On Wed, 12 Oct 94 16:57:30 CDT James Lu x3702 said:
>A '83 water-cooled with 113k miles starts showing signs of
>bad headgaskets. It will cost $1,200 to replace the gaskets.
>Besides either selling it or replacing the gaskets, what
>other reasonable option does the owner have?

it depends on how much you like and depend on the car and its roominess/etc.

a fellow in town fixed the exact same problem on his 84 bus by doing it
himself. he got the gaskets (complete set, both sides) for about $200 from
a FLAPS. now, if you checked around for some competent, reputable independent
mechanic (yes, i know how hard they are to fine), you should be able to have
the gaskets replaced for less than $600.

for $1200, i'm assuming you are talking to a dealer. for that price, i would
expect not only new gaskets and labor, but also new heads!! yeah, i probably
wouldn't get them, but i'd expect it. :)

>VW claims that they will not be responsible for this problem
>(even it is a well-known design flaw) for pre-1985 with 80k+ miles
>Vanagons. Does the owner still have any recourse?

for that many miles, i'm afraid that they probably would get away with it
... citing all sorts of 'non-dealer' maintenance. especially if you are not
the original owner. but i would bitch like hell anyway.

joel