I've always been able to tell when someone nearby is camping in a VW
Vanagon...I hear the distinctly Vanagon sound of the slider being closed.

  Has anyone ever found a way to shut the side door of a vanagon quietly?
No problem doing so if you take it slow, from the outside, and push in near
the rear hinge, I know...but from inside, sliding it forcefully ahead seems
to be the only way, and often if you try to minimize the noise of this, it
fails to latch, so you end up making the noise twice.

   I think it's sort of rude, slamming my slider, when someone is camped
close or in a tent..or sitting close by...Early mornings in our winter camp,
I sometimes go into to my van to listen to sat radio news at daybreak...and
when its cold, I want the door closed..."Whirrr whirrr whirr.....boom!"  I
slam it to make the latch work and everyone within a mile on a cold still
daybreak can be assured of hearing that noise.  Then, you have to go back
out for any number of reasons, time after time....Whirrrr....boom!

   Any ideas on how to quiet this process down?

  Don Hanson