I agree, and for additional reasons other than what you mentioned.
Having a whole bunch of things done just before you leave on a long trip
is as likely asking for trouble as preventing it. Have a knowledgeable
mechanic look at it, sure, and if he spots somethings that should be
done right away then do those.

Mark

pickle vanagon wrote:
> I'm just going to voice a little friendly disagreement.
>
> I think it should not be considered necessary for every vanagon owner to
> replace all of their coolant hoses before driving everywhere.
>
> It is quite expensive to do so.  And do the hoses really fail that often?
> I wouldn't be surprised if head gaskets blow more often than hoses which
> have not been recently disturbed.  And surely we aren't going to tell him
> to do his head gaskets preventively before going anywhere.
>
> For most of us vanagon repairs have to be prioritized.  ......