Is the Vanagon Worth the Trouble?
The Vanagon (year doesn’t matter) is a labor of love. You probably know it. What you might not know is that eventually there is actually a sweet spot, where the mechanical bugs and electrical gremlins don’t exist, where the Vanagon behaves somewhat like a modern car. Albeit, with more creaks and groans.
That’s where I’m at with my Vanagon. I’m in the sweet spot.
But I ask myself all the time… was it worth it? Does owning a Vanagon (especially the camper version) override every last dollar I’ve spent? Every last knuckle-buster I’ve had? Every last 10mm I’ve lost,
Some say that the resale market continues to be stable. I wrote about resale in detail in the post titled Exploring the Vanagon. Read it. It goes into the ever changing market of resale. In the end maybe, the resale value of a Vanagon might justify all the pain, tears and long nights of wrenching. You know these vehicles aren’t cheap to find. Not the great ones! But there has to be more to it for me than resale dollars. Because you can spend as much as you make.
PROS
A Vanagon is worth the trouble by factoring in the good times you had traveling in it. I don’t mean regular road trips to Vegas. I mean road trips that are meaningful in other ways. My wife and I spent two months on the road to Canada from our home in Southern California and every second behind the wheel of my 1986 T3 with her was filled with long lasting memories; a hard drive full of memories.
I could never reproduce that road trip in any other vehicle. The hum of the little flat four-banger out back and the campfires under the stars when we arrived at our destination. The time we parked inches off the coastal sands near Washington State — with a beverage or two at sunset. You can’t replicate those moments with any old vehicle.
The Vanagon is part city slicker and part outdoor runabout. It’s small enough to be agile, and large enough to get a good night’s sleep.
The Vanagon is a vessel for making memories.
It’s a vehicle that gives back as much as you’re willing to put into it. It will never be a modern car. Why would anyone overland in a modern car? It will never be as quiet or fast as a new BMW on the Autobahn. It will never be as sexy as a Ferrari in red. But in it’s own humble way it is a welcomed traveler from another era. A constant reminder to me that at one point in automotive history this is exactly what vehicles drove like… not very fast, not very comfortable and not as safe as cars are today. You actually take your life in your hands in a Vanagon with zero crash protection. But that’s living, taking risks… well calculated ones.
Every time the urge arises to move onto something else… I block out the idea of parting ways with my Vanagon. Will I ever sell her? Maybe one day. But not because she wasn’t worth the trouble. Nope.
