Intro and request

[Fisherman1]

Hi all,
Hopefully this is an appropriate spot to introduce myself and request a bit of help with my search. My name is Chris. I'm 23 years old, from Ontario. I'm looking to do some traveling out west this summer and have been looking at some VW campers. Apologies for all the questions
1) I've been looking at campers around 1983-1985, thoughts on vans from these years?
2) I've heard from my mechanic friend that they breakdown often. Just how often can I expect these vans to breakdown, I feel like if properly cared for and not pushed to the extremes, they're pretty sturdy?
3) What sort of mileage should I be looking for?

If anyone has any leads as to a van that would be a good fit, I'd love to hear about it. Ideally, I would be looking for vans from Canada due to the exchange rate but open to anything

[mjanderle]

I suggest you buy this :

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1976 BMW R90/6
1979 Honda XL250
2004 BMW R1150GSA
2019 Toyota Tacoma TRD OR
1987 VW Vanagon Wolfsberg Edition, Westfalia Weekender

Gone but not forgotten, 1976 Toyota Land Crusier FJ40

Déjà-nesia - Having amnesia and déjà vu at the same time. I think I’ve forgotten this s@*t before.

[Ahwahnee]

Welcome to the Samba - you are wise to ask before you buy as many make the leap and then try to figure out how to make there coice right for them.

1) 83-85? I think the 83-85 model years are fine - but then I have one. The water-cooled engine was introduced mid-83 so if that is what you have in mind you will want to confirm that an 83 you look at is water cooled (also referred to as waterboxer or WBX).

2) Breakdown often? I've driven mine 190,000 miles and it has broken down once with something that was not easily resolved right at the side of the road. Even that could have been avoided if I had chosen to respond to the first sign of trouble (coolant leak) instead of seeing how far I could get away with it.

It will be an old vehicle - 30 years old in the range you're asking about - so preparation will be critical to any success and the ability to fix it yourself will also go a long way to assuring you keep going.

[akyrie]

Haha Madison Represents, bringing out the pain.

Expect to double investment to make it reliable. As the saying goes around here, the cost of the van is the entrance fee, expect lots of mid level game add ons, upgrades, and maintenance.

This is the right place to be, but these volks like it if you search around the site, look at the faq section, etc.. before you ask lots of questions. FYI
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Although I got a funny message from the Porsche guys, it read, "what a mighty ship that you must sail"
....has anyone else received that?

82 AHU DK, 1950's Puch-black

[SCM]

[Gnarlodious]

My Vanagon has never broken down on the road. Not in 15 years and 100,000 miles.

Of course, the likelihood of getting stranded is directionally proportional to your mechanical skills. ‘Nuf said.
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Vanagon ’83 diesel AAZ w/Giles injection, 5spd 4.57R&P+TBD and a '78 diesel Rabbit

[eeebee]

Vanagons were somewhat unreliable when new, in the 1980s. Now, 30 years later, they can made almost that reliable again if you work at it.
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Eric

1987 Vanagon Wolfsburg Special Edition
GoWesty 2.3

Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time.

[CessnaJon]

[quote="eeebee"]Vanagons were somewhat unreliable when new, in the 1980s. Now, 30 years later, they can made almost that reliable again if you work at it.[/quote

Hahaha!!
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1973 Westy (shared birthday)
1990 Westy Multivan
2015 Passat TDI 6sp
2015 Sportwagon TDI 6sp
LR-JET, Gulfstream 159

[2wdvanagon]

Hey Fisherman1. I am really not aware of a bad year for Vanagons. Vanagons are simple to wrench on and get roadworthy. It really depends on your bank account and mechanical abilities, or willingness to learn. Don't expect to get more than 16 MPG. Vanagons are great to travel in, but give us more info so we can advise you properly.

[shadetreetim]

[Fisherman1]

[morymob]

Since '92 , owned 5 wbx's, 3 were 84's (my favorite ), after a thorough going over at 1st, all beat 16mpg's. My last one, 88westy, gets best so far 20 on the road, more tweeking is coming, others were tin tops so a big diff in weight. My longest owned 84 gl had rebuild engfrom thr start, a lot of ttweeking & mi always 20+. All engines especially of this era are not at their best from fact, parts tolerances, wear etc, they can be improved with trial & error mostly, the westy started out lower & i may be at its max, time will tell. As usual no warranty offered at this time.

[Steve M.]

Chris, your 23, go out and have an adventure.

If you listen to the naysayers on here you'll never leave.
Find one. Look it over with some intelligence and have a great experience out there seeing the country.

[dhaavers]

Reliability (pro/con):
Long drive, did you make it? 1,000+ miles
"Reliability" (title search)

Show us your emergency, break-down Tow Pics!!
The big Vanagon failures, wrecks and fires thread

Mileage:
What's your gas mileage / fuel economy?

Of course, any single van owner's experience tends to lie somewhere between the
extremes. Get the best van you can, have some more money ready to deal with
any issues (there will always be something), start using it & have some fun...!!!

Good luck in your search - keep in touch!

- Dave
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86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS>

[SteveVanB]

My 83.5 Vanagon is the most reliable car I own....just sayin...
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91 CARAT

[Ahwahnee]

[IdahoDoug]

At 23 it's a fork in the road decision. Choose the Vanagon and have several breakdowns and meet people who are either attracted to the coolness factor of the Vanagon during your travels, or people who drive tow trucks for a living. Choose a GM/Ford van and have no breakdowns, twice the interior space and get 3mpg worse.

These are cool hobby vehicles and even people who are world class techs have Vanagon breakdowns. It's all fun and games until you are in Banff and a mechanic is explaining that he needs a check for $1265 (your entire summer budget for food) to replace the water pump and left side head seals. With $2 gas predicted for the next 18 months, I'd have a V8!

Doug
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader

[SteveVanB]

Wet blanket....

I say get a van and drive the hell out of it! just be ready to include a break down and repairs into your adventures....
just remember, its not just the destination, but the journey too...I still tell the story of how I limped my van home from the Keys(430 miles) with a blown compression ring. Good times....
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91 CARAT

[Merian]

I agree - get a van and drive the hell out of it!

or get a Vanagon and be ready to get towed for those big repair bills, and maybe be ready to hike for a few days to reach a place near a cell tower

your choice

[IdahoDoug]

Meh - stories. I'd be willing to bet for every cool story where someone on a shoestring budget driving a poorly maintained 30 year old vehicle successfully limped home from a mechanical catastrophe, there are 9 stories about how the broken vehicle got left in Peoria to rot. And the mechanic in Peoria got tired of it sitting in the parking lot, got a mechanic's lien and sold it to the local salvage yard for $70 while the kid that left it is back at home washing dishes to replenish the bank account to try again "some day".

For most thinking of an adventure like this, there is a time element. A brief collision in life of timing where you can do a road trip. Maybe before going to college and starting the wheel of life. Maybe after college before you get a job and never, ever have the time to take a year off. So, having it screwed up by a breakdown may deny you of the very experience you were daring enough to try for.

I get it that some of us did pull these stunts off, but the statistics are not in your favor that a mechanical breakdown will turn into a movie grade experience complete with a chick letting you crash at her place. That's precisely why when they DO happen, it is pretty cool because that is ultra rare. Otherwise, people would be pulling off on the side of the road, and punching holes in their own radiators because of the guaranteed cool experience that always follows.

Far, far more likely you are going to have a much more favorable "road trip" experience if your road trip vehicle remains mobile to get you around to see that famous vista, arrive on time to see the concert of a life time, and take the chick to that cool mountain lake for a swim. That, to me is having a "journey" or "adventure", where breaking down in 2016 is called sitting on the side of the road. The next people who become part of your life won't likely be a cute brunette, but some guy with a unibrow named Raul who will be hooking your Vanagon to his wrecker to bring it to his brother in law's garage where the $1265 bill awaits. After you meet these two, you will then meet the bored guy at the front desk of the local motel who will ask you for a $75 check for each of the next 4 nights.

Life is not a movie, and to most chicks, a guy in a broken down VW van with bald tires and cardboard over a broken window is not as cool at the guy in the Ford Van who pulls over to help him.

I have been privileged to have had close to a dozen cross country road trips in my life, over 100 nights sleeping in my various vehicles, and I have had some life changing experiences that I'd put in a movie - either for the usual reasons, or because they were so comedic I still chuckle recalling them 30 years later. So, I guess I'm trying to make the point that road trips in reliable vehicles are the way to go, and rather than reducing your experience, they enhance it and give you MORE choices along the way, not less.
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader