TheSamba.com :: View topic - Have you SEEN ONE on the road lately? Vanagon Spotters Thread

Thu Jun 26, 2025 12:03 pm

GoEverywhere wrote: Not the place you want to meet another Vanagon....

We both picked up bad tanks of gas and ran into each other at the Napa in Twin Falls Idaho, racing to see who could swap a filter the quickest (I won!)

I didn't catch his name, but his rig was sure nice!

As someone who frequents that general area...where did you get the bad gas?

Thu Jun 26, 2025 12:52 pm

ProbablyNotIan wrote: GoEverywhere wrote: Not the place you want to meet another Vanagon....

We both picked up bad tanks of gas and ran into each other at the Napa in Twin Falls Idaho, racing to see who could swap a filter the quickest (I won!)

I didn't catch his name, but his rig was sure nice!

As someone who frequents that general area...where did you get the bad gas?

I believe it was from Treasure Valley Chevron at the intersection of I84 and Highway 21.

I gassed up there with premium with about 1/3 of a tank left(I'm running a turbo subie so I need premium...) and shortly after that started to have issues. I made it about 100 miles past that before I was so clogged up I was no longer able to limp it along.

Thu Jun 26, 2025 1:25 pm

GoEverywhere wrote: ProbablyNotIan wrote: GoEverywhere wrote: Not the place you want to meet another Vanagon....
We both picked up bad tanks of gas and ran into each other at the Napa in Twin Falls Idaho, racing to see who could swap a filter the quickest (I won!)
I didn't catch his name, but his rig was sure nice!

As someone who frequents that general area...where did you get the bad gas?
I believe it was from Treasure Valley Chevron at the intersection of I84 and Highway 21.
I gassed up there with premium with about 1/3 of a tank left(I'm running a turbo subie so I need premium...) and shortly after that started to have issues. I made it about 100 miles past that before I was so clogged up I was no longer able to limp it along.
Chevron (and the other big stations) are usually pretty safe, however one thing to watch out for is buying gas from a station which just had their tanks refilled (I know, how can you tell if a tanker just left?). When the tanks get refilled it stirs up any sediment in the tank. Yes the pumps are supposed to have filters but who knows how well the owner keeps up with maintenance?
One thing I try to do is get gas from the pumps which are used most, like the ones closest to the store or easiest to drive in/out of. While these pumps usually get refilled more often they also tend to have the freshest fuel and less likely to have old sediment or water.

Thu Jun 26, 2025 2:25 pm

MsTaboo wrote: GoEverywhere wrote: ProbablyNotIan wrote: GoEverywhere wrote: Not the place you want to meet another Vanagon....
We both picked up bad tanks of gas and ran into each other at the Napa in Twin Falls Idaho, racing to see who could swap a filter the quickest (I won!)
I didn't catch his name, but his rig was sure nice!

As someone who frequents that general area...where did you get the bad gas?
I believe it was from Treasure Valley Chevron at the intersection of I84 and Highway 21.
I gassed up there with premium with about 1/3 of a tank left(I'm running a turbo subie so I need premium...) and shortly after that started to have issues. I made it about 100 miles past that before I was so clogged up I was no longer able to limp it along.
Chevron (and the other big stations) are usually pretty safe, however one thing to watch out for is buying gas from a station which just had their tanks refilled (I know, how can you tell if a tanker just left?). When the tanks get refilled it stirs up any sediment in the tank. Yes the pumps are supposed to have filters but who knows how well the owner keeps up with maintenance?
One thing I try to do is get gas from the pumps which are used most, like the ones closest to the store or easiest to drive in/out of. While these pumps usually get refilled more often they also tend to have the freshest fuel and less likely to have old sediment or water.

The station itself wasn't well maintained which shoulda been my first clue. Also pumping premium tends to be less used than the lower grades but ultimately it was just poor luck. Like you said, its hard to tell if a station is alright under the pumps or not!

Sat Jul 05, 2025 12:20 pm

Saw these two Vanagons the other day on Kauai. Saw a third blueish Vanagon in the Haena State Park parking lot but did not get a pic.

This van had a great storage for the guys 9 and 7 foot surf boards.

Sat Jul 05, 2025 1:28 pm

Ive been down at my dad’s house in Provo for the past week, and always see the same van parked on Timpview Drive. It’s a little tired looking, but changes position regularly, so it’s still alive and kicking.

Sun Jul 06, 2025 4:01 am

Saw quite a few T3 on a business trip in Innsbruck, T2 and T4s too.

Sun Jul 06, 2025 5:24 am

Abscate wrote: Saw quite a few T3 on a business trip in Innsbruck, T2 and T4s too.

So far from Amsterdam to Peenemunde Germany to Wroclaw Poland I have seen six T3s. Hundreds of eurovans…. No T2s

Sun Jul 06, 2025 9:44 am

Remember in EU there Are T4 T5 T 6 models

Tue Jul 08, 2025 9:13 pm

Saw this van on Maui in the Kihei area.

Tue Jul 08, 2025 11:54 pm

Hmm,

That Maui based Vanagon looks very much like Molly's of Vans on the Moon fame

https://www.youtube.com/@VanOnTheMoon

She would make for a wonderful daughter :oops:

Thu Jul 10, 2025 11:19 am

Saw this one parked on the street near my office in Downtown Vancouver the other day. Our office windows are covered with this institutional metal cladding so not a great picture.

Saw this beauty Downtown today!

Fri Jul 11, 2025 1:04 am

Saw 3 more Vanagons here in the Kihei area on Maui today while driving with the family so couldn’t stop to get pics. There was a blue/silver Westy, a two tone blue tin top and a whiteish tin top. I have seen the blue/silver Westy a couple of times now, so might drive one street over and ask my better half to get a pic, if it is still there tomorrow.

Fri Jul 11, 2025 4:53 am

SLOWoody wrote: Saw 3 more Vanagons here in the Kihei area on Maui today while driving with the family so couldn’t stop to get pics..
You obviously have not established the importance of compliance when you yell "Photo op!" and brake to a halt for your pix.

Sat Jul 12, 2025 6:03 am

Saw these two in Sibiu, Romania. The blue one today and the other a couple weeks ago.

Sat Jul 12, 2025 2:01 pm

campism wrote: SLOWoody wrote: Saw 3 more Vanagons here in the Kihei area on Maui today while driving with the family so couldn’t stop to get pics..
You obviously have not established the importance of compliance when you yell "Photo op!" and brake to a halt for your pix.

Establishing compliance is a work in progress but we did hit a milestone yesterday with my daughter snapping a pic of the blue tin top we saw the other day in Kihei, Maui.

My wife is in training and I had to drive around the block to give her a second chance to get a good pic of the blue/silver Westy we also saw previously here in Kihei.

We did see two more yesterday, one in Paia, which I was able to photograph,

But the other we passed on our way up Haleakala and no one had their phones out.

Sun Jul 13, 2025 4:48 am

Hooray!

Sun Jul 13, 2025 8:48 am

Every time I return from a camping or road trip (this time camping at Fort Ebey State Park, Whidbey Island), I check this thread to see if somebody spotted us, but so far, no luck (we even took the ferry twice, so it was easy to spot us!).

We only saw 2 vans on our way towards the campground both in the wrong direction, one white Syncro Westy waiting at the ferry line (they waved us) and one air cooled Westy (Asuan Brown?) going towards the ferry line (they didn’t see us). No pictures as I was driving.

On the positive side, the ferry attendant asked us about the van, and how cool it was :D

Sun Jul 13, 2025 1:32 pm

pnwkayaker wrote:

We only saw 2 vans on our way towards the campground both in the wrong direction, one white Syncro Westy waiting at the ferry line (they waved us) and one air cooled Westy (Asuan Brown?) going towards the ferry line (they didn’t see us). No pictures as I was driving.

We were the white syncro westy. I posted a couple pics in "What did your van do lately". Next time I'll take a photo of yours!

Sun Jul 13, 2025 4:10 pm

Klister wrote: pnwkayaker wrote:

We only saw 2 vans on our way towards the campground both in the wrong direction, one white Syncro Westy waiting at the ferry line (they waved us) and one air cooled Westy (Asuan Brown?) going towards the ferry line (they didn’t see us). No pictures as I was driving.

We were the white syncro westy. I posted a couple pics in "What did your van do lately". Next time I'll take a photo of yours!

Looks like we got a connection. =D>