My wife and I have 3 kids and are being sent to Germany for 3 years.  We 
have seen the vanagan westfalia camper vans and we think that is the way 
to go for us since we like to travel/camp etc.
Lots of questions though.  Thought the new EV would be our answer but I 
have this rule about spending less on vehicles than I do houses.

We need the middle seat due to family size.  What years can accomodate?  
Can we buy a seat elsewhere to fit a van we find and like

I notice some with a rounder front--some more boxy front.  Differences?

How much does an engine rebuild cost?  Transmission?  It seems like a lot 
 of vans we see advertised need this.  What else needs rebuilding often?

Is there a consolidated place on the net to shop?  We're in Monterey CA.

This will be our primary vehicle so it must be reliable.  Any tips on any 
options we must have or should stay away from?

Seems to be a big difference Air Vs. Water cooled?  Is one better?

Anything else I have to know about buying a camper van (Sorry, I don't 
know if there is one name for the camper/van or not?--Westfalia?  
Vanagan?  Synch? etc. etc.)

Any advice about these seemingly wonderful campers would be greatly 
appreciated.  We are very uninformed about this van but are very 
interested.  

Sorry if there is a consolidated faq somewhere but I have looked for a 
while and can't seem to find one.

Thanks for any advice.  E-mail to hunkins@mbay.net

Thad