I blame all of this on my dogs. Two mutts. Whom I love more than anything in the world, except John of course.
Here they are, all three of them:
I retired from medical practice a month ago, and our plan was to drive our dogs to our winter home in Florida. (We can't fly them since they are too big to fit under the seat, and who in their right mind would put their loved ones in cargo?) For two years John had driven them from Seattle to Fort Lauderdale and back in a mad dash. It was 5 or 6 days of driving 3,400 miles each way. No fun. Now that we are both retired, I figured what's the rush to get there? We still had to drive the dogs, but why not enjoy the drive, stop along the way, see the country?
So I told John I wanted to buy a camper van to drive cross country. His reaction? He thought I was nuts, an impression that was confirmed when we drove 30 miles to see our first option for purchase. It was a 1982 Ford Econoline van with over 200,000 miles on it. The upside: it was cheap, it had a bed, a kitchenette, and a toilet. The downside: it was a Ford, it smelled bad, it was ugly, and it had a toilet. (Who wants to drive around in a hot car with a sloshing toilet in the back?)
John was convinced I was insane. He was right.
We were driving home from seeing that mess of a vehicle when I searched craigslist one last time on my phone. Voila! A new listing, a Vanagon on Queen Anne. We were 10 minutes away. We called the seller and drove right over. It was love at first sight- a 1984 Vanagon Westfalia Wolfsburg edition. Brown and tan,"maple bar" colors. It was beautiful, and the owner assured us that absolutely everything on the van had been rebuilt: rebuilt engine, rebuilt transmission, rebuilt suspension. Plus, he had just redone the captains chairs in butter-soft leather. And it had no toilet. Who could resist?
Here it is:
We bought it on the spot, no inspection. The seller even knocked $500 off the price, so we got it at the bargain price of $11,500. What a nice guy.
Lesson number 1: Some people, even Vanagon owners, are dishonest.
What's the first thing a sane person would do after buying a 30 year old car? Take it to a shop to have it inspected? No. We took it to Car Toys to have a new stereo system installed! $800 later and we were rocking in our van. Driving it home, we decided to test it by taking it up the steepest hill in Seattle, Dravus Street. The van seemed to perform ok going up the hill in second gear until I heard a loud knocking that wasn't coming from the stereo. Finally a glimmer of sanity. Maybe I should get the engine checked out. Duh.
Lesson number 2: Get a buyers inspection before buying the car
Here they are, all three of them:
(my foot too)
I retired from medical practice a month ago, and our plan was to drive our dogs to our winter home in Florida. (We can't fly them since they are too big to fit under the seat, and who in their right mind would put their loved ones in cargo?) For two years John had driven them from Seattle to Fort Lauderdale and back in a mad dash. It was 5 or 6 days of driving 3,400 miles each way. No fun. Now that we are both retired, I figured what's the rush to get there? We still had to drive the dogs, but why not enjoy the drive, stop along the way, see the country?
So I told John I wanted to buy a camper van to drive cross country. His reaction? He thought I was nuts, an impression that was confirmed when we drove 30 miles to see our first option for purchase. It was a 1982 Ford Econoline van with over 200,000 miles on it. The upside: it was cheap, it had a bed, a kitchenette, and a toilet. The downside: it was a Ford, it smelled bad, it was ugly, and it had a toilet. (Who wants to drive around in a hot car with a sloshing toilet in the back?)
John was convinced I was insane. He was right.
We were driving home from seeing that mess of a vehicle when I searched craigslist one last time on my phone. Voila! A new listing, a Vanagon on Queen Anne. We were 10 minutes away. We called the seller and drove right over. It was love at first sight- a 1984 Vanagon Westfalia Wolfsburg edition. Brown and tan,"maple bar" colors. It was beautiful, and the owner assured us that absolutely everything on the van had been rebuilt: rebuilt engine, rebuilt transmission, rebuilt suspension. Plus, he had just redone the captains chairs in butter-soft leather. And it had no toilet. Who could resist?
Here it is:
We bought it on the spot, no inspection. The seller even knocked $500 off the price, so we got it at the bargain price of $11,500. What a nice guy.
Lesson number 1: Some people, even Vanagon owners, are dishonest.
What's the first thing a sane person would do after buying a 30 year old car? Take it to a shop to have it inspected? No. We took it to Car Toys to have a new stereo system installed! $800 later and we were rocking in our van. Driving it home, we decided to test it by taking it up the steepest hill in Seattle, Dravus Street. The van seemed to perform ok going up the hill in second gear until I heard a loud knocking that wasn't coming from the stereo. Finally a glimmer of sanity. Maybe I should get the engine checked out. Duh.
Lesson number 2: Get a buyers inspection before buying the car
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