Lucien,

Welcome to the club (or at least the wannabe club).  I'm (we're) on our
third Westy; started with a '72, traded that for an '80, were 'un-Westy'
for a while and finally realized the error of our ways about 5 months ago
and found an '88 Westy which we are very happy with.

As far as a response to your question about whether there is anything wrong
with an '87 Westy... Not as far as I know.  All of the water cooled
Vanagons have a challenging cooling system and I guess the older that they
get, the more challenging they 'can be'.  Personally, I like tinkering with
the van; I leave the difficult stuff to a dealer or someone else who I
trust.

Will an 10 year old vehicle be trouble free? probably NOT!  I guess you
have to decide whether you want the 'status' that goes with having one and
value the freedom and options that it can give.  I suspect that there are
few Vanagon list members who don't have a Bentley's manual.  If you are
really new to your quest, the Bentley Manual is the 'Official VW Service
Manual and is about an inch and a half thick and cost ~$75 bucks.  This is
the 'Bible' if you will of those who 'keep the flame' and the Vanagons
going.  With one of these, you can at least identify various parts on your
vehicle.  Maybe one of these days there will be an audio section to let
your hear audibly, what various good and bad behavior sounds like.

This Vanagon list is a great resource for immediate help with questions and
the archives provide a kind or long term collection of wisdom of people who
are maintaining their unique vehicles.  One of my points of view is that
there are a lot of people who have no significant problems with their
Vanagons and are just 'lurkers' on the list.  Fortunately, I am one of
these most of the time.  (Perhaps my time will come.)

If you are new to Vanagons and VWs, I would recommend finding a competent
mechanic or trusted resource to guide you in your acquisition.

Good luck and let us hear from you again.

John Graham
'88 Westy
Charlotte NC