles
> > (after buying the Vanagon in Chicago) + 1200 on various camping trips.
> > Cost of ownership includes the price of ignorance and stupidity
> > sometimes as well. The 1.9's mains are toast and that $135 2.1 I bought
> > is going in next weekend.
> >
> > I believe the people who have spent money on their Vanagons are more
> > likely to have very well maintained and cared for vehicles. I applaud
> > this. It is possible that some of us who have spent very little have
> > the same situation, but I bet if you took the same person who has spent
> > a great deal of money on theirs to look over ours, they'd find
> > something to fix.
> >
> > In my opinion, cost of ownership is paid for now or later - you put
> > money into it now, or assume that it won't be worth anything when
> > you're done. My difficulty has always been focusing on the "need to"
> > items - but hopefully I am turning a corner now. The front suspension
> > is #3 on the "to do" list.
> >
> > Conrad
> >
> >
>
>
>
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