Vanagon or Eurovan Westfalia?

[kuleinc]

I was all set to buy a vanagon (thanks fatboypaul!) and my boss is really pushing me to get a eurovan. Apparently he owned a 5 cylinder westy eurovan before moving up to his ford RV.

Are there any real pros to getting a Eurovan over a Vanagon like there is to getting a Vanagon to a Baywindow?

I much prefer the styling of the vanagon, however it does seem you can get a better eurovan camper for LESS than a Vanagon Camper...

I've been watching my local craigs while I fire sale all my air cooled VW stuff...

Advice from people who have done both would be AWESOME!
_________________
1987 Wolfram Gray 2WD Vanagon GL Westy (1.8T Powered!)
2001 ALH Jetta TDi (Hers)
1998 ALH New Beetle (His)
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=496946

[RBEmerson]

Who's driving the vehicle? You or your boss? Thank him (or her) politely for the input and buy what you want.
_________________
Not all who wander are lost. Which still leaves room for a few lost wanderers...
- - - - -
'90 Westy - "The Silver Flash"

[RadioRental]

[danfromsyr]

I feel the Vanagon has more useful interior space than the eurovans,
also the Eurovan Automatics are very $$ and a common weak link.

if you get a 5cylinder 5speed (93 & 95 years only) then not much bad to say. though they have even worse off pavement/snow traction than the vanagon. but better driving manners.

the VR6 EVs are nice and fast.. but again they have some very high $$ items that fail in the engine & Trans department.

I've taken (2) 5cyl EVs completely apart (for our 2.5l 5cyl into vanagon swap) and I would NOT want to wrench on one I was planning to keep & drive.. they're very tight and uncooperative when compared to a vanagon.

nuts to nuts if I had the $$ and only wanted to do this once I'd go with a vanagon with either a 2.5 subie or 1.8T (though I own parts for everything but those)

FWIW the 2.5l 5cyl is mucho easier to work on in mom's 86 vanagon than my buddies 95 EV
_________________
VW Club of Central New York SPRING VW GTG
Upstate NY 2013 VWCCNY events
NY State VW Camping 2013 season events

[seanjenn]

As an aircooled guy I would think you'd enjoy the Vanagon more because you can modify and "improve" a vanagon til you're blue in the face. Kind of like an old bus. You can really make a Vanagon exactly the way you want it, limited only by your own creativity. It was a relatively seamless transition for me, going from bays to vanagons.
_________________
1984 Westy 2 Dubya D
1.9L 4spd


God thinks he's Eddy Merckx

[Corwyn]

Though I do envy the EV's improved road handling, bigger engine and truly functional A/C, the EV has significantly less ground clearance and a much larger turning radius. So it really depends on where you want to take it. I have also heard that since they were only sold for ten years, you'd have a really hard time finding parts.

I enjoy the Vanagon cult (yes . . . "cult").

Whatever you decide - enjoy it!
_________________
'90 White Westy ("Needy")
Automatic, 2.2 WBX
Olympia, Washington USA

"If anything's" gonna happen, it's gonna happen out there"
~ Captain Ron ~

[Ahwahnee]

My wife nixed the EV when she saw there was no silverware drawer.

[0to60in6min]

hard to give you an advice.

we went looking/test drive both, it's very tempting to get a newer one (1993 and later) on one hand. On the other hand the charm of a vanagon is hard to resist.

I was undecided, my wife voted for vanagon..

we got a '89 vanagon...

if you go for an eurovan, make sure it's manual trans and fresh timing belt, but do not expect wave and honk on the road

[tds3pete]

I went with the EV stick, lifted and leveled, big wheels and Bilsteins. That gives me the power, quiet, drivability and solves the ground clearance issue and the auto tranny issue. Unfortunately, VW only did this in 95, which is too bad, because I absolutely love the I5/stick combo....I think it was a sweet spot in the VW evolution.

On the other hand, it sounds like you like the looks of the Vanagon......so buy the one that puts a smile on your face.....they are both VW's and have their pros and cons.
_________________
'58 Westy camper-come and gone
'73 Westy-bought new in Holland,now gone
'86 Syncro weekender-come and gone
'79 Westy...Oscar
'95 Eurovan Camper/5 spd...Marsha Mellow

[kuleinc]

It sounds like the vanagon wins, too bad they are $$$ out here...
_________________
1987 Wolfram Gray 2WD Vanagon GL Westy (1.8T Powered!)
2001 ALH Jetta TDi (Hers)
1998 ALH New Beetle (His)
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=496946

[dhaavers]

Good GoWesty writeups:

Model Overview: Bus, Vanagon, Eurovan (1968-2003)
Are You a Vanagon or Eurovan Person?
Late-Model Eurovan Camper (1997-2003)

We had also looked seriously at both - decided Vanagon & we're lovin' it...
_________________
86 White Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"

[kamzcab86]

No personal experience, but I met a lady on the road two years ago who owned both. Her Eurovan (Winnebago) camper was broken down in a campground outside Bryce Canyon. As it was being loaded onto a flatbed I chatted with her. Here was her advice to me: "I owned an '84 since new; sold it to get this '01 when it was new... I've regretted it ever since. This is the only breakdown it's had so far, but it's a piece of crap compared my old Westfalia! Whatever you do, don't get rid of your Westfalia!"

An EV has no character and just seems cramped interior-wise. An EV definitely wasn't for me. If you're toying with the idea, go look at one in person and drive it... compare it to the Vanagon and decide for yourself which you prefer.
_________________
~Kamz
1986 Cabriolet: www.Cabby-Info.com
1990 Vanagon Westfalia: Old Blue's Blog
2000 Jetta VR6

[kuleinc]

I rented a Vanagon, and I've driven a Eurovan, a customer had one. I'm really leaning towards vanagon. My bos was just pushing the eurovan saying its better, but then, he never owned a vanagon...
_________________
1987 Wolfram Gray 2WD Vanagon GL Westy (1.8T Powered!)
2001 ALH Jetta TDi (Hers)
1998 ALH New Beetle (His)
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=496946

[0to60in6min]

[DAIZEE]

you could look for one distal to CA where the prices may be less but where there are lots (i.e. WA, etc...) and drive it home to save higher prices.
_________________
83.5 Vanagon L Riviera Model with 97 1.9L TD AAZ 4 speed Daily Driver 3 out of 4 seasons (for sale)
84 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg Westy WBX 4 speed (sold)

Mental Health issues affect us all. Ignorance is not bliss. It's up to each of us to educate ourselves.

[stevey88]

Have you read this ?

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=177760&highlight=nobody
_________________
Steve

87 GL 4 speed
87 Westfalia full camper 4 speed

[purplepeopleeater]

I'm not saying I'd never own an EV, but judging by your avatar I'd say that looks of the vanagon are going to suit you better, I was hardcore split guy and couldn't see myself owning an EV...they are too plain and the plastic bits inside sure look fragile.
_________________
-Mike
67 Split Bus
86 westy- H4 powered
Subaru install
My Hightop install thread

[SLIKROC]

I've owned both. 86 and 91 westfalia's and 2002 Eurovan Westfalia. The Eurovan was a great mini van but not a great camper. uncomfortable to sleep in and no storage. Vanagon is a great camper but not a great mini van. If you are not big into camping go with the EuroVan. If you camp a bunch, go with the Vanagon.
Oh and the Eurovan lost the transmission at 66,000. Almost $5000 to replace.

[notchboy]

There are reasonable priced ones on craigs list all the time. Dont search local-do national. Prices are always stupid on ePay and most the time here on the samba. But on CL anything seems to go
_________________
Jason "notchboy" Weigel
1963 Pearl White Sunroof Notch
1964 T34 S Convertible
1974 Westfalia Hardtop Campmobile
1977 Westfalia Camper pop-top

the1500club.com
TOOB Member #5

[nacradriver]

I too am looking down the barrel with the same question, Vanagon or Eurovan and they jury is still out with me. Here is a little bit of my reasoning:

I had owned a Vanagon in the past an know the truck pretty well.. I can do most of my own work and the work I can't do there are many alternatives I can turn to for help. There is a Eurovan Yahoo group that has some helpful information, but no Bentley Manual!

Yes the automatic transmissions on these things have a 99.9% tendency to grenade at any given time and from what I am told this is not a cheap fix. If you note in the ads many of them will say "rebuilt transmission." I had done some calling around to find out the cost of the fix - wouch!

I have Car Faxed a few that I was interested in and also noted that Failed Emissions was not uncommon in the reports. Much of this is due to a failing catalytic converter; at least when I queried the owners that is what they mentioned got it through inspection. And, they are not cheap at least for the California ones… Rebuilt from VW $650 plus $100 Core, the only other is Magnaflow which is a weld on @ $200! One owner was selling his with one extra for future use.

On the newer ones (1999 – 2003) while at highway speeds I had noted that the engine was clocking 3750 to 4000 rpm @ 70 MPH... It only has a four speed auto. Currently my Mazda MPV is at about 2500 – 3000 RPM @ 70 MPH with a 5 speed auto... Like it was mentioned I would go with a 5 speed manual… Wish they would have matched a five speed to the 2.8L V-6 that came in the later Eurovan models... that would have been sweet! But then again I wish they would have put a H2O cooled Porsche 3.2 in the Vanagon back in the day.

Cost wise it can go either way with me, I know some of the later model years Weekender Westies are not going cheaply. I had made an offer to one owner who was about $3K over the market around Halloween and was told to pound sand…and I see the car is still for sale. Guess what I am saying here is don’t expect any deals. I do see some great prices on the Winnebago Style Camper, but I have not heard good things about them, poor quality control. Wish VW and Westfalia would play nice again.

I will say the Eurovan is a good truck and has comfortable ergonomics. Some say it has bad ergonomics, but then again, this is a truck – right! My wife likes the lines of the van and enjoyed driving it, and it does have all the modern safety features for transporting munchkins around. But we did not drive the camper, only the MV Weekender and the Weekender Westfalia. The Westfalia’s are a bit noisy on the highway, but other than that I think they are OK!.

But, don’t forget the cool factor that goes with a Vanagon! That alone is worth many decision points!

Hope I didn’t confuse you more, and I do recommend taking each of them for a drive…

Good Luck