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swsl
Samba Member
Joined: February 20, 2017
Posts: 113
Location: New Mexico
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 Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2025 2:27 pm Post subject: Re: Stuck on the roadside |
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Yes, it's deceptive to call Doheny San Clemente when there is an actual San Clemente State park (great park!) but most recognize the town of San Clemente while Dana Point or San Juan Capistrano not so much.
I know people who work and host at Doheny and nobody there was included in plans for the "upgrade". It was a top-down decision and none of them believe the timeline is going to be accurate.
I'm sure they'll plant some trees and it will be nicer in 20-30 years than when they finish with a pile of trucked in dirt.
No, not a disaster on the scale of what they did with the marina to be sure. That's world class coastal abuse.
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2002 EV WK |
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swsl
Samba Member
Joined: February 20, 2017
Posts: 113
Location: New Mexico
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| Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2025 10:35 am Post subject: Re: Stuck on the roadside |
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Finally got a price Wednesday for European Transmission to rebuild and it was well over 5K with shipping back and forth. Took the Havasu shop a week for them to get that. Not thrilled with their time and customer management but they have the van and I'm now 300 miles away.
So I called and talked to Vic at ZSI and he seems very experienced, said that he trained with VW in Germany, is now 70.
He has a rebuilder in his shop and will rebuild but they don't like to do the RnR. Opposite of German transaxle! Who definitely will not make an exception
He also has a used transmission with low mileage. He wants $3500 for that and was willing to drive it down to Lake Havasu. I almost bought it because it would really speed up the process but in the end decided that installing a used one where no one is responsible for giving me a working van was a bad bet and would leave me more exposed to this happening again.
So we extended our cargo van rental and will just wait out the 4-6 weeks this ordeal will take. Trip into baja cancelled. Not sure it's smart with an EV anyway but we did it last year. Very easily going to reach a 10K expense to have this tranny go out far from home at the beginning of vacation travels. Hotel rooms and vehicles add to the expense. $2500 in just vehicle rentals.
One positive is that since we did our camping configuration with our own kitchen box, stove, tables etc to set up outside the van, it was easy to move that stuff over to the rental. The only things we really had to leave behind was the fridge and the house battery system. Brought one of the 120 watt panels with us (advantage of outboard solar) and bought a smallish battery pack (Anker 521 with mppt) to keep our devices/lights/internet charged and powered.
Got an ice chest. Haven't used one in a decade. Those igloo overlanders are great and fair priced but are missing the Yeti logo so don't know if it's truly good enough! 
Wish there was a common more reparable vehicle that compared to the weekender. A rare special bird maybe not practical for long trips.
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2002 EV WK |
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gesoffen
Samba Member
Joined: August 22, 2009
Posts: 223
Location: NoVA, USA
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| Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 10:57 am Post subject: Re: Stuck on the roadside |
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Glad you’re at the point where you can finally make lemonade! Neither reliable nor repairable but at least newer - Mercedes metris with the various conversion options. Also not cheap compared to Eurovans.
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1973 VW Superbeetle (1302) w/ RAT 2270 T4
2003 VW Eurovan Weekender w/ 2.8L VR6 AXK, DYA 5 Spd Manual Conversion |
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Johnnyw
Samba Member
Joined: May 12, 2017
Posts: 79
Location: San Clemente, CA
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| Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2025 11:19 am Post subject: Re: Stuck on the roadside |
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If you are currently camping at the Doheny campground and would like to borrow some additional camping items let me know. I live about 5 miles away.
John
San Clemente.
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1997 Eurovan camper
1974 Thing with a 1776
San Clemente, CA |
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67rustavenger
Samba Member
Joined: February 24, 2015
Posts: 11093
Location: Oregon
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| Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2025 1:39 pm Post subject: Re: Stuck on the roadside |
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| Johnnyw wrote: |
If you are currently camping at the Doheny campground and would like to borrow some additional camping items let me know. I live about 5 miles away.
John
San Clemente. |
That's a super generous offer of camping gear for a stranded traveler.
As a former San Clemente Triton, I find this quite refreshing compared to when I lived there back in the late 70's.
No one would help out when asked except, maybe me, so it seemed at the time.
That was one of the main reasons I moved away all those years ago.
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I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!
There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!
2003 Astrovan? GFYS again, Xevin!
Don't let your bad ideas remain, ideas! |
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swsl
Samba Member
Joined: February 20, 2017
Posts: 113
Location: New Mexico
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| Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2025 11:17 am Post subject: Re: Stuck on the roadside |
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| Johnnyw wrote: |
If you are currently camping at the Doheny campground and would like to borrow some additional camping items let me know. I live about 5 miles away.
John
San Clemente. |
Why thank you John! We are good but it's just nice to have a sense of support. I hope that I can offer the same and you inspire me to do more.
Cheers!
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2002 EV WK |
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1961tbird
Samba Member
Joined: July 21, 2018
Posts: 330
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia
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| Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2025 6:48 am Post subject: Re: Stuck on the roadside |
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I have been following your dilemma and it makes me pause to undertake our planned 2 month trip to Yosemite and other areas out West in February from Halifax in our 95 EVC (manual transmission however).
And I say this after a No Start last week with a 14 kms tow back to my house. New starter motor on its way but I can appreciate the difficulty of doing any repairs "on the road". |
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swsl
Samba Member
Joined: February 20, 2017
Posts: 113
Location: New Mexico
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| Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2025 10:37 am Post subject: Re: Stuck on the roadside |
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You have a manual transmission so you've eliminated probably 70% of the risk for long term shop repairs.
I've been poking into other forums and people have trouble with their 4 year old (or even new!) Sprinters, Promasters etc that take just as much time and money and are just little things. But parts are expensive just like ours and sometimes also hard to get. Bad sensor key fob issues, fuse box etc.
Newer and fancier means exponentially more failure points and expensive parts. More money upfront offers no safe harbor, I'm learning. Maybe a lower rate of failure for a few years, but the fails can be deeper for more things.
Overall, it's a risky business travelling by land in any "modern" vehicle. The 80s-2010s were the golden age of reliable vehicles that could usually be repaired promptly if failed.
At least there's no bandits on the highways these days....so far!
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