1989 vs. 1990-91

[mordeaux]

Greetings all.

I am trying to acquire a Vanagon and have been enjoying the wealth of information found in these fora. I have narrowed my search to 1989 Vanagons at the oldest but have a general question for you all.

Are there any siginificant mechanical improvements to be had with a 1990 or 1991 versus a 1989? I am aware that the 90-91s have rear seat shoulder belts but the mechanics seem otherwise identical. Is there something to recommend a 90-91 over an 89?

[Cat and Walter]

91 has an emergency exit on rear door from inside, i think 90 seat belt nrecepticles are higher up. fridge on late 90's up have electronic ignition and i think late 90 up has an improved 3/4th gear slyder. the 89 is the best looking of the 3.

[mordeaux]

Thanks. I should have mentioned that I'm specifically looking at Wolfsburg and Carat models. I'm not in Westy World yet.

[Mad-Max]

my family has had both 89 and 91 carat models, but we sold the 89. not really that different but we have noticed that the 91 has had more problems than the 89, such as more coolant leaks and unusally little problems that come out of no where. they say never buy a car the first year its made or the last year because there usually sloppy.
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[aviatorjames]

My second Vanagon was a '90 and my current one is an '89...

My '90 had rear bench seat shoulder harnesses and my '89 does not.
So if you have older kids that will be riding back there, it might a safety consideration.

But I would look more for the present condition than a specific year.
The shoulder harness could probably be installed in an '89.

I honestly can't think of any other differences...
...I sure love my '89 Wolfsburg!!!

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...some days it's not even worth chewing through the restraints...

[mordeaux]

I guess you do love it - that's a clean ride!

It doesn't appear to me that any major changes occurred in the three year span I'm considering. Didn't know if there were major improvements to the fuel injection or maybe larger brake rotors or such.

[jeremysmithatshawdotca]

There are kits available to convert the rear belts to three point, as a matter of fact there was a thread about it a couple weeks ago.

Jeremy