I have to agree with you there, David.
  I've owned 2 Air-cooled and 3 WBX Vanagons in the past 17 years or so, and have had very reliable operation.  I've personally experienced NO "poor-design"- related failures of a single part or system on any of them.  Just "poor-maintenance"-related failures in every case of a problem.  That goes for any vehicle, nothing exclusive to Vanagons there.  Some folks like to run around yelling that the sky is falling, I still form my own opinions about everything.
  I have a '03 Toyota Rav4 AWD that my wife bought new.  It's been reliable, and I've done all the maintence properly, but now when it needs anything, it's often a HUGE expense; as in it would 'total' the car, if I left it in the dealer's clutches.
  I recently had a check-engine light cause me annual inspection failure.  It was a Bank 2, Sensor 1 air-fuel sensor heating circuit failure code P1155.  I ordered a universal O2 sensor and borrowed a sensor replacemnet tool kit from Autozone and spliced it into the factory pigtail.  It would not clear the code and a new code was added to the list; P1150 (B2,S1 A/F sensor failure).  The universal sensor was not truly universal, and I needed a genuine sensor from the dealer; they wanted about $500 for it.  There's 4 of these in the car, 2 upper A/F's and 2 lower O2's; the dealer quoted me $7000 for the job.  They said that includes the entire exhaust manifold including both cats and the 4 sensors with gaskets, hardware and labor.  Just in case they couldn't get the sensor out due to corrosion.
  I wouldn't have let them have the job, if they were the last mechanics on earth!  I do all my own work, including engine overhauls, and I bet I can find a way to do the job for less than $7000 bucks!
  I ordered the proper A/F sensor from Autozone for about $200 (still not cheap!) and bought an O2 socket from HF for about $5.  I replaced it (easily!), cleared the code and passed inspection.  Those crooks would have said that they "couldn't get it out" just to rape me for the $7000! 
 Next up; rear diff starting to whine; I wonder how much that'll cost?  Any guesses?  Aprroximately the cost of a nice late-model Syncro, I'd guess.

Mike B.
  

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: David Kao 
  To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM 
  Sent: Monday, September 07, 2009 4:21 AM
  Subject: Re: vanagon difficulty

  Comparing to a 2001 Passat that I currently own in my opinion the Passat
  is a far more difficult vehicle to own despite that it is only 8 years
  old. The first time when the check engine light came on I could never
  solve it myself. Eventually it was fixed by a dealer under warranty
  by reprogramming the ECU. That's something I will never be able to do
  myself. That was almost 5 years ago. It just got a smog check yesterday
  and it passed thanks god.

  I know next time when the check engine light comes one again either
  it will break my bank or I have to give it up. I was told it would cost
  me $3k to replace both catalytic converters. The market of a used 2001
  Passat is no more than $5k. I can not imagine how in the world I have
  kept my Vanagon for 25 years. The only answer to this is there is no
  such a thing as Vanagon difficulty for the 25 years passed. My total
  cost of owning it for 25 years excluding oil and gas is less than $1k
  per year. So to me there is really no such a thing as Vanagon difficulty.

  I remember been warned by someone that the wasser boxer engine is
  so unreliable that a trip to Yosemite will break it. Well, In the past
  several years I have driven my Vanagon to Yosemite something like 5 times
  a year. I am totally confident that the engine is in fact incredibly
  rugged and reliable.

  David