$100.00 per year ( + - ) a hundred or so sounds appropriate.  In addition to
really enjoying my 84 Westy purchased in 1996 w/11k miles on the odometer,
I've always believe that if I can get away from $250.00 - $300.00 per month
car payments + insurance and maintenance costs, I'm ahead of the game.

Sam Conant
----- Original Message -----
From: "Geza Polony" <gezapolony@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 12:25 PM
Subject: Re: The cost of VW Waterboxer ownership - a 15 year summary

> Good information here! So it works out to a bit more than $100 a month
> over
> the long haul, with everything done by mechanics.
>
> Some of your expenses were for installation of optional items, like
> wheels,
> too, so in a way you could subtract that from maintenance costs.
>
> Disappointing that the AMC heads lasted only 60K miles. It looks like that
> was the biggest single repair item of all.
>
> The costs would have been way down, of course, if you had DIY'ed the whole
> way along. Things like replacing your alternator ($230) could have been
> done
> for much less.
>
> It's always hard to figure out how much a vehicle really costs, especially
> in comparison with another. I bought my Westy at 22 years old for a bit
> under $2000, and even though like all of us I'm eating it on the gas, I
> feel
> it's cheap to run based on lower insurance rates, low registration fees,
> no
> depreciation (in fact, appreciation, depending on the van), savings on
> meals
> and motels while travelling, and the like. But how you gonna figure all
> that
> out?
>
> I would bet that someone who bought a good '91 Syncro Westy in 2000 (for
> $15K?) and sold it today (for $25K?) would have NO cost of ownership
> whatever if they DIY'ed the repairs.
>
> Thanks for the post.
>
> Geza