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Wed Aug 14, 2002 6:24 am

I'm looking into buying my first bus. Ideally I want a splittie, but I have some hesitations. I live in Colorado and will be moving to California in November(San Diego county). How does the air cooled engines hold up in the summer? I have also been looking into the vanagons. I have read that they are very under powered. I know that all volkswagens are no speed machines and I have no problems with that, is the vanagon any worse than the usual. Any other problem areas I should be aware of?? All help/advice is greatley appreciated!!

thanks,Mick

Wed Aug 14, 2002 9:25 am

My opinion is this,I'd go w/ a Split or a Baywindow the Vanagon is a little to complicated for me to try to repair my self w/ all that smog crap.As far as holding up in summer heat? What do you think keeps winnin the Baha 1000? DavidK

Wed Aug 14, 2002 10:26 am

My Bus is a '66 split window and it's my daily driver. I live in the deserts of Phoenix AZ and I have not had a problem with my Bus over heating. San Diego is much cooler then here so you shouldn't have any problem there with a split window.

And I agree with Davidk, Busses are much easier to work on. Vanagons are fuel injected and have complicated emissions crap and computers and what not. I prefer to live in the past, there is no high tech doodads on my Bus! Also, Vanagons have known issues with weak head gaskets and they will leak water (eventually). Go to Vanagon.com to get more info.

Wed Aug 14, 2002 1:18 pm

As a side note, when you get out to Cali, look and see the ration between Vanagons and Aircooled VW you see. You will be amazed on the number of aircooled. I was there for 4 years and ended up buying my 58 single cab at the Pomona swap meet. Though I am no longer in Cali, I know loads that have them there. Plus you have shops everywhere that will sell parts for good prices or people that will work on them if the problem is just too big. I personally would go with the splitty myself. I can't understand the wiring and workings the newer ones.

Jax

Wed Aug 14, 2002 2:52 pm

I think it comes down to what you want, I live in San Diego and it has perfect weather for my 64 Kombi....great for crusing the 101! Go with a splity, you wont regret it!

BD

Wed Aug 14, 2002 9:10 pm

It's simple, buy one of each. Drive the Split and you can use the Vanagon as a storage shed for your extra Split Bus parts! Vanagon/Bay="FAT CHICKS"=BAD!

Thu Aug 15, 2002 8:01 am

ONE OF EACH,EXCELLENT IDEA.I HAVE SEEN VANAGONS WITH SUBARU AND JETTA MOTORS IN THEM,ALTHOUGH I DONT KNOW WHERE TO GET THE CONVERSION KITS.THE JETTA POWERED ONE WAS AT THE ROCKY MNT MOTORWORKS SHOW ON 8-10.IT WAS A VERY CLEAN INSTALLATION.IT PASSED EVERYONE UP THE MOUNTAIN.

Fri Aug 23, 2002 6:19 pm

As much as I love driving my split buses, the Vanagon has the most comfortable ride of any VW Bus I have ever owned (many). It's not underpowered running a stock 2.1 liter with 4 speed and the AC running. Depends on what you want in a Bus.