John,

I had a '97 Astro van in between Vanagons.  It's built like a truck and has
good power.  The transmission went out for no apparent reason one nice
summer day.  Fortunately the wife insisted on the 100,000 mile warranty.  It
was replaced under the warranty or it would have set me back a couple of
thousand dollars.

Things I didn't like about the Astro were:

    The lack of room for your feet.  This is a big difference compared to a
Vanagon.

    The front seats were not nearly as comfortable as the Vanagon on long
road trips.  I really felt worn out after about 6 hours.

    It rattled a lot.

After daughter #1 totaled it I bought another Vanagon.

Mike Ayers
'88 Westy

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Rodgers" <jh_rodgers@BELLSOUTH.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2004 9:45 AM
Subject: Vanagon vs Alternative Vehicles

> I think about this once in a while, and just don't see anything out
> there that is really a good replacement when my Vanagon gets to the
> point it is no longer economically feasible to keep it going. I simply
> don't like the Eurovan, the Chrysler products are not sized for my needs
> nor offer the unility I need, and the only other machine I have seen
> that might possibly fit the bill is the Astro Van or a variant of it
> .......Safari, etc. I have no knowledge of any of them, and just
> wondered what thoughts The List has about alternatives for the Vanagon.
>
> Regards,
>
> John Rodgers
> 88 GL Driver