I have NEVER figured out why mechanics are so reticent to work on
Vanagons--even at the VW dealer.  This vehicle is about as simple as they
come these days.  Sure the cooling system might look a bit frightening at
first--but in reality it's actually quite simple as well.

What scares the hell out of me when I try to work on my VR6 Passat.  Truly,
the Vanagon is a model of simplicity compared to that.

Donald Baxter
Iowa City, Iowa

----- Original Message -----
From: "Leon" <korkwood@WSHOST.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, August 15, 2003 11:16 AM
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