GOOD STUFF : nice size, great handling, excellent suspension and chassis, world-wide family of affecienados, mostly easy to work on, parts very, very available, easily adaptable to better engines. Weather tight, makes a great truck. Can sleep in it. ETC !

If you look around at the various available van type vehicles.....looking for something worth investing some energy in....something fairly common and available, not too big, affordable, parts are easy to get, well-riding, and good-handling, with a 'family' of other owners, a strong dealer network, an international following etc. etc. .........there's hardly another choice in a van-type vehicle. Sure modern vehicles have great, great capabilities, but they are very complex, expensive to purchase, and expensive to get repaired, and harder to upgrade in terms of smog legality, etc. The Vanaogn just fits the bill very, very well for what it is, a useful, all-around, well-appreciated, German-made....oh yes ! ...and with decent fuel mileage compared to some other types of vans, van.

Some great points about Vanagons : Where to start....mmm.....well...GREAT CHASSIS for one thing. Coil spring suspension, rack and pinion steering, trailing arm independent rear suspension, a-arm type front suspension, front anti-sway bar. Great handling for a van. Decent steering response. etc. ( all this is upgradeable by the way ).

NICE SIZE : Big enough to carry lots. Small enough to park anywhere. You can push start it if you need to. Whether for people or camping stuff...they carry a very decent amount of stuff. Not too big, not too small. Non-camper versions can carry a 'ton' of stuff on the roof. Vanagons can tow well also, like small boats, utility trailers, etc.

HOW PEOPLE FIT IN THEM : Excellent visibility out the front windshield. You'll notice that Vanagons are almost never dinged up in the front...not chronically anyway. That's due to how very well you can see out that nice big windshield. The seats, buy the way...they could be a little better...slightly small on the bottom....like could use more cushion under the thigh area of one's legs. Other types of front seats have been fitted to Vanagons, but it's a challenge...given how short a distance it is from the seat cushion top to the floor where the seat mounts, but it can be done. There are probably even new aftermarket seats available that fit right in place. Great rear hatch & window. When up, the rear hatch makes a natural rain canopy, or place to hang your solar shower from.

OTHER NEAT STUFF : Spare tire is totally out of the way under the front. Fuel tank location : low and slightly forward...which is great in terms of weight distribution....that's in Two Wheel Drive Vanagons....all wheel drive Syncro's are another story. Front crashworthiness: well..... compared to more modern vehicles ( Vanagons were sold in North America from 1980 to 1991 ) they could be better in terms of air bags and ABS brakes, but, for their era...they have big fat bars in the front...behind the front grill, and below the dash, and a decent amount of distance from the front occupants to the front of the vehicles, for a rear-engined van that is. There's a report on the internet somewhere about a head-on crash between a Vanagon and a Volvo. The Vanagon did very well. Vanagons are just light-years ahead of all previous Bus design in all departments.....whether handling, comfort, durability, ease of working on etc.

EASY TO WORK ON : Mostly everything is just accessible.

WEAK AREAS : that stock engine ! The previously mentioned front seats. OK, the engine: First style of Vanagon engine is the air-cooled one used from '80 to '82. Won't say much about it since most Vanagons in use today are the later water-cooled ones, 1983 and up. Those have what's sometimes called the Waterboxer engine. That term comes from the fact that it is water-cooled, and the fact that in Europe, 'boxer' is the word used to identify any opposed engine design, hence, 'waterboxer'....also called 'wasserboxer' in German...also called 'wasserleaker' by some....you'll see why in a few sentences. It wouldn't be so bad if stock Vanagon waterboxer engines were just underpowered. If they ran just decades without expensive repairs being needed....say like a Toyota pick-up truck will. ( an '85 Toyota Pick-up Truck will run for just decades and decades with no major failures of the engine...litterally ). If waterboxer engines were just underpowered but never failed.....things would be tolerable at least. HOWEVER....those 'clever' engineers didn't specify 'real' head gaskets in those engines. They used rubber o-rings and a rubber 'water gasket' ( my term ) to seal the coolant into the engine block...a simple molded rubber gasket that looks like a valve cover gasket. This gasket often fails by about 70 or 80,000 miles. ...mainly due to basically a poor design. No other water cooled van or car engine uses this sort of cylinder head gasket design, for good reason! To wrap it up....these rubber water gaskets easily corrode and deteriorate and leak, or appear to get pinched and cut until they leak. Very poor design ! No real aftermarket solution has ever been achieved that I am aware of. Well, anyway.....this is just one reason the Subaru engine conversion is so great...which is on another page. That engine....the early 90's and later Subaru engine....is just light years ahead of the 80's era stock waterboxer engine, in numerous ways and departments.

there's more about why vanagons are so great - just a start here.