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OB Bus
Samba Member
Joined: February 09, 2003
Posts: 2541
Location: Ocean Beach in Beautiful BLUE California
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 Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2018 4:54 pm Post subject: Should I buy? **EDIT** We bought it! Newby questions. |
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OK, thanks in advance for your patience. First post in the EV forum.
We are long time air cooled owners but right now we are agonizing about purchase of a 2000 Eurovan. I'm 65 and just not able to do the maintenance on the 67 or 69. We have located a couple of shops local to us that will work on EVs. Our idea is to get a Winnebago EV camper to travel with our 3 dogs. Requirements are an automatic, power steering, good a/c, inside kitchen and a modicum of safety features. We already have a long list of potential issues to check out and preventative measures we will take before road trip time.
I have read everything I can find but am stumped on a parts issue.
A blown radiator hose on an 18 year old vehicle is something that might possibly happen. I can find upper radiator hoses from a couple of vendors but not the lower hose. Looking at the pictures this is a pretty complex part and I really do not think I can get it from the FLAPS down the street. Is one available somewhere?
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Larry in OB
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!
69 Westfalia and 2002 Eurovan Camper.
Last edited by OB Bus on Sat Nov 03, 2018 10:48 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 22670
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2018 6:21 pm Post subject: Re: Should I buy? (Once again) Newby parts question. |
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Larry , pull a part number and we should be able To find it. Worst case VW will order one from EU on their dime, it might be expensive vs aftermarket, but VW rubber last decades, va hours on some of the cheap crap
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Zeitgeist 13
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Joined: March 05, 2009
Posts: 12115
Location: Port Manteau
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| Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2018 6:22 pm Post subject: Re: Should I buy? (Once again) Newby parts question. |
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I'm not sure about your lower rad hose, but the few bits n' pieces I've found to be NLA are all found in the interior. I've been able to locate all of the VR6 engine bits without a problem. If you're concerned about a coolant issue while on the road, I'd replace all the plastic junctions, especially the thermostat housing and the tee junction just to the side of the brake booster. Most of the hoses can be spliced if need be.
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Casey--
'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik? |
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TDCTDI
Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013
Posts: 12857
Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2018 6:42 pm Post subject: Re: Should I buy? (Once again) Newby parts question. |
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Screw a EVC, for that kind of money, you can buy a much larger RV with plenty of parts availability that wasn’t built around a car driveline. For what people are asking for a EVC, you could throw another $10-20k at a Sprinter camper.
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Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 22670
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2018 7:13 pm Post subject: Re: Should I buy? (Once again) Newby parts question. |
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I think with three dogs I would start with a Weekemder and do a custom two plus dogs interior , especially if you think your trips will be under 7 days duration.
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OB Bus
Samba Member
Joined: February 09, 2003
Posts: 2541
Location: Ocean Beach in Beautiful BLUE California
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| Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2018 8:06 pm Post subject: Re: Should I buy? (Once again) Newby parts question. |
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| Abscate wrote: |
| Larry , pull a part number and we should be able To find it. |
Thanks. Once I located a part number and entered that into Google there were a dozen or more vendors with the part available to ship.
| Zeitgeist wrote: |
| If you're concerned about a coolant issue while on the road, I'd replace all the plastic junctions, especially the thermostat housing and the tee junction just to the side of the brake booster. |
Thanks also. Those items are on the "things to replace before any road trips" list.
| TDCTDI wrote: |
| Screw a EVC, for that kind of money, you can buy a much larger RV with plenty of parts availability that wasn’t built around a car driveline. For what people are asking for a EVC, you could throw another $10-20k at a Sprinter camper. |
From a nuts-and-bolts perspective true. However in my world a motohome will never exist and a Sprinter is just way too huge.
| Abscate wrote: |
| I think with three dogs I would start with a Weekemder and do a custom two plus dogs interior , especially if you think your trips will be under 7 days duration. |
One of the advantages of the Winnie is the additional length = more room for the dogs to stretch out. Also the ability to make coffee inside when it is cold and wet outside would be nice.
Over the years we have backpacked, tent camped, car camped, had a small cabover camper, and have had 4 tent trailers from basic to almost luxury. Every kind of a setup has compromises. The EV has my Spidey-senses ringing in my head telling me to run away and quickly. I'm trying to mitigate the potential problems before getting serious.
Seriously, thank you all for your help and honesty.
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Larry in OB
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!
69 Westfalia and 2002 Eurovan Camper. |
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TDCTDI
Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013
Posts: 12857
Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2018 1:20 am Post subject: Re: Should I buy? (Once again) Newby parts question. |
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While the EVC has additional length, it loses room by having all the camping crap in it. I have had full camper Westys & prefer the weekenders due to them not having all of the cabinets & stuff taking up valuable space in the vehicle.
Get a measurement of the width of the bed in a EVC, put your bed against the wall & put a couple of coolers on it to simulate the width of the EVC bed & see how long you & the missus can be comfortable in that space.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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njt1rider
Samba Member
Joined: August 18, 2013
Posts: 62
Location: Louisville, KY
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| Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2018 7:05 am Post subject: Re: Should I buy? (Once again) Newby parts question. |
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| If going for EV, do yourself a favor and find an 01-03. Bigger brakes and other upgrades on the newer ones. After living in a weekender and a mid wheel base Mercedes sprinter with a dog, I would pick the sprinter any day of the week. Not raining on EVs, I really miss mine. But if you are looking for reliability, ease of parts finding, mechanics to work on them....sprinter is a no brainer...(plus they are in fashion at the moment) |
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 22670
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2018 7:15 am Post subject: Re: Should I buy? (Once again) Newby parts question. |
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We weekend camp with four in our 2002 EV and week camp with two and two dogs.
I missed that is was a 2000, the 24V VR6 and 201HP in the 2002 EuroBus is awesome and I would miss that. 20 mpg highway
We make coffee in the MV with no problems - make up a metal tin to contain a small burner and go at it on the table, stow in rear under seat when cool
We do re remove rear facing jump seat for camping.
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Stripped66
Samba Member
Joined: May 31, 2005
Posts: 3470
Location: Charleston, SC
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| Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2018 9:08 am Post subject: Re: Should I buy? (Once again) Newby parts question. |
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| njt1rider wrote: |
| Not raining on EVs, I really miss mine. But if you are looking for reliability, ease of parts finding, mechanics to work on them....sprinter is a no brainer...(plus they are in fashion at the moment) |
This. EVs will make you pay, one way or another. Either big upfront cost of purchasing a low-mile van with complete service records, or financial death by a thousand repairs on a less-expensive, high-mileage van.
I'm not necessarily advocating a Sprinter, or other converted vans, but just pointing out that an EV will not be an economical vehicle no matter how you shake it.
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| 66brm wrote: |
| Bodacious wrote: |
| Why not just make a custom set of wires with a Y splice in them. Then you could just run one distributor. |
I don't think electrickery works that way |
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Euroski
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Joined: June 12, 2018
Posts: 9
Location: Utah
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| Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2018 10:09 am Post subject: Re: Should I buy? (Once again) Newby parts question. |
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| TDCTDI wrote: |
| Screw a EVC, for that kind of money, you can buy a much larger RV with plenty of parts availability that wasn’t built around a car driveline. For what people are asking for a EVC, you could throw another $10-20k at a Sprinter camper. |
Bet you can't give examples of an alternative of a same size or smaller RV that sleeps four and transports more. Being able to do this while parking in a standard size garage are deal makers for many. |
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wildenbeast
Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2008
Posts: 680
Location: Colorado
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| Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2018 10:58 am Post subject: Re: Should I buy? (Once again) Newby parts question. |
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I think there are some examples out there, they are just not as common as a Eurovan. Here's a nice one on my local craigslist with a modern pop-top and 64k miles for 38k: https://boulder.craigslist.org/cto/d/2014-ram-promaster-conversion/6701850611.html
| Euroski wrote: |
| TDCTDI wrote: |
| Screw a EVC, for that kind of money, you can buy a much larger RV with plenty of parts availability that wasn’t built around a car driveline. For what people are asking for a EVC, you could throw another $10-20k at a Sprinter camper. |
Bet you can't give examples of an alternative of a same size or smaller RV that sleeps four and transports more. Being able to do this while parking in a standard size garage are deal makers for many. |
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TDCTDI
Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013
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Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2018 11:09 am Post subject: Re: Should I buy? (Once again) Newby parts question. |
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| Euroski wrote: |
| TDCTDI wrote: |
| Screw a EVC, for that kind of money, you can buy a much larger RV with plenty of parts availability that wasn’t built around a car driveline. For what people are asking for a EVC, you could throw another $10-20k at a Sprinter camper. |
Bet you can't give examples of an alternative of a same size or smaller RV that sleeps four and transports more. Being able to do this while parking in a standard size garage are deal makers for many. |
Reread the part that you highlighted & see if my statement has any bearing on your challenge. Furthermore, the OP only needed space for two adults & dogs.
My point was that a Eurovan camper is currently not a good deal for the money. If you're only sleeping two, you could buy a few year old domestic van, pay a cabinet maker $10,000 to make it any way you want & still have $10,000 to do whatever you wanted, have more space, & be able to find parts for it at a local FLAPS.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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tweeter
Samba Member
Joined: November 21, 2015
Posts: 19
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| Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2018 7:46 am Post subject: Re: Should I buy? (Once again) Newby parts question. |
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I haven't had any issues getting parts for the mechanics of the van. Some of the winnie bits could be tricky or require workarounds but I see no show stoppers.
People ask stupid prices but I wonder if anyone is stupid enough to pay them. EVC's be found fairly priced from realistic sellers.
After 6 years of extensive travel in the EVC and continually looking for the perfect travel vehicle I can't find it. The EVC is getting old, when you want to run around you've got to fold everything up. A regular van with a platform, camping stove, etc works fine but you can't stand up. Pulling a small trailer has advantages if you stay put more than travel. Sprinters are nice with a raised roof, whether passenger or conversion but big, $ and awkward. On our recent trip I looked at Sprinters, Airstreams and loved the Cricket trailer. After all that
the EVC is a keeper. |
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OB Bus
Samba Member
Joined: February 09, 2003
Posts: 2541
Location: Ocean Beach in Beautiful BLUE California
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| Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2018 4:21 pm Post subject: Re: Should I buy? (Once again) Newby parts question. |
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https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2207987
After a whole lot of research, phone calls and spousal discussions we decided that we wanted the Winnie LWB version for the space, the 2001-2003 for the power, bigger brakes, air bag, traction control and ABS improvements, and low low miles to hope for longer mechanical life.
This is the one I am driving up to see on Wednesday. Crazy money but that is the "market" for low miles EVCs. Obviously the trans is the single biggest potential issue but I'll give it a thorough go over. I found a garage close that could do a pre-purchase inspection if we get that far.
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Larry in OB
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!
69 Westfalia and 2002 Eurovan Camper. |
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wildenbeast
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Joined: April 04, 2008
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Location: Colorado
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markcm2
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Joined: September 02, 2015
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Location: Bellingham, Washington
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| Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 12:54 pm Post subject: Re: Should I buy? (Once again) Newby parts question. |
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| I'd be curious to know if someone is willing to pay $32.5k for a clean low mileage weekender with minimal upgrades. Low miles doesn't guarantee the transmission or timing chain will hold up better than any other EV. |
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Zeitgeist 13
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Joined: March 05, 2009
Posts: 12115
Location: Port Manteau
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| Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 2:13 pm Post subject: Re: Should I buy? (Once again) Newby parts question. |
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That's sure sharp looking, but the price seems like it's about $10k on the high side.
_________________
Casey--
'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik? |
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OB Bus
Samba Member
Joined: February 09, 2003
Posts: 2541
Location: Ocean Beach in Beautiful BLUE California
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| Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 2:59 pm Post subject: Re: Should I buy? (Once again) Newby parts question. |
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| markcm2 wrote: |
| I'd be curious to know if someone is willing to pay $32.5k for a clean low mileage weekender with minimal upgrades. Low miles doesn't guarantee the transmission or timing chain will hold up better than any other EV. |
| Zeitgeist 13 wrote: |
| That's sure sharp looking, but the price seems like it's about $10k on the high side. |
From what I have seen over the past 2-3 weeks of heavy shopping the asking price of Weekenders is substantially less expensive that an EVC. Low mileage and clean looking EVCs listed here, on FB and on Craigslist (including the one I linked above) hover the in the low-to-mid $30Ks. Mind you, none of the ones I have been following have apparently sold at those prices.
Methinks that just like any item that is highly desirable prices will jump with demand. The question remains whether there are buyers at those high prices.
Agreed that low miles does not guarantee mechanical nirvana.
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Larry in OB
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!
69 Westfalia and 2002 Eurovan Camper. |
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 22670
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2018 3:42 am Post subject: Re: Should I buy? (Once again) Newby parts question. |
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| Zeitgeist 13 wrote: |
| That's sure sharp looking, but the price seems like it's about $10k on the high side. |
I’ve had walk up offers of 25-35k for my 2002 in worse condition
I predict that will sell quickly in the high 20s
Transmission is not a “ weak spot” on these cars, the bias is to people who get taken buying a cheap T4 that has a blown trans at 200k and then finding out their steal was in fact them being chumps.
A cared for T4 auto trans lasts 250k miles
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