Cost is certainly a factor. I think time is becoming more of one. I'm usually trying to do my own work. Perhaps it's time to find others to do it for me, but I want to make sure I'm doing it on a vehicle I drive long-term. It won't last long in our family if it's the daily driver for Mom with 3 kids and it's too "quirky", requiring the Wife to do things like fill up the ATF to avoid catastrophic damage. Yes, the quirks are often due to age and/or under-maintaining it for years. I just don't want to get too far down the maintenance rabbit hole before realizing that it's not a good long-term daily driver fit. With what seems to be an ever-shortening 24 hour day, the thought of maintaining a daily driver rather than one for special trips (the westy) gets scary. I guess with 2 I just keep swapping one back into service!

As Scott suggested, the safety switch should be easy. I have to fix a CV, front blower, the exhaust, and some other things before it's road worthy. I'll poke around to see if I can find where the ATF is leaking and, if it's not an easy fix, will think about other options.

Thanks All!

Aaron
'87 Westy
'91 Carat (Probable)
'00 Outback limited (for sale?)

On Mar 6, 2014, at 12:45 PM, SDF ( Scott Daniel Foss ) wrote:
> 
> if such is the thinking..drive something else.
> Vanagons are a passion ..
> incredibly useful and versatile.
> 
> So what is the value of satisfaction for building up a decent one fer
> oneself ?
> Priceless.