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Ahwahnee Samba Member
Joined: June 05, 2010 Posts: 9776 Location: Mt Lemmon, AZ
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Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2020 1:26 pm Post subject: Re: How Long Have You Owned Yours? |
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SyncroHead wrote: |
29 yeas now with my '87 Syncro bought in 1991 from a Chevy dealer in Pasadena, CA. I still have the original paper ad from the Auto-Trader I found it in... |
Me too.
Guess I save everything that has something to do with the van. |
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markswagen Samba Member
Joined: January 28, 2018 Posts: 952 Location: san diego
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Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2020 5:55 pm Post subject: Re: How Long Have You Owned Yours? |
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we've had lucy 9 years almost 90k miles on her now.
bella, the wifes daily 4 years 60k miles
burni my work van, 4 years 47k miles
bobbi 1984 tintop 3 years about 60 miles, she's cheap storage _________________ markswagen {mobile mechanic} san diego area all early VW's cared for.
619 201 0310 |
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campism Samba Member
Joined: September 07, 2007 Posts: 4485 Location: Richmond VA
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Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2020 6:05 pm Post subject: Re: How Long Have You Owned Yours? |
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The PO of our van replied to this ad in '93 to buy the van we later bought from her, and her mass of records conveyed with it.
I had seen it parked on the north side of town for a while and it vanished, turning up later in my neighborhood with a For Sale sign on it and we bought it in August of '06, during the week Pluto was demoted from planethood. Here we are heading out on our first trip.
_________________ '87 Westy in Wolfram Grey Metallic |
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jimf909 Samba Member
Joined: April 03, 2014 Posts: 7402 Location: WA/ID
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Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2020 6:26 pm Post subject: Re: How Long Have You Owned Yours? |
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campism wrote: |
The PO of our van replied to this ad in '93 to buy the van we later bought from her, and her mass of records conveyed with it.
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Oh man, she blew it! She coulda bought a newer Plymouth Grand Voyager for $300 less.
Look what she missed out on...
_________________ - Jim
Abscate wrote: |
Do not get killed, do not kill others.
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Current: 1990 Westy Camper - Bostig RG4, 2wd, manual trans w/Peloquin, NAHT high-top, 280 ah LFP battery, 160 watts solar, Flash Silver, seam rust, bondo, etc., etc.
Past: 1985 Westy Camper - 1.9 wbx, 2wd, manual trans, Merian Brown, (sold after 17 years to Northwesty who converted it to a Syncro). |
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campism Samba Member
Joined: September 07, 2007 Posts: 4485 Location: Richmond VA
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2020 5:56 am Post subject: Re: How Long Have You Owned Yours? |
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It's okay, I bought a couple of those ^ but I waited for the price to come down. Not quite the cachet of a Vanagon but a damn versatile vehicle. _________________ '87 Westy in Wolfram Grey Metallic |
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shadetreemech Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2005 Posts: 777 Location: Claremont, CA
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2020 7:46 am Post subject: Re: How Long Have You Owned Yours? |
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Bought the '84 GL in April 1990 when we were expecting our daughter. Still have it, still runs.
Cut my teeth on repairing & maintaining the '84. Discovered I had Vanagon OCD.
Bought the '88 Westy Full Camper in September 2018 after my wife died. Made it into Northern California and out to New Mexico, and points inside that radius, so far.
Dan _________________ '84 GL 1.9
'01 Volvo V70 T5
'88 Westy - "MZDRTHY" |
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Abscate Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014 Posts: 22568 Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2020 7:53 am Post subject: Re: How Long Have You Owned Yours? |
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Dorothy smiling down at you, Dan. _________________ .ssS! |
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shadetreemech Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2005 Posts: 777 Location: Claremont, CA
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2020 7:55 am Post subject: Re: How Long Have You Owned Yours? |
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Abscate wrote: |
Dorothy smiling down at you, Dan. |
Dan _________________ '84 GL 1.9
'01 Volvo V70 T5
'88 Westy - "MZDRTHY" |
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Blaque Jacques Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2018 Posts: 114 Location: Moab
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2020 6:17 pm Post subject: Re: How Long Have You Owned Yours? |
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Bought mine in July 2013 locally here in Moab. our daughter was 2 and with another on the way we were looking for a reliable used Honda or Toyota minivan with AC. My wife saw an ad in the local paper and we thought why not check it out? I'd had a '78 westy years before and missed it. We took it for a test ride and instantly fell in love, even though it didn't have AC. We offered $8k cash and drove it home. Took it to Yosemite and back a month later. Its now been all over the west and to the bottom of Baja and back. Its a huge part of our family!
_________________ 86 2wd Westy GW2200. 97, 99 02 EVC. Lots and lots of bikes |
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Playapixie Samba Member
Joined: July 16, 2013 Posts: 10 Location: Seattle, WA
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Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 3:32 pm Post subject: Re: How Long Have You Owned Yours? |
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‘91 Vanagon GL full camper that’s owned me since 2002 (18years!) Subaru 2.5 conversion since 2020; here’s to another 18! _________________ Dawn
Seattle, WA, USA
‘91 Vanagon Camper since 2002! Subaru 2.5 since 2020. |
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bself Samba Member
Joined: October 18, 2004 Posts: 101 Location: Portland, Oregon
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Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 7:10 pm Post subject: Re: How Long Have You Owned Yours? |
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15 years this fall...responded to a Craigslist ad from a guy in Santa Rosa. Flew down from Portland to San Francisco and had a friend of my wife's pick me up and drive me up north. Once we got there, she gave me about an hour to make the call on buying it or not as she had to get back to the city. I def. had some trepidation in choosing to buy it but have to say buying it has been one of my most favorite decisions ever! _________________ 1987 VW Vanagon Westfalia SBX EJ25 |
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jimf909 Samba Member
Joined: April 03, 2014 Posts: 7402 Location: WA/ID
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Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 8:04 pm Post subject: Re: How Long Have You Owned Yours? |
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bself wrote: |
15 years this fall...responded to a Craigslist ad from a guy in Santa Rosa. Flew down from Portland to San Francisco and had a friend of my wife's pick me up and drive me up north. Once we got there, she gave me about an hour to make the call on buying it or not as she had to get back to the city. I def. had some trepidation in choosing to buy it but have to say buying it has been one of my most favorite decisions ever! |
Was this the used Vanagon dealer in Santa Rosa? I shopped Westys there in 1996 but ended up buying mine in Albuquerque. _________________ - Jim
Abscate wrote: |
Do not get killed, do not kill others.
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Current: 1990 Westy Camper - Bostig RG4, 2wd, manual trans w/Peloquin, NAHT high-top, 280 ah LFP battery, 160 watts solar, Flash Silver, seam rust, bondo, etc., etc.
Past: 1985 Westy Camper - 1.9 wbx, 2wd, manual trans, Merian Brown, (sold after 17 years to Northwesty who converted it to a Syncro). |
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Jake59 Samba Member
Joined: June 13, 2007 Posts: 175 Location: Seattle, WA
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Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 5:08 am Post subject: Re: How Long Have You Owned Yours? |
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Love this thread!
We bought our 87 2wd full Westie in 98 with 95k on the odometer. My wife was planning a 5 week trip to and through Alaska. She started the trip after owning for only a few months, in hindsight this was quite risky, but short of suffering from a bout of Vanagon Sindrum, all went well.
Now 22 years and 150k miles later we are much more savvy of her and are planning our retirement with many Westie trips included.
_________________ Curent ride: 87 2WD Westy, 2012 Jetta Sportwagon 2.5S
Past Rides: 62 (23 window) Bus, 64 Ghai convertable, 68 single cab, 72 Super Bettle, 78 Bay window Bus, 84 GTI.
Last edited by Jake59 on Thu Feb 27, 2020 11:47 am; edited 1 time in total |
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bself Samba Member
Joined: October 18, 2004 Posts: 101 Location: Portland, Oregon
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Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 8:20 am Post subject: Re: How Long Have You Owned Yours? |
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jimf909 wrote: |
bself wrote: |
15 years this fall...responded to a Craigslist ad from a guy in Santa Rosa. Flew down from Portland to San Francisco and had a friend of my wife's pick me up and drive me up north. Once we got there, she gave me about an hour to make the call on buying it or not as she had to get back to the city. I def. had some trepidation in choosing to buy it but have to say buying it has been one of my most favorite decisions ever! |
Was this the used Vanagon dealer in Santa Rosa? I shopped Westys there in 1996 but ended up buying mine in Albuquerque. |
No, I bought it from a private seller. _________________ 1987 VW Vanagon Westfalia SBX EJ25 |
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vwhammer Samba Member
Joined: May 20, 2006 Posts: 998 Location: Boulder CO.
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Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 9:58 am Post subject: Re: How Long Have You Owned Yours? |
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I bought my 85 about 6.5 years ago for $2000 in Fall of 2013 with 80000 miles on it.
Drove it home and drove it around for a couple weeks before it started leaking coolant at the head.
Took the heads off to do a reseal only to find that both were cracked between the valves.
At the time I did not know that a lot of people still run with heads like that so I decided that I would do a Subaru swap.
At some point in prepping for the subie stuff I decided that I really wanted it to be 4x4 so I went all in and started my own 4x4 conversion.
It's still in the shop with no suspension under it.
I bought my 91 in Sept of 2018 for $3000 with 230,000 miles on it and the engine blew 20 miles into my 70 mile drive home.
Here it is fresh off the tow truck in my driveway.
Currently doing a solid refurb on every mechanical bit and doing an ABA swap.
Hope to have it done in the next month or two and it will function as my daily driver and camp mobile until the 4x4 is done.
I bought my first MK1 GTI when I turned 18, my second when I turned 20.
I have always been a VW guy but for some reason I initially never really cared for the Vanagon.
I suppose maybe getting older and more financially stable or maybe my growing affinity for the outdoors had something to do with it but one day it just clicked and I had to have one.
Hell, take two they're small.
I don't suspect I will ever sell either one of them but I guess you never know.
Last edited by vwhammer on Thu Feb 27, 2020 10:26 am; edited 2 times in total |
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mikemtnbike Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2015 Posts: 2780 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 10:10 am Post subject: Re: How Long Have You Owned Yours? |
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Bought mine almost exactly 5 years ago, but I hadn't even been looking for a vanagon. I had been shopping for an old truck that I could work on for fun and use to haul garden supplies, maybe get a pop-up to tow. Saw the vanagon on my local craigslist and test drove it on a whim, loved it and bought it that day. I had owned a bay in the late 80's early 90's, so had that connection.
Over 5 years, my van has gone from this on day of purchase:
To this:
Obviously, I love it my wife calls it my second wife.
I think I'll try to take a better current glamour shot when I'm camping this weekend. _________________ 1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual |
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Abscate Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014 Posts: 22568 Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 10:55 am Post subject: Re: How Long Have You Owned Yours? |
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shadetreemech wrote: |
Abscate wrote: |
Dorothy smiling down at you, Dan. |
Dan |
Obligatory
What race does your daughter still run in?
Quote: |
Bought the '84 GL in April 1990 when we were expecting our daughter. Still have it, still runs. |
_________________ .ssS! |
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shadetreemech Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2005 Posts: 777 Location: Claremont, CA
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Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 11:01 am Post subject: Re: How Long Have You Owned Yours? |
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Abscate wrote: |
What race does your daughter still run in?
Quote: |
Bought the '84 GL in April 1990 when we were expecting our daughter. Still have it, still runs. |
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Human. Mostly. Next iteration, sometimes.
_________________ '84 GL 1.9
'01 Volvo V70 T5
'88 Westy - "MZDRTHY" |
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HeinleinTrooper Samba Member
Joined: January 23, 2020 Posts: 72 Location: Washington
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Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 11:15 am Post subject: Re: How Long Have You Owned Yours? |
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Just about five weeks now. _________________ 1990 Vanagon Multivan 2.1 WBX AT |
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raoul mitgong Samba Member
Joined: July 05, 2009 Posts: 1338 Location: Denver, CO
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Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 12:29 pm Post subject: Re: How Long Have You Owned Yours? |
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Great name there Trooper!
-d _________________ 84 Westy with a 2.1 (Groover)
86 Tintop Syncro (Crow)
86 Tintop Syncro to Westy project (Tom Servo)
91 Westy (Only the top 12 inches of this van (a burn victim)) |
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