It's possible he has a thermostat that's not closing all the way when
cold.

I find that in my GL I get heat pretty quickly out of the rear heater,
the front takes a few minutes longer.

I do get what I'd call "adequate" heat long before the temperature gauge
has moved a lot, though.

Allan
--
1991 Vanagon GL

David Milo <dellaone@GMAIL.COM> writes:

> First of all, the Vanagon has a heck of a lot more coolant to heat up;
> longer hose runs to the heater, etc., plus more "natural" heat
> exchanging to ambient going on through those longer hoses compared to
> your wife's car.
>
> Both engines probably heat up at nearly the same rate though.
>
> Dave