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Mon Jul 21, 2008 3:21 pm

Hi there everyone! I am super psyched to finally be joining the vw community. I have narrowed down my search to a few vehicles and have a question...I am considering an 82-84 or a 87-89 campers. I realize that one is air cooled, and that it is a slower ride. If body and mechanics are comparable on each, what feedback would you recommend. I will be traveling cross country an driving in it for a minimum of 6 months.

Thanks for the support!!!

Create a magical day!

Mon Jul 21, 2008 3:22 pm

Buy the newest and one in as best shape as you can afford. It will save you money in the long run.

Mon Jul 21, 2008 3:28 pm

Thank you!

Mon Jul 21, 2008 3:44 pm

Buy a Toyota. :lol:

Mon Jul 21, 2008 4:28 pm

marlo wrote: Hi there everyone! I am super psyched to finally be joining the vw community. I have narrowed down my search to a few vehicles and have a question...I am considering an 82-84 or a 87-89 campers. I realize that one is air cooled, and that it is a slower ride. If body and mechanics are comparable on each, what feedback would you recommend. I will be traveling cross country an driving in it for a minimum of 6 months.

Thanks for the support!!!

Create a magical day!

84 is actually water cooled. 80-83.5 are air cooled, 83.5-85 are 1.9L water cooled, and 86-up are 2.1L water cooled. Some of the 83.5-85's may have 2.1L engines due to upgrades, some even have Subaru transplant engines (more power and efficiency than a 2.1, even).

Biggest difference between air cooled and water cooled is heat! So decide where you are going and what time of year. The water cooled are much better in cold weather.

Know that any vanagon you buy, unless it has been meticulously refurbished by a caring owner, probably have a LOT of maintenance due. It's usually been neglected, and things will be starting to break at this point if they haven't been serviced, even on newer vanagons. After all, it's been over 20 years and 150K miles for most of them, and, well, you get the picture. Typical problems are gas tank vent system leaks, fuel injection leaky lines(scary!), cooling system deterioration, CV joints, ball joints, wheel bearings, shocks, air conditioning(late models), 3/4 sliders on manual transmissions, brakes, brake lines, tires, head gaskets on engines, oil pressure, engines themselves, rust, etc.

If you do some searches, (or maybe it's in the stickies), maybe you can get a "shopping" list of maintenance items. If you are at all mechanical, get a Bentley service manual, read up on how to check these items, and use it to go shopping. If not, pay a good VW mechanic $100 bucks to look one over before buying.

Most of us just wandered in with both feet, then began the process of fixing stuff up as it broke and we learned more. But that doesn't bode well for a six month trip soon after buying. By you doing some research before buying, then getting everything fixed that wasn't already, you can make for a sweet, troublefree time on your trip.

Enjoy!

Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:19 pm

http://www.gowesty.com/library_article.php?id=54 is a good place to start if you want to get a good working knowledge as to the differences between an 82, an 84, or why you might pay more for an 86 or 87, and the price ranges.

Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:33 pm

Parts for the 85 and older are becoming a bit harder to find than 86 and newer. Figure to spend about $1,500 for general maintenance and the stuff the PO never got to. Was a good rule of thumb for me.

Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:58 pm

Technically, 82-83 diesels were watercooled also.

Mon Jul 21, 2008 7:01 pm

Thank you all for the feedback, I am deeply appreciative...doing homework was never so much fun! Again, thank you for the support!

Mon Jul 21, 2008 7:31 pm

Although I've seen many magnificent vans that are older and meticulously cared for and can be great bargains, I personally lean toward toward the 86-91 models. Buying a vanagon is akin to buying a boat. Unless you are a pretty good mechanic if you want it to run nice and be reliable you will have to spend a bit now and again for very regular maintenance a bit beyond what we're used to with buying an old pickup or economy car. Of course all cars require maintenance... vanagons just seem to punish you a bit more if neglected. If you want it to run nice and look nice all the time it is truly a labor of love and can be (though not always) quite expensive in the long run. Of course I think it's worth it. I love the damn things - it's an addiction - it's either for you or it isn't but it's kind of hard to explain beyond that.

If you want to find a decent van you can count on to treat you right for 6 months on the road it's likely gonna cost more than just a few thousand dollars. Although this board is full of exceptions from a lot of lucky and/or talented people.... the nice ones aren't that cheap and even they aren't immune to the various vanagon ailments. These are pretty old vehicles with a sort of obsolete and troublesome power train. Don't neglect to search the samba classifieds and use craigslist. Beware of skipping an undercarriage inspection on vans from icy areas. Looooooots of really nice nice vans on the West Coast. Craigslist has tons in Seattle, Portland, and The Bay area if you can travel to buy - not sure where you are located. Again, unless you are a good mechanic, find a local vanagon guy with a good rep for whatever you buy and get a thorough onceover and pay particular attention to coolant leaks, fuel lines, tires (and load rating), and brakes. A compression test is always a god thing on an old motor.

Don't mean to sound pessimistic... they are my favorite car on the road and I want you to have a good experience. Good luck.

Mon Jul 21, 2008 7:57 pm

Personally, I think Vanagons are fairly reliable vehicles. I often see examples of 300,000 mile vehicles. Sure you have to maintain them, but you'd have a hard time finding many similar vintage Chrysler minivans still on the road. Even though Chrysler sold more, I'd bet there is a higher percentage of VW's still on the road.

Mon Jul 21, 2008 8:51 pm

I stuck with the 86 - 91 style. I looked around for 8 months and finally found a 87 with 96K miles in pristine condition. I knew that I wanted a white exterior w/ grey interior, 4 speed, local northern california purchased and owned westy, stock down to the 14" alloys, original radio, blue california plates, manuals.............. After looking for all those months, I finally found one.

One day (A Wednesday in March '07), just before I was headed out for the day, I decided at the last minute to check craigs list. I found a new listing "87 vw camper, 96K miles. very clean $12.5K" the add did not have any picture. I emailed the seller and within 5 minutes got a response and a phone number. I called and found out that he was located 15 minutes from me. I immediately drove to his home to check out the "vw camper". When I arrrived, and met with the seller, he opened the garage and removed the westy cover. The westy looked CLEAN and well kept. I did the exterior/interior inspection and everthing was clean and original (including the engine compartment). I took the westy for a test drive and it drove great nothing getting my atention. I gave the owner $12K and headed to DVM to take care of the paperwork.

I've since put on 11K miles and only replaced the CV joints and did a tune up. These westys are great for road trips. I must have saved a couple of thousand of dollars on hotels.

Check my gallery to see pictures.

Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:46 am

Welcome aboard.

One of the best tools you can have at your disposal is the SEARCH feature on this forum. No doubt your question comes up once every 2 months here. do a search on this forum with key words such as "best vanagon", and you will have enough reading material for a couple of hours in your easy chair. Read through and make your own choice, based upon the many opinions you will read about in the posts.

One piece of advice I will offer: be honest with yourself when it comes to your mechanical skills and tool box. If you are decent with a wrench, then you may choose the "fixer upper", and save some money. If your skills are limited and/or your tools are sparce, then buy the best shaped and best running westy you can afford. One thing you will find on ANY VEHICLE THAT IS 20 PLUS YEARS OR MORE, is that things break down. There are many posts on this forum where folks rant about how the Vanagon is not reliable as a daily driver. This is untrue. I drive mine every day to work, to the stores, and whereever I need to go. Yep, it's my only vehicle. I trust it. Why? Because I went through it when I first bought it. Changed out the "common" parts that can and will wear out on a 20 plus year old car. Radiator, water pump, alternator, starter, etc. These wear out. Expect it to happen.

Tue Jul 22, 2008 7:52 am

bucko wrote: Welcome aboard.

One of the best tools you can have at your disposal is the SEARCH feature on this forum. No doubt your question comes up once every 2 months here. do a search on this forum with key words such as "best vanagon", and you will have enough reading material for a couple of hours in your easy chair. Read through and make your own choice, based upon the many opinions you will read about in the posts.

One piece of advice I will offer: be honest with yourself when it comes to your mechanical skills and tool box. If you are decent with a wrench, then you may choose the "fixer upper", and save some money. If your skills are limited and/or your tools are sparce, then buy the best shaped and best running westy you can afford. One thing you will find on ANY VEHICLE THAT IS 20 PLUS YEARS OR MORE, is that things break down. There are many posts on this forum where folks rant about how the Vanagon is not reliable as a daily driver. This is untrue. I drive mine every day to work, to the stores, and whereever I need to go. Yep, it's my only vehicle. I trust it. Why? Because I went through it when I first bought it. Changed out the "common" parts that can and will wear out on a 20 plus year old car. Radiator, water pump, alternator, starter, etc. These wear out. Expect it to happen.

Well said! To re-emphasize:
1. Part of the reason alot of stuff starts showing up is vanagons just seem to run even when those maintenance/replacement items are not done. As the cars are passed down, many owners blissfully neglect things. So I suspect you'll start seeing more late models start to have issues soon as they reach the age of earlier models.
2. It's great when you "know" what has been serviced, especially when done yourself or by a reputable mechanic. Then you know you have another 150K to 200K miles before those things fail, assuming good parts were used! I went through my 84, fixed or upgraded almost everything mechanical, like Bucko. There are still a couple of things that may not go 200K miles more, but having inspected them, I know they'll last at least another 30K miles and can replace/upgrade them at my leisure.