On 10/22/05, Steven Johnson <sjohnso2000@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Really? I always thought that the vanagon syndrome
> was a reference to the stalling at highway speed
> which turned out to be the need for the capacitor
> at the AFM terminals... Has the definition changed?

That one is called Vanagon Intermittent Syndrome. The definition of "Vanagon
Syndrome" refers to the owner rather than the vehicle:
"

Vanagon Syndrome isn't a mechanical problem.
Vanagon Syndrome isn't an electrical problem.
Vanagon Syndrome is the last of the near fatal stages of Paranoid
Maintenance Syndrome.
Paranoid Maintenance Syndrome begins simply enough with the purchase of a
Vanagon and quickly escalates into full blown Vanagon Syndrome as the owner
spends untold amounts of money to support an aging Match Box designed
vehicle.
After the purchase of multiple conflicting manuals to perform basic do it
yourself repairs and get acquainted with the beast the next move is to
travel cross country to visit others afflicted with Vanagon Syndrome on long
weekends and holidays.
Those most deserving of our sympathies are the individuals that meet Boston
Bob or other engine rebuilders within the first year of ownership.
There are individuals that have surpassed the purchase price of the original
vehicle with expenditures in parts and services that in some cases triple
their purchase price.
With some vehicles you can say you're "driving a classic", with Vanagons you
just have to deny ownership to everyone that doesn't own one because you
know they won't understand.
To those that have tried to live in their vanagons I just have to remind
them that living like you're homeless is designed specifically for the
homeless and the fact that you can stand 3/4 of the way in a Westy doesn't
greatly modify the fact that you're living in your car."
-Stan Wilder
<http://gerry.vanagon.com/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0506B&L=vanagon&D=0&P=16594>

--
John Bange
'90 Vanagon
"We'd tell a monkey how to peel a banana, if he said he was peeling one in a
Vanagon."