> All vehicles are for sale for only one reason. Their current owners no
> longer want them. The trick is to find out why.

Yes, but that does Not nessesarilly mean that there is something Wrong with it !!!
In my back yard I have several Vanagons.
One I'm working on & one I drive. (& one or two for parts ) ETC...
I Always put a Lot of Money into All of them !!!
( Not just the one I'm "working on" )
First of all, I need a Dependable Driver.
& All Vanagons Need about 6k just to get them To That Condition !!!
When I finally do Sell one
It's Usally because I just need the bucks to put into another one.
Take my 90 Westy.
Paid around 12K for it.
Invested  Over Another 6K in Parts Alone !!!!
Go Westy Wheels & Tires Alone are $1200.00 After Shipping !!!
And I havent Even put a 2.2 into her yet !!!???!!! WTF ????
Sure I get offers of "under 12,000.00 for it all day long???
This is No Longer a Poor Mans Game !!! ??? !!!
YMMV
JC...

-------------- Original message --------------
From: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>

> All vehicles are for sale for only one reason. Their current owners no
> longer want them. The trick is to find out why. Even those for sale at
> dealer or other resellers were acquired because they were no longer
> wanted. So now there is a profit factor required there. $12,000 will make
> a very good down payment. Even if nothing is obviously needed now, one
> needs to set aside money for the day it is needed.
>
> Dennis
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> Miguel Pacheco
> Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2008 2:42 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Looking for Westfalia
>
> 'something that needs almost nothing except small detail stuff. Don't want
> to spend more than 12,000 if possible.'
> I think you will find plenty of sellers who will tell you theirs fit your
> criteria, but none will. Regardless of the price, you would have to have
> this thing scrutinized heavily and guess what, there are no guarantees
> when
> you purchase a 20 year old vehicle. Especially one that is not reputedly
> very reliable (though I've had remarkable luck.)
> This brings up an interesting question (to me anyway,) and that is, is
> there
> such a thing as a 'Vanagon Pre-Purchase Checklist.' This would,
> preferably,
> come from this forum, and would include all the usual suspects, such as
> Vanagon Syncrome, seam rust warnings, etc., plus other items, not
> necessarily Vanagon specific, etc. and so on........is there such a thing?
>
> Miguel