Well put Robert.  I've always liked the well thought out simplicity of my
Westy and the fact that I can
still park it in my garage is such a plus.  I can park just about anywhere
and take snooze, cook up a meal/hot drink
all in the comfort of my mini-inn....   Still nothing like it made....

Steven
91 Westy

On Fri, Nov 26, 2010 at 1:30 PM, Robert Stevens <mtbiker62@gmail.com> wrote:

> I was on a 3+ week trip in my van recently and had a  breakdown in N AZ.
> Cost me $270.00 at the shop and $40.00 for the Motel 6.
> Another $400.00 for a major part replacement.
> I had been staying with my brother a few days in N AZ so I called him to
> let him know. He said I should consider selling the van since
> "you seem to have so much trouble with it and spend so much $$ on it."
>
> He and his wife were on a 7 week trip last summer and drove from AZ W to
> the CA coast, up through Oregon and WA, SE through Yellowstone/Salt
> Lake and home in their Calss A (mid-priced), almost always paying for
> campsites (most costing $25-60 nightly), and since they get, at best 6 mpg
> and drove 3800 miles. He paid 3 times in fuel costs alone, as I spent on
> this one trip for emergency road service. I think I'll be staying with my
> current set up for many reasons, the least of which is NOT the very high
> cost of day-to-day, basic operating expense while "tripping". The
> remoteness of the places I can get into, and stay in, is an indispensable
> feature of my van.
>
> (Thanks Larry, for the "shop" reference of TNT Automotive in Kingman,
> AZ-incredible place)
>
> Bob Stevens
> '87 Syncro Westy .... 18mpg ... very few paid campsites, thank you BLM
> On Nov 26, 2010, at 1:17 PM, Matt Thyer wrote:
>
> > Can I get a Hallelujah from the chorus.  You've pegged me brother Loren.
>  Those campers are nice, but the price tag is awfully high.  And that's just
> the capital investment.  They tend to cost way more to maintain and their
> operating expense is extreme.  Another thing to consider, how many of you
> would start hacking on something you paid that much money for to make it
> more your own?  Not I, no way.  Sticking with utility and function over
> flash any day.
> >
>