Joy writes:
I can't go elsewhere for a new inspection, because my van now has a
sticker on it showing that I already took it to the first place.

Jeff replies:
Repair the headlight with that glass repair crap, remove the sticker and
take it to another place...play dumb....get chummy with the
inspector...show some cleavage...smile a lot...and if it doesn't work at
the second place, try again or just forget about it if you have current
plates and drive on!

I suspect you are a problem solver...same applies to vanagon
ownership...a constant problem solving challenge....keeps us on our toes
and in game.  The archives are full of many successful road trips as
well as failures but the one thing I've read since joining some 6 years
ago is that a majority prevail and even the silly ones can keep a van
alive.  Apply your problem solving skills to the van and you will relish
in trial and tribulation.  Get a Bentley, some metric hand tools, a
hydraulic jack-in-a-box and read, read, read.  You will find things in
that book that will peak your interest to the point of investigation.
You may even solve a problem before it presents and THAT is what makes
us smile when we turn the key for that next drive.  What you lack in
mechanical skills (they will develop more every time you pick up a
wrench) you make up for in persistence.  If you decide to go prius, we
wish you well and hope to read of your continuing journeys.  If you stay
VW, many here will help with your questions.  The journey doesn't have
to be a series of breakdowns...but it should contain time allotment for
the forgotten maintenance issues most vans suffer.  My best roadtrip was
in a '69 transporter with 2 friends over 1200 miles to the beach and
back....we were 19 and not the best mechanics.  We pushed that built
1835 air cooled 80mph through the texas heat until it died in
Waxahachie.  The next 3 days introduced us to a fine family whose father
aided us with #3 piston and rod replacement.  We traded Mexican goods
previously acquired for room and board in the top of a breezy hay loft.
We swapped stories between beers and wrenching and the old man gave us
some valuable mechanical lessons that I never forgot.  The point is that
even adversity can bring something pleasant.  That trip was 20 years ago
and when my friends and I gather for annual summer parties, that old man
becomes a hero again.

ps...the van did get us home but not without cleaning the webber carb
several times which we learned in situ.

JB