While I have never owned the concurrently to compare, I have owned and
driven many miles in some splitties, a bay and several vanagons. The
vanagon is undoubtedly the best with the exception of one thing: the
bay is more ice and mud-friendly than either of the others.

The vanagon will haul plywood without tearing up the back hatch opening.

Jim

On Thu, Aug 26, 2010 at 10:10 AM, J Stewart <fonman4277@comcast.net> wrote:
> I was one for a while back in 2007, had a '75 Westy and an '84 Westy that I put a 2.1 into. When it came time to decide which one had to go, no contest. Power, comfort, safety and H-E-A-T won out. Plus I got a really sweet price for the '75-it was yellow and I think the popularity of "Little Miss Sunshine" helped it sell.
>
>
>
> Jeff Stewart
>
>
> ----- "Peter T. Owsianowski" <pnoceanwesty@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
>
> Interesting. �How many "Bus" pilots have both Bay and Vanagon, do you think,
> Greg? � Is Bay/ Vanagon less common than say, Splittie / Bay �- which would
> keep one entirely in the Air-Cooled world.
>
>
> Pete
> '79 Westy "Aardvark"
> '87 Westy "JoesVan"
> WWW.Busesbythebeach.com
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 26, 2010 at 10:21 AM, Greg Potts <greg@pottsfamily.ca> wrote:
>
>> Hi Paul,
>>
>> Dunno if I am becoming less of a bus guy really, but I certainly am
>> becoming more of a Vanagon guy. Which is awkward to admit since there's a
>> current thread on another list that is debating the use of the term "bus"
>> to describe a Vanagon.
>>
>> I now have logged 50,000 miles of daily driving on my 87 Wolfsburg since I
>> bought it in April 2008. Camping trips, groceries, hauling lumber and
>> firewood, beach trips and sign equipment service work year round in
>> downtown Toronto, Kingston, Windsor, London, and Barrie.
>>
>> Pretty much ALL of the typical component failures that are common to
>> vanagons have occurred to my 87 since I bought it... Odometer, headlight
>> switch, transmission, tires, shift linkage, fuel injection, exhaust
>> issues, leaky heads, thermostat housing failure... I could go on but you
>> get the picture. �Getting on top of these things sometimes seems like a
>> never-ending process but eventually the frequency does fall. There are
>> still about 2-3 little details to take care of on the 87 (horn, reverse
>> lights, alternator swap) but none of them are critical at the moment so I
>> will get to them in a while.
>>
>> It's a durable and versatile platform that's a good fit for my lifestyle.
>>
>> The baywindow? Well, I still enjoy it; it's also quite versatile and
>> durable. After driving the vanagon I tend to notice that the bay is a good
>> bit smaller and the suspension is a bit more primitive. I also miss the
>> heater come fall/winter. Colleen has been commuting with it for the past
>> month or so; I drove it 800 miles to High Country Bus Festival back in
>> July. Eventually I plan to convert it to watercooled inline 4 in order to
>> make a bit more reliable power to attack the hills with, but for the time
>> being the 1.7L 411 motor I have in it seems to be doing OK.
>>
>>
>> Happy Trails,
>>
>> Greg Potts
>> www.pottsfamily.ca
>> WWW.BUSESOFTHECORN.CA � <--- NEW .CA DOMAIN!!!
>> 1988 Wolfsburg Weekender hardtop Vanagon
>> 1987 Wolfsburg Weekender hardtop Vanagon
>> 1973 Westfakia "Bob the Tomato"
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> > Hey Gregg, it looks like you are becoming less of a bus guy and more of a
>> > Vanagon guy...how does it feel??
>> >
>> > It's ok to share your feelings...
>> >
>> > I used to be a bus guy...now I kinda hate driving busses...even though I
>> > still think they look cooler...
>> >
>> > :)
>> >
>>
>