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  View original topic: eurovan reviews?
aussie01 Tue Oct 07, 2003 7:55 pm

I'm considering getting a used Eurovan for the wifey. can anybody give me any info on them. What are the 5 cyl like? Do they have any typical bad problems?
I can't find any info on Eurovan reviews on the web so all input is appreciated.

Nitty Wed Oct 22, 2003 3:39 am

My '93 eurovan is an automatic, and I't's had problems with the auto transmission after about 100k miles. I feel this is an inherent weakness, and would be better to have a manual transmission. The heater core also failed. I just bypasses it because I live in a warm climate. No problem other than that. The 5 cyl is weak but adequate. The available inside space is great.

j8 Wed Oct 22, 2003 11:15 am

haven't driven one (not even a test drive) so i can't say. several young families in my neighborhood swear that it is the van to drive.


what is your wife looking for in a van?

laughing_dog Thu Oct 23, 2003 3:46 pm

speaking strictly off the top of my head, eurovans dont seem to have any soul or funk in them. buses & vanagons to a lesser (or different) extent have funk to spare. the eurovan just doesnt appeal to me. must be all the high-tech stuff in there.

the only guy i know who has one says he likes it but cant work on it.

billyisme Sat Nov 01, 2003 3:59 pm

I own, drive and love a 1995 Eurovan camper. I disagree that there is no soul or funk in my van! That comment must have come from someone who has never owned or driven the vehicle. I also own split busses and am familiar with these attributes, so I'm not just blowing smoke to justify my funny-looking, front-wheel-drive, water-cooled VW. We get waves in our Eurovan from split, loaf, Vanagon, and Eurovan drivers, so in a distant-relative sort-of-way you can feel attached to the "VW scene", although I do recommend owning at least one split bus so you can more fully appreciate your Eurovan's quirks and character.

I do most of the repair work and maintenance myself, but I wouldn't attempt many of the procedures on the VR6 engine. The 6 cyl motors have become very complex and "high tech". Maintenance on the 5cyl is pretty straight forward if you're mechanically inclined. I work on my old busses myself, so my Eurovan is simply an extension of my VW hobby (obsession?) that my wife actually appreciates. I've done the timing belt, water pump, hoses, O2 sensor and tune up work myself--the timing belt/water pump job took me about 6 hours. I've done shocks, brakes, and most of the scheduled maintenance (trans fluid, brake fluid and oil changes, etc.. ) myself. I have had no major mechanical problem--I've never even had to have the vehicle towed.
110,000 miles and no tranny problems yet. The rebuild kit is only $600 and my shop will do the deed for $500 in labor, so I am not too worried about this. Having said that, I would recommend buying a manual transmission model because I have heard that they are far longer-lived than the auto. Manual tranny was only available on the 5cyl models.

As far as the 5cyl motor's ability, what it may lack in horsepower it makes up in torque. We feel our van is very adequately powered. We tow our old busses around, and often tow a trailer loaded with dirt bikes on long trips. Its a good feeling to cruise at 75mph with the A/C blasting and the fridge chilling beverages while towing our dirt bikes through the desert during the summer. It is also a good feeling to pop the top, blast the furnace, and make some coffee while camping in the snow at the Grand Canyon in the winter. It's a logical progression in the VW Transporter evolution. In fact, it looks as though it may be the evolutionary dead end.

Email me with any questions you may have about my experiences with our van. [email protected]

toyvergnugen Tue Nov 25, 2003 7:51 pm

I have an 02 EuroVan MV with Westfalia Weekender package. I have driven both vintage and water cooled VWs for over 30 years and still own two air cooled bugs. My EuroVan is great. Drives and handles great. The brakes are superb. 201 HP gives it enough power to cruise at above legal speeds. For a large vehicle , steering and handling are very responsive. Seating position is high and bus like with a commanding view of the road. Previously owned a split westy 67, and a 70 westy whcich I bought new. This EuroVan furfills several needs in our family. It has a pop top and small refrigerator so it is a camping vehicle, also a people and parts hauler to VW shows and swap meets. I have a tow hitch and ocassionally tow my air cooled VW to shows. It is Comfortable on long hauls and nimble in the city. As one VW ad said "Sumo Size, Ninja reflexes". I am extremely pleased with this vehicle and plan on owning it a long time. The 03 Eurovan was the last to be imported . Philip Amon

newbus Mon Aug 31, 2009 6:42 pm

pardon me if this is the wrong place to post this ,just joined

we just bought a 1992 eurovan camper ,the fridge is 12v and 120 a/c ,checked fuses & replaced same ,plugged it in overnite on 120 ,but still won't run ,any advise would be wonderful.
thanx in advance
newbus :(

debbiej Mon Aug 31, 2009 7:17 pm

we had a 93 5 cyl. 5 sp manual. loved that van and sold it to our son with the stipulation we could buy it back if he didn't want it. it was a gem. plenty of pickup, sat up high, big windshield. the 98 I test drove didn't feel the same.

to newbus, is the van not running or the fridge?

you can search on refrigerators or dometic and find a lot of posts about problems with fridges.

GMByers Mon Aug 31, 2009 8:27 pm

Aussie,

I have two Eurovans, a 93 5 cylinder and a 02 201 hp.
I bought the 93 to tow my VW Thing to car shows. Then when I was in Europe I bought the 02 because I wanted to "go fast" on the autobahn.

Eurovans are not the most popular VW vans in existence in the US. They cost a lot of money to purchase and they cost a lot more money to maintain. Having said that, Vanagons can cost a lot of money in repairs and maintenance, but at least if you are mechanically inclined, you can perform much of the work yourself.

If you buy a Eurovan, get used to dropping it off at your local VW dealership or repair shop...just one man's opinion.

I recently discovered that Vanaru is about a four hour drive from my hometown in Pennsylvania. I am seriously contemplating having them do a conversion into one of my T3s, then selling both of my Eurovans. My dilemma is which one to convert....my 81 double sliding air cooled, my 83 doublecab or my 91 Vanagon with 200,000 miles.

I love my Vanagon....I tolerate my Eurovans.

Gary

Damann Mon Aug 31, 2009 8:27 pm

newbus wrote: pardon me if this is the wrong place to post this ,just joined

we just bought a 1992 eurovan camper ,the fridge is 12v and 120 a/c ,checked fuses & replaced same ,plugged it in overnite on 120 ,but still won't run ,any advise would be wonderful.
thanx in advance
newbus :(

I had done a lot of looking into this because I am looking at buying one too. From the sounds of it you have a Canadian or Euro version Westfalia not the Winnabego conversion.

The best place to find info is the Euro T4 forums. I will see if I can find the link. The fridge will not run with the battery below 11.4 volts I believe. But others had the same problem and fixed it with replacing the temp relay and there were a few other fixes. Let me see if I can find the link for you.

EDIT

ok found the thread. They are called "Californias" in Europe ( same as the Westfalia in Canada) they have the 12v fridge

http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/fridge-problems_topic36918_page1.html?KW=fridge

93MVRuedi Tue Sep 01, 2009 7:08 am

I've owned several buses and vanagons and now a 93 5spd weekender. Like most old buses it is a vehicle that requires devotion to keep on the road. Parts are available relatively cheap through a couple outlets, but lots of "simple" repairs seem to be time consuming and uncomfortable especially around the engine compartment due to all the stuff crammed up there.
Locally out of several vw shops, there is only one who will touch the eurovan. The owner of one of the others actually laughed in my face when I told him I owned a eurovan.
I will say its versatility is unmatched. I use mine to haul kids, crowds, lumber, scooters, to tow trailers. Low load height and flat floor are nice. Handles great in snow. Heater kicks butt. And it's easy to find in a parking lot.

mightyart Tue Sep 01, 2009 7:14 am

newbus wrote: pardon me if this is the wrong place to post this ,just joined

we just bought a 1992 eurovan camper ,the fridge is 12v and 120 a/c ,checked fuses & replaced same ,plugged it in overnite on 120 ,but still won't run ,any advise would be wonderful.
thanx in advance
newbus :(

You need to start a new post on this if you want help.

newbus Wed Sep 02, 2009 3:00 pm

Thanx for the info and thread ,will check into it .

ifollowtheturtles Wed Sep 02, 2009 5:52 pm

I had a 97 EVC for two years. While I loved driving it on the highway and loved the A/C I have to say overall it was not as fun and camping friendly as a Vanagon. I now have a 91 Westy. A few quick reasons...

1. Interior: really narrow. Beds narrower than Vanagon. Felt closed in without a window on the back left. Pop top did not pop up as high as vanagon making the upper bunk a bit tight.

2. Repair costs: I can only speak for mine, which had 70K on it when I bought it. Over the 20K I put on it the thing was really taking me to the cleaners. Brakes wear out fast due to the 5997 pound weight. Complicated systems everywhere. Great when they are working. Tranny situation always had me worried.

3. Clearance Clarence. There is much you can do to lift the van to get more clearance, but with a long wheelbase like that hitting the center (right near the propane tank) was always a bit of a bummer. Again, you can do all sorts of stuff to lift it but it is pricey.

4. Safety. Definately a safer van than a vanagon.

5. Funk/ Fun. I always felt more like a RV owner than a van owner. Maybe it is the Alpine White paint in all the EVC's, but it just was a bit boring for my tastes. The overall feel of a Vanagon is more my style. The ride, the interior, the openness...

I do miss the EVC on the highway and when it is over 85 degrees.

My two cents.

Rmrivera Wed Mar 04, 2020 10:51 pm

Oh no! Did i goof buying a 1995 eurovan Winnebago camper? Just purchased last week and my son made the deal for me as I was out of state. He says it's sputtering now. Drove fine when he picked up. Thinking fuel filter first, however from comments might be hard to work on. Going to look for repair manual.

jjvincent Thu Mar 05, 2020 9:40 am

Reviving a 16+ year old thread that was last answered over 10 years ago. Then by someone that has a 24 year old Eurovan. That must be a record.

Broseph Stalin Thu Mar 05, 2020 3:49 pm

Rmrivera wrote: Oh no! Did i goof buying a 1995 eurovan Winnebago camper? Just purchased last week and my son made the deal for me as I was out of state. He says it's sputtering now. Drove fine when he picked up. Thinking fuel filter first, however from comments might be hard to work on. Going to look for repair manual.
There are a lot of independent shops that will look at your EVC and fix it. Most of them are in Denver/Boulder/Ft Collins triangle. Some VW dealers and independent shops will not touch an EVC, won't allow it in the service bay.

I asked a VW dealer why they wouldn't service an EVC, but would service any other Eurovan, the answer was "Because of the propane tank, we won't allow a vehicle with a propane tank in our shop."

volkybus Sun Mar 29, 2020 6:13 pm

I'LL compare these EVs to a pretty girl, Hot and high maintenance.And they 'll cost you..But when it's going good it'$ great and when it breaks ,oh my!!! Bill 1VW vans in over ,50 years and only one pretty wife....so far.
..go for it I say and u can put a stick in a VR6... I HAVE Seen em

volkybus Sun Mar 29, 2020 6:19 pm

I mean 15 vw vans in my last post not 1 ,Bill



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