Unless you are lucky, a Vanagon for $3,500 will probably have that
$3,500 become a down payment. You will then start to take care of
neglect, use, abuse, etc. If you are not planning to do your own work,
do a lot of research before even looking. The engine and transmission is
only a small part of the total cost of ownership. All the support
systems wear out as well. Consider how reliable you need it to be and
how far/often you need to travel. Vehicles depreciate because at some
point it makes economic sense to replace them.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
Of kip martin
Sent: Friday, September 03, 2004 4:11 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: ISO camper

Hi all

i have decided to purchase a camper.

my plans are to find a vehicle that will reliably allow me to travel to
and
from several weekend bluegrass festivals each summer, no further than
600
miles away. i prefer a hookup for a sink and power, and air conditioning
would be nice. two people, a couple instruments, and light baggage will
be
the maximum load.

i have three questions:

1.) how much should i expect to pay for a RELIABLE vehicle--will $3500
do
it?
2.) what should i look for in terms of reliability (models, years,
features,
etc to avoid?), and
3.) where is the best place to look for such a vehicle--CA is not out of
the
question.

thanks for ANY help you can offer. i am ignorant in the ways of the VW
vanagon camper!

thanks

kip