These vehicles are old, sometimes "driven hard, put away wet", (not
maintained) and
well intended owners can make repair mistakes or worse, come up
with some kind of cheap or "buck she" repair or part. ("lets just
remove the thermostat").
I think the above are a bigger part of what
causes "quirks". e.g. comparing same models years, a wiring harness on a
Vanagon driven properly, in little to no road salt (haha), was well maintained,
never overheated or constantly run too hot with a compromised cooling
system, will provide
less intermittent faults that a harness in a Vanagon where the owner
has done the opposite.
Add to that, the odometer failures (due to poor quality parts or
design, I think), and that bus
with 200K miles could easily have way more miles thus have more quirks.

Not trying to be negative, just an opinion. I don't think these
vehicles are "quirky" by
nature or initial design. But then I must be biased. I own 2 Westies !      ;^)

Neil.

On 8/27/16, pcking <pc.king@comcast.net> wrote:

> VWs have always had unique quirks and maintenance issues. (valve
> adjustment,
> no oil filter, steering box, CV joints) Is that what you are talking about
> when you refer to problems? Or is there a more serious issue, i.e. engine
> and transmission design flaws?

--
Neil n

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