Personally in my travels.....Yes, I have actually had 1 on 1 experience with Ken at VanAgain, he fixed my wonky heater controls.  Similarly, I have met with the fine people at Van Cafe in Fort Collins; they fixed my frozen fan on radiator.  I have also personally visited GoWesty; mostly just was to see the whole thing, but I bought some parts from them, they are very nice.  Once I went to Pennsylvania....I met personally with Rob Salmon at Bus Depot; I bought stuff from him.  I have gone camping to Baja with Mark Drillock, you know his name.  The only fellow I am still waiting to meet:  the esteemed Dennis Haynes.  Well, you know his name too.

    On Friday, February 9, 2024 at 10:56:26 AM PST, Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@sbcglobal.net> wrote:  
 
  It is Friday....so let me tell you guys again.
VW Beetles, they made millions of those. And also the vans.  All around the world, including Mexico and Brazil and South Africa.  It is super easy to get parts, right?
For Vanagon....not so much.
I will reiterate:  if you've got a problem, get it fixed NOW.  Find a mechanic.  This guy will procure parts; if not, you can help him locate with VanAgain, GoWesty, BusDepot, VanCafe in Colorado.  Even RockAuto.  Others exist as well.

Do not have an expensive thing sitting in your driveway or garage.  Get that sucker fixed! Right?
My perspective:  parts procurement and mechanic procurement are going to quickly get dismal in the next short years.  The cool guys are retiring, I have witnessed it myself over and over again here in San Diego; my primary 3 guys retired and closed shop.  The parts guys see that things are drawing to a close....and these will soon vanish.
Basically....if you have an issue with your Vanagon, get it fixed right now.