I've had an '81 with a BA6 since new--and the memories of
being cold in my '76 with no supplemental heat have faded
back alongside of walking 5 miles to school, returning a
penney to the rightful owner,....   ;-)

I run the BA6 whenever it is cool or cold and we have
plenty of that in Colorado.  Boulder to Grand Canyon in
March once must have been 40+ hours of "on time" for
the whole trip.

In 18 years and 125k miles I have had one problem--the
overheat switch failed about year 2.  Otherwise, it just
keeps rumbling alone.

At rebuild time at 103k miles, the mechanic commented that
he had lots of BA6 parts and knew all about them--and that
most problems came from not being used, in his opinion.
Since that endorsed my mode, I immediately agreed with him!

My Porsche mechanic strongly encouraged me NOT to look for
an exceptionally low mileage car when I was replacing my
911 last winter.  A car with "normal" mileage for the age
is better--cars are meant to be driven, not garaged.  That
was his opinion and advice.

So--drive your cars and keep the BAs rumbling!

Also, I have a BA4 in unknown condition if anyone is
interested.  Email me directly.

                                Richard A. Jones
                                Boulder, Colorado
                                '81 Vanagon  Mr Bus
                                <jones@colorado.edu>