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AZ Landshaper
Samba Member
Joined: February 08, 2009
Posts: 1698
Location: The Old Pueblo
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 Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2018 5:38 am Post subject: Re: Looking to buy a Vw Vanagon |
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#2
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Support Small Business.
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85 Weekender w/ EJ22
Previously
64, 71, 72, 73, 76, 81, 84, 85 & 87 Campmobiles and Westfalias
and a 67 bug. |
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AndyBees
Samba Member
Joined: January 31, 2008
Posts: 2331
Location: Southeast Kentucky
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| Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:05 am Post subject: Re: Looking to buy a Vw Vanagon |
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I would go for #2 as well.
I'm sure at some point you would like to get the AC going since you live in Florida. Seems that #1 may have had the AC bits all removed.....
I got my 89 Carat two years ago fro $3,000.00. Installed a used ECU for cheap and haven't looked back!
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'84 Vanagon Tin-top, ALH TDI. 1989 Tin-top
1983 Air-cool, 225k miles, 180k miles mine. Seven trips to Alaska from 1986 thru 2003. |
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Ahwahnee
Samba Member
Joined: June 05, 2010
Posts: 9810
Location: Mt Lemmon, AZ
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| Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2018 7:47 am Post subject: Re: Looking to buy a Vw Vanagon |
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| Abscate wrote: |
You should ask a vanagonqualified mechanic how much they charge for a PPI.
It should be $500 give or take... |
And possibly much less. One of the top VW shops here in Tucson charges $150 and assures buyers they will come away with enough info to get more than that in price reduction. Cost can be more if you want them to dig deeper (e.g. determining exactly why compression is low in one cylinder).
Good shops often price PPI low in hopes that once you buy they will have you as a customer.
Like others, I favor the second one - in addition to a cold start I would take a careful look after a longish drive with a hot engine. The coolant pressure tank may give a clue if there is an exhaust leak in the heads -- but probably too complicated to explain here what that would look like and what it means. |
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hdenter
Samba Member
Joined: October 14, 2008
Posts: 2754
Location: San Luis Obispo, CA
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| Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2018 12:10 pm Post subject: Re: Looking to buy a Vw Vanagon |
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What year is the van you have?
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'79 triple white convertible bug
'84 sunroof vanagon
'85 weekender |
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obzrve
Samba Member
Joined: November 17, 2016
Posts: 52
Location: Hollywood,FL
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| Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2018 2:23 pm Post subject: Re: Looking to buy a Vw Vanagon |
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| hdenter wrote: |
| What year is the van you have? |
I have a Vw 83 |
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hdenter
Samba Member
Joined: October 14, 2008
Posts: 2754
Location: San Luis Obispo, CA
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| Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2018 2:37 pm Post subject: Re: Looking to buy a Vanagon |
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If that '83 is water cooled, it will have a lot parts that can be kept as spares for the '85 van...
Hans
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'79 triple white convertible bug
'84 sunroof vanagon
'85 weekender |
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obzrve
Samba Member
Joined: November 17, 2016
Posts: 52
Location: Hollywood,FL
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| Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:24 pm Post subject: Re: Looking to buy a Vw Vanagon |
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1985 VW
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 22668
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2018 4:19 pm Post subject: Re: Looking to buy a Vanagon |
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| Quote: |
Good shops often price PPI low in hopes that once you buy they will have you as a customer.
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Great shops that want to stay in business charge actual hours.
Anyone in the trade here give away hours for free for future?? Skills??
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.ssS! |
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elizer 
Samba Member
Joined: May 02, 2016
Posts: 1464
Location: Northern Virginia
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| Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2018 4:50 pm Post subject: Re: Looking to buy a Vanagon |
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| looks like he pulled the ac and condenser ask why.not too difficult to put it back together. |
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obzrve
Samba Member
Joined: November 17, 2016
Posts: 52
Location: Hollywood,FL
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| Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2018 1:34 pm Post subject: Re: Looking to buy a Vanagon |
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| They are giving a lot of spare parts. |
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RicoS
Samba Member
Joined: December 02, 2006
Posts: 583
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| Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2018 6:55 am Post subject: Re: Looking to buy a Vanagon |
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| obzrve wrote: |
| . . . What do you guys think? . . . |
Well, you've heard many opinions given without consequences, so, which of these jewels did you buy?
I gotta say: buying a car should not be a popularity contest, especially if there is no entry fee. Anyone can cough up an assessment of a car he has not seen, smelled or heard in the flesh without having a dog in the fight . . . if he's spending OPM (Other People's Money).
Look, if you're really bogged down in indecision, don't buy either. Other, and better, deals will come your way.
When the right van shows up, you'll know it from a hundred feet away. And you won't need a pre-purchase inspection to know it (I had PPI's on some of the worst used cars I ever bought).
An anecdote:
I arranged to initially meet with the seller of my first Syncro at a 7-Eleven some 180 miles from my burg. The guy was not showing up, so I called him from the pay phone (pre-cell-phone-days) in front of the 7-Eleven and left a message. At some point, while waiting for a call back, I found out that in order to discourage drug dealing, the pay phone could not receive calls.
Just as I was about to pack it in, Eric turned into the parking lot apologizing profusely as we shook hands.
Although the Syncro had more miles on it than I wanted to see and a rear bumper fashioned from a chunk of landscape timber painted black, I knew in my gut it was a solid van.
On the way to finding a notary for the title work, Eric pulled over. He came back to me and said, "Rich, the van is not running 100% and I wouldn't want you to get stranded on your long trip home. I'll have it straightened out and deliver it to you later this week." How could I refuse that deal?
It was late on a Saturday in the VA burbs outside of DC, so we dropped the van off after hours at the nearest VW dealer. Eric wrote "Do what it takes to get this van running properly" on the service order and took me to dinner.
Later that week, my sweetheart and I met Eric at an airport near my home. Before his buddy landed to pick him up, Eric told me it cost him eight bills at the VW dealer to get new plug wires and what amounted to a tune up.
That was one of the best and longest running Vanagoons I ever had - God bless you, Eric, wherever you are.
Richie (near The Burgh) |
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