Hi,
		I'm writing to you a little discouraged. After
	having brought my Westy to Switzerland from Canada with
	high hopes of touring Europe in the next few years, I
	find out that Switzerland has ridiculously high standards
	for having a car on the road, and that the total of
	the necessary repairs on the van (like changing the
	windshield because of a tiny star that's been there 3
	years) may be more than the vehicle is worth..

		Nevertheless, I don't have to register it in 
	Switzerland for another 2 months and I have friends coming
	to visit from Canada, .. and my brakes are shot. The mechanic
	explained to me that the problem is with the front brakes.
	The "things" that squeeze the brake pads onto the disks
	apparently block in a closed position causing the brakes
	to get very hot and to loose braking action. He recommended
	that I change these myself because it would cost way too
	much for him to do it (like $1000).

Darie, I really hope you don't have to give up your Westy. Coming from
Canada the high costs of owning/using a car in Europe must have been
a big chock. Perhaps some of these tips can be useful:

Consider taking you car to a more inexpensive country for repairs.
This may sound strange to someone coming from America, but the countries
in Europe are small, and the costs vary quite a bit. Switzerland
has always been a very high cost country. VW repairs (at least aircooled)
used to be much cheaper in Germany. In fact adventerous students used 
to buy cheap busses in need of repair, drive them to Germany, fix them,
have some vacation, and come back with a better bus. This trick may not
work with Germany anymore, but with the fall of the iron curtain other
possibilities have opened up. 

Another way of saving money is to keep you car registered somewhere
else. This only works for foreigners (For example I am a Swedish citizen
so I can't legally do it in Sweden). This trick used to be particularly 
popular among Norwegians studying abroad. Car prices in Norway are extremely
high, even by European standards. The students would buy and register
a car where it was the cheapest, use it in the country where they
were studying without having to pay duties or taxes. (After owning the
car for at least one year, as an extra bonus, they were also allowed to
bring it to Norway and sell it for a profit without paying duties).

Perhaps the best alternative for you is to just renew your Canadian
registration (provided that is ok with the Canadians). Let us know
how it goes.

/Martin (with an '82 Westy, who also wants to go back to Europe when
	I move back)

PS: Maybe you remember my post about Westy exchanges between Europe and
America. I found some other people with similar ideas (on rec.travel...), 
and we are trying to figure out how exchanges like this can
be arranged. More about this later. Nobody in Europe has responded though, 
and with only one week left before I'm going I think I'll buy a Eurail 
pass instead. This will also allow me to travel much farther. (And I
always liked the idea of going to bed in one country, and then wake
up already at my destination the next morning.)

Any tips on fun things to do (both VW related and not) are appreciated.
I fly in to London, and plan to travel through France, visit the
region around Grenoble-Genova. Travel back north visiting Germany,
Holland and Sweden and finally fly back from Copenhagen, Denmark.