--- "Burdett, Jean-Pierre" <jp.burdett@SPOTWAVE.COM> wrote:
> So how many of you here have experienced roadside
> mechanical problems that required some big work or messed up your
> vacation? How did U handle it? Or are most road trips stress free?

I have never! had a trouble free vanagon trip over 2,000 kms.  BUT! nothing ever breaks twice! I
get each item fixed right/correctly.  When one is faced with a few days of vacation time, any
economy in van repairs is false economy.

On different trips: Water-pump, Wheel bearings, brake calipers, break line, alternator, alternator
belt, numerous coolant leaks, fuel pump, all have "gone south".

With varying degrees of hast, we are ALL rebuilding our vans, one part at a time.  Your 1982 van
is now 25 years old.  To expect it to run flawlessly is, IMHO,  a bit of stretch in confidence.

Many of my BEST van-travel stories start with a 'break-down'.

I carry small, fix it by the side of the road items, and a few tools, but for the big stuff,
there's the BusDepot & FedEx.  I always carry the list of recommended repair shops.

We schedule a day or 2 of down time for each trip, a week, for longer (10,000 kms) trips. How
chose to deal with the situation is the stress, not the situation itself.  Tell your family it is
going to happen:  "we'll just heat some water and have some tea" approach works for us. No need to
get stressed!  Don't get mad or angry, just take a deep breath and experience this part of life.
If you're lucky, there will be another vanagon coming along your road in a few minutes and we are
all OBLIGATED to stop and help each other :-)  I've been helped and I've helped a few folks
myself.

Remember, you could fly to Halifax and buy my 1991 Syncro Westy and start your trip from here!
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=340164   Shameless plug!   :-)

Malcolm (in Halifax)

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