My wife would have to disagree but...
She doesn't understand the difference or similarities of the cost of
maintaining a used vehicle vs. making payments on a new one. The average car
costs what, $150-250/mo+ to buy new, depending on how many thousands you put
down. Yet try to justify spending $1000 per year to maintain a Vanagon. Once
you stop making payments on that new car, it's a long time out of Warranty
and you'll be spending bucks on it too. I think, if anyone applied
preventative maintenance with a religious effort, any vehicle would last
decades longer than they do.
The fact that Vanagons last as long as they do, I think, speaks well of the
owners.

-Steven Dodson
Kneeland, CA
"Inga" the 87 Syncro

From original message:

It never ceases to amaze me at how well these vehicles hold up.  How =
many 18 year old anythings do you see on the road around you?  Even with =
over 130,000+ miles on the broken odometer, they just keep on going.  =
And for some reason, they keep us wanting to keep them going!  Yes, they =
break down once in a while and get cranky now and then, but we just =
chalk it up to old age and wear, fix the problem, and keep on going!  =