Thanks to everyone for your quick responses. All the suggestions I received
were very helpful. I have a bead on a Restored '80 Westy in Cincinnati that
my wife and I will check out this weekend. Too bad. We were looking forward
to the California trip with a lazy return in our "new" Westy through the
Grand Canyon and Southwest. If this lead doesn't work out I may be
contacting some of you.

B^)

TO SUMMARIZE:

QUESTION:
---------
At 2:45 PM -0500 7/7/98, Chris R. Rowland wrote:
>Listmembers,
>
>My wife and I would like to purchase a VW Westfalia Camper. I have found
>though that pickings in the Midwest are slim or of rotten fruit (tr.
>rusty). I have checked many of the resources (used car classifieds on the
>web) and found a plethora of veedubs on the west coast. Do any listmembers
>have experience purchasing long distance. What do you do to protect
>yourself against frauds and lemons?

RESPONSES:
----------
At 4:45 PM -0500 7/7/98, marcus wrote:
>Chris, give Jerry a call Nevada  702-323-4943.

At 2:48 PM -0500 7/7/98, Joel Walker wrote:
>1. buy from someone on the list. and ...
>2. get someone on the list to go look at it. true, it's only someone else's
>   opinion, but it's better than a phone conversation!! and it saved me a
>   long trip out west. :(
>
>if you have any military bases around, check their little local sales
>papers and want ads fliers and such. sometimes, families decide to NOT
>take their cars with them when they get transferred overseas. and you can
>pick up a pretty good deal for a reasonable price.
>
>p.s. do you know about www.traderonline.com??
>and www.recycler.com??
___________________________________________________________________________

At 8:09 PM -0500 7/7/98, Malcolm Stebbins wrote:
>I'd offer a REFUNDABLE deposit to hold the van, then
>
>Talk to the seller for a while and get a sence of 'what they are
>about',  build trust.
>
>have the local VW DEALER (not his/her favorite mechanic) check it out
>and fax the results to you directly, (tranny, compression, coolant)
>
>Have the owner fax all maintaince records and work done, check it
>by phone with whoever did the work.
>
>ask for a list memeber in the area to check it out
>
>get photos of it - close ups of the exterior and interior if they
>have a digital camera that works great other wise they can fedex the
>film to you.
>
>prayer! and budget some bucks for repairs
>
>just be happy  --- that yo have a Westfallia  :-)
>
>my 2 cents worth.    Malcolm S
___________________________________________________________________________

At 7:32 PM -0500 7/7/98, Otmar Ebenhoech wrote:
>There is a company (franchise?) on the west coast called Car Checkers that
>will drive to the car with a van and check it out. I don't know how large
>of an area they cover. Cost is about $100. I was pretty impressed by thier
>service.
>
>800 640 chex
>800 640 2439
___________________________________________________________________________

At 6:04 AM -0500 7/8/98, S_J_ WACKER wrote:
>Chris, you could have a list member, such as myself, assist you in your
>quest. Sometimes there are several vehicles available in the area. The VW
>dealer across the street from my work had two very nice 90 multivans, may
>still have one. These are pop-top vans without kitchens. Both were low
>milage. It you want, I can send you a list of what is available and if
>interested, I will check them out.
>
>Steve and Jo Ann Wacker
>San Marcos, Ca.

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Chris R. Rowland     mailto:crowland@earthlink.net
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