No, not a tale of woe, but could be a recipe for disaster, not that Vanagons EVER leak
anything :).
If you park your van in a garage with a gas water heater, and haven't replaced it in
the last couple of years, here's some info you might find interesting. For many years,
most building codes required gas water heaters in garages to be elevated on a stand,
at least 18" above the floor, to reduce the possibility of the flame igniting
flammable vapors, say from a leaking gas tank, the theory being that the vapors stay
close to the floor.
About two years ago, new technology was developed, called Flammable Vapor Ignition
Resistance, that prevents a water heater from igniting flammable vapors outside the
combustion chamber, which is now sealed. It's an ANSI standard they all have to meet.
Oh yes, you no longer have to stand on your head with a BBQ lighter to light the
pilot. They have Piezo ignition devices. And if local codes have been updated, they no
longer have to be elevated 18".
Different retail sellers will call it by different names (GE calls it SmartSensor,
Rheem calls it Integra),
but since there are only a couple of manufacturers, they are all pretty much the same.
I will spare you more details, which you can find on-line.

Oh yes, be prepared for "sticker shock"! They are expensive.

Jerry