dear felicia

i spent  three years+  looking ...
was nearly ready to go gas when a beautiful diesel came along
the gas machines i saw were very clean and nice and ran about 10K$ Plus
diesels for a few k$ more ... but all the diesels were clapped out pre 86
...
my unusual 89 westie with a 5 speed diesel
is imported from the old country was 20k$ and i jumped on it ...
after seeing only pictures ...

price is a subjective thing ...
if the machine is amazing ...
then you pay what you pay ...
one person will get a heck of a deal buying from someone who has no idea
what they are selling
another will pay 3 times as much because they have no idea what they are
buying

i have seen many older model westies for more than 10k$ on car lots ...
one was an automatic which i would not touch with a ten foot pole
(for both personal reasons and the dreaded automatic trannny stories)
the other two were well tricked out and clearly well cared for ...
but gas fired engines were not on my list

(many people have said i sure would like to get an old VW like you have ...
thinking in thier minds the original type two romantic idea)
they ask my advice on local stuff for sale (that was for sale while i was
looking)
stare dumb founded when i tell them they should look at spending at least
10K$

here is the rule of thumb i used in my westie prayers
please let me get the most i can in the best shape possible for the most i
can afford ...
with the least requirements for repairs, upgrades or fixes ...

felica ... look at lots on line and in person
there should be lots in your area ...
I often wished i lived in chico as thats where video maker magazine is
hosted from
sigh

and lastly my friend ..
unless you are at least moderately mechanical and willing to do your own oil
changes at the very least ... then a westie that is 20 years old will
quickly become a money sucking liability ...
you may as well get an old wooden boat from someones back yard if you have a
desire to spend more time fixing  than  cruising

and oh yes there is an excellent shop in garden city /boise idaho
eric often lurks on the lists and he is a worker bee there
also met and had scott from oregon help me discover much about my mechanical
advantage
he is someone to learn from (also on this list)

yours

--
roger w
There are two kinds of jobs in the world:
Picking up garbage and telling people things.
Successful people do both, with the same good attitude. (riw)
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View the growing list of video work at:
http://revver.com/find/video/?query=LastonLastof&search_on=owners
and ... older work at
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7135104650374818257
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3259745150182742364