VW camper van

[BillA]

Has anyone owned one of these? I'm perhaps looking into getting one and was wondering what kinds of experiences people have had with them? Are they all notoriously unreliable? Are there any model years that are supposed to be better/worse? Has anyone seen any alternatives (different makes/models) that look interesting? Thanks!

[Kevin_Matlock]

I could probably write a ton about them, but I'll try to be brief.

 

You talking about the bus (up to '79), the vanagon (80-91), or the eurovan?

Regarding the vanagons, I'll just go on the books as saying "I love 'em" (just look at my f'n avatar). I've owned two of them: '80 camper and now a '90 syncro westi. The syncro camper's rock but can be hard to find, expensive to purchase, and the drive train can be costly to repair.

But there aren't a lot of cars out there that you can sleep 4 adults, with a sink/fridge/stove. It beats the hell out of having to screw with a tent when you are car camping, too. For my solo adventures (and even with a buddy) it's plenty roomy and comfortable.

 

Are they unreliable? Not at all. It's like all cars... there are lemons out there and you MUST do preventative maint (the usual easy stuff) on them so they don't totally fall apart. This is no different than any other 20 year old vehicle.

 

Downsides: yeah they are slow on hills. I'd also avoid the automatics since you just don't have the same feel for the gear and the tranny will constantly be up/down shifting on hills. A manual you can just stick in 3rd and work your way up slowly.

Another problem is that these can sometimes suck in strong winds... you can often feel ever head wind and gusty cross wind.

 

Only other thoughts are:

eurovan - bigger engines but lower ground clearance

vanagons - try and stick with the later years (86 on) since you have the slightly larger engine and you get "real" heat (stick with the water cooled vanagons).

bus - shitty heat and just flat out "old technology", but they can be cool. Had a friend that drives a '67 camper and there isn't much he can't do with his.

 

See my profile, then see my webpage listed... somewhere on there (go to the home page) you can see a link that will show you a page on my cars. From there you can see some pictures and more comments about my vans. I'd just stick the link in this post but I can't get to my site from here at work.

 

So, let's summarize: they are cool if you don't mind a slightly slower drive. I'll probably never get rid of the one that I have now!

[Winter]

Yo Bill, I owned a '79 VW for awhile. Very fun. Call me if you have questions about them.

[rbwen]

Disclaimer: I am not a mechanic. I have merely owned a couple of VW vans. Feel free to pick apart my information and correct it if I'm wrong.

 

I've owned a handful of them. I'll start with the good. I had a '71 van that was great. Easy to work on, fairly straightforward, parts were cheap, the Muir manual was indespensible. It wasn't a camper but you could easily sleep in it. I also had an '84 Westfalia and it was a piece of crap. I LOVED it to death but it broke down often and was costly to repair. The engine design is poor and because of that you have to have the head gaskets replaced frequently (75,000 miles) in order to avoid further damage. Many people talk about replacing them preemptively. Do the water pump at the same time. They are notoriously poor engines as they were some of the first designed to run on gas (not diesel). They also have a problem with the transmission, specifically a syncro between the 3rd and 4th gear. It wears out prematurely and then you have to get the tranny rebuilt, at least I did. It was one of those things VW knew about but wouldn't recall.

 

They are slow and they're somewhat heavy but they are a TON of fun when they're running. We took mine across country and back and all around the PNW. Be wary of buying one with high miles that hasn't had a recent tranny service, new head gaskets, water pump, and possibly even new heads. I think they main thing with the heads with the 84 and 85s was the gasket used...I could be wrong. If you do buy one of the water cooled VWs make sure to use the correct antifreeze or it will ruin the aluminum heads. You need phosphate-free, so that would be a good thing to check when buying one.

 

More good. We currently have a '91 Westfalia and we love it. It has 130,000 and had a rebuilt tranny and engine about 40,000 miles ago. It runs great and is a blast to own. There's nothing like driving somewhere, climbing all day, getting back and sipping a cold beer from the fridge, taking a nap in the back, heating up some dinner on the stove, maybe watching a DVD and heading off to sleep. If you are going to buy a Vanagon or Westfalia avoid the '84s and '85s. Apparently the '86s and up are mechanically more sound.

 

An interesting note, to get financing for a Westfalia you have to be ready to convince the lender that they are worth more than the Blue Book says they are. They are very underpriced (or overvalued by owners) and we had to put some $$ down that we weren't expecting to get ours. We paid $11,000 for our '91 and felt we got a steal. It could have easily have gone for $15,000 in Seattle or CA or PDX.

 

Feel free to PM if you have more questions. Again, I'm not a mechanice but I am an owner. Also, there are some pretty good forums that have a ton of good Q&A. vanagon.com is one, gowesty.com is another.

 

rbwen

[ZimZam]

Kevin's comments are spot on. I have an 87 Westy and this past summer drove from NJ to the PNW. Water cooled 2.1L is the way to go. An excellent sight on the interweb in thesamba.com. There are vanagons for sale and a helpful forum also. If you do pick one up be sure to purchase a Bentley manual. It is an indispensable reference for repairs. PM me if you need any help.

[Chad_A]

Nice syncro, Kevin!

 

I'm planning on getting out of the VW thing (too many hobbies), but that sure is a nice looking rig.

 

I'd reinforce what Kevin has to say about parts for these (syncros)....they don't come cheap. I'd also suggest a post '86 Westie, as others have said. They have a bit more power, and you can go many places with them. My pal has an '87; he puts studded tires on in the winter, and goes all over the place with it.

[Adventurewagen]

I own a 1971 camper. I love it. I got it specifically for all our climbing trips and travels. I've also owned a 68 and I have a 63 notchback. I've lived in mine for about 7 months and I've put well over 40k miles on it in the last couple years all across the country. It has a full futon bed, a sink, closet, two burner stove and a fridge for that cold beer! CC.com is definately not the place to find out about them. You can PM me or check out www.thesamba.com or http://sluggoproductions.com/iac/

 

Both those sites will have more than all the info you need and you'll find there are other forums out there where actual information is dispensed and not just spray. There is alot to consider and a big spread in differences between the years. Many will argue Aircooled is better for certain reasons, then again the ugly syncro's may be more reliable for longer stints, but working on them can be a bitch and parts aren't cheap nor are the syncros. There are different camping layouts and different options between the years and campers. So depending on how you want to use it, where you want to go, your ability to work with mechanical items or even the size of your bank account will determine which ones you want. I got mine for 1000 bucks as well which is another plus, but 4-6k in Seattle will get you a really nice one (1968 to 1979).

 

I will say that I've passed alot of broken down SUV's along my travels and even though i tinker with mine all the time I bet I could keep it running longer than anyone on any road trip on this site (except for maybe the other ACVW guys out there, we'd tie ). Although I'd never beat anyone from point A to B, but I would be traveling in style.

[beecher]

I've owned an '84 Westie for a number of years (among the first of the water-cooled Vanagon). I've heard anecdotally that a slightly newer van is preferable because they worked some kinks out of the cooling system, but I haven't had any problems with mine. When I was looking to buy, it was readily apparent that most of the vans available for purchase had been 'resting' for quite some time in front of their owner's house, or neglected in some other way. I found one that had been properly maintained and have had a good experience with it. Easy to work on and very reliable. The biggest problem has been with peripheral plastic parts cracking and breaking, like any old VW. Even with truck tires on the rear wheels, the van is terrible in the snow though, although this can be improved slightly by asking passengers to ride in back on top of the engine while travelling uphill. Seriously, these things suck in the snow. I've never driven a synchro, but I think a converted 4WD Ford or Astrovan would be my pick if I planned on a lot of winter driving. My favorite part of vanagon travel is the novelty of riding on top of the front wheels, and that your body is the crumple zone.

[Kevin_Matlock]

Even with truck tires on the rear wheels, the van is terrible in the snow though...

Seriously, these things suck in the snow. I've never driven a synchro, but I think a converted 4WD Ford or Astrovan would be my pick if I planned on a lot of winter driving.

 

My old 2wd van didn't hold a candle to my syncro. Yup, the syncros are the way to go for snowing conditions. I have pretty aggressive all terrain BFGs on my van and it doesn't have a problem at all.

In REALLY bad conditions I scored some really nice European tire chains for all 4 corners.... I can typically trudge along at 40mph in the snow without even noticing much.

[MarkMcJizzy]

Wow, what do you guys know?

 

A syncro is short for syncromesh, a part of a standard transmission which allows the gears to mesh easier. Without a syncro, you have to double clutch

[daj]

I owned a 91 Westy and it was the greatest van for trips if you dont mind 50 mph over the passes. The ground clearance was better that my little toyota tacoma I have now and dont get me started on the ability to run a two burner stove while standing in my sleepign bag. I never had any major technical difficulties with mine. A good friend just dropped a subaru engine in his, that seems like the way to go, or like stated above get a syncro, not so easy to find though.

[Chad_A]

Wow, what do you guys know?

 

A syncro is short for syncromesh, a part of a standard transmission which allows the gears to mesh easier. Without a syncro, you have to double clutch

 

In case this isn't a sarcastic troll, "Syncro" is the name VW used for their 4WD Vanagons; similar to "Quattro" used by Audi, but a bit different in the way the system works.

[MarkMcJizzy]

rbwen says:

 

They also have a problem with the transmission, specifically a syncro between the 3rd and 4th gear. It wears out prematurely and then you have to get the tranny rebuilt, at least I did. It was one of those things VW knew about but wouldn't recall.

Then, in response to all sorts of nonsence, I say:

 

Wow, what do you guys know?

 

A syncro is short for syncromesh, a part of a standard transmission which allows the gears to mesh easier. Without a syncro, you have to double clutch

 

In case this isn't a sarcastic troll, "Syncro" is the name VW used for their 4WD Vanagons; similar to "Quattro" used by Audi, but a bit different in the way the system works.

 

So, it is not my fault that people have been talking about apples and oranges here. Volkswagon can fuck off.

Edited November 13, 2006 by Markmckillop

[Chad_A]

Oh, okay then...I didn't know who you were referencing. The [Re:____] line of your response indicated climberx, not rbwen.