>   miles.  My previous bus was a '67, so I don't know much about the 
>   vanagons, particularly the diesel engine.  I drove it and it drove ok.  
>   The acceleration on hills was weak, as expected.  They're asking $4900 
>   for it.  My specific questions are how is the performance of the diesel 
>   vs gas engines in the vanagons, and are there any diesel specific things I 
>   should watch out for if I decided to buy, and lastly, how many miles can 
>   one reasonably expect the diesel to go before requiring overhaul?   I 
>   welcome any and all comments/suggestions/tips.

Man!  I didn't know I was that rich!!!  I have an '82 diessel Westy,
now with 109,000 miles on it.  Put in a brand new clucth and battery
1,000 miles ago, in comparable shape, barring a bent rear bumper and
a small dent in the rear hatch.  For that kind of money, I'll sell
it anyday!!!  See if you can get the dealer down to $3K.  Or maybe
$3,500...   Another thing to watch is the head gasket -- those poor
engines work hard, and need new head gaskets every now and then (they
say right around the 100,000 mile mark or so)....

Mine has not needed it yet, I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

Cetin
cs@sypro.com

Two more peculiarities of the diesel westy:  if you live in a cold
enough climate, the heater ends up cooling the engine too much -- 
I used to cover (partially) the front grille the same way truckers
do in the winters out here in PA (now I just don't drive it in cold
weather).
The valves should have been adjusted every 15,000 miles -- they are not
what people call "hydraulic lifter" type (which apparently does not need
adjustments) -- the lack of adjustment would eventually (the dealer says)
result in unevenly worn valves and also lots of diesel smoke out of the
exhaust...

good luck..