My wife thinks I'm crazy

[daytimer]

Hello all, Daytimer here. I'm new the the forum. As my subject line says my wife thinks I'm crazy, because recently I started talking about buying a VW Westfalia as our second car, probably & 80's model. Since I ride my bike to work I primarily use our current 2nd car for family camping trips around Southern CA. My wife actually owned a 80's VW westfalia back in the 90's while she was touring with a circus (really I'm not making that up) and 3 months later and about $6000 in repairs & hotel bills she sold it vowing to never own one again. My question to you all is, are they really as unreliable as she encountered, or was there perhaps a "dark period" for VW vans that I should avoid? If they are reliable, are there reputable mechanics in the Los Angeles area that can work on them? I look forward to your replies and remain hopeful that my dreams of tooling around in my VW Westfalia are not as hairbrained as my wife belilves.

Daytimer

[conductorx]

I just sold an '84 Vanagon that was a nightmare. I'll never own another one. Mine had Digi-Jet fuel injection and it has spent more time riding on the car trailer than it has ever been driven. I paid $3500 for it, spend $5500 on mechanics and finally gave it away for $1500. I never spent a single night in it or drove it anywhere without breaking down.

You should look to an earlier aircooled model commonly know as a Bay Window. They were available during the 70's and many of the same things done to bugs can be done to 70's Westys. Aircooled motors can be beefed up and extra cooling added to withstand the heat. We drive them all over Louisiana in 100F heat and high humidity.

I can't answer any questions about mechanics in the LA area but with an aircooled engine you can handle most routine work yourself.

IMHO - your results may vary.
"G"