> What you have to understand about the Vanagon is that they are NOT
> any
> more difficult to work on or diagnose than any other car.  They are
> also
> about the middle of the curve as far as reliability goes in my
> opinion.

i find them a lot EASIER to work on than any japanese car i've ever
worked on.
and easier than any american car or truck since the 1960's.
the only car i ever had that was easier to work on was a 1989 Mercedes
300E 4-door sedan. but it had an engine design that was about 25 years
old, and everthing was big/wide/spacious enough to get fat german
hands at the parts. :)
only thing was, like the vanagon, sometimes you had to peel it like an
onion to at at the part you needed to replace. and there were 'tricks'
involved in somethings, like replacing a bulb in the dash panel. :(

> The biggest problem that they have always had is support.  The VW
> dealer
> mechs don't know these vans and they frankly don't want to know
> them.

exactly! the dealers did NOT want to support them even when they were
brand new.
and i rather think that vw didn't REALLY want to sell them over here.
i can't point to any definite policy or document, but that was the
feeling i got from all the dealers i went to.

possibly because there may have been less dealer markup on the bus, as
opposed to the rabbits and golfs and jettas and such. cause the sales
people alway kept trying to steer me away from the buses and toward
the little cars. :(

unca joel