Club 80-90 Forums

I bought a 1984 Westifalia and am in the process of putting considerable money into the thing. As I do this I keep wondering how long I'll be able to continue to get parts and such. I see that VW is discontinuing parts (like radiator hoses, etc) for my model year and I am concerned that I'm dumping lots of money into a vehicle that will be difficult (or at a point impossible) to maintain in a matter of years. Any opinions. Please note, I live in the US - Michigan, nonetheless, the home of the US auto industry - so I don't think we have as many VW's as in Europe. I want another 25 years out of this vehicle - am I a dreamer? Of course if Obama gets his way, it may be illegal to drive an older vehicle like this, but that's another matter altogether. Any informed opinions are appreciated.

You may well find your replacement resources are a bit better than ours here.
try http://www.thesamba.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; vanagon forum.. for help with gathering parts.

No your not dreaming pal, I imagine splitty and bay owners went through this period of difficulty, but they are still being refurbished now albeit largely by after market suppliers.
I never bought my vanagon for investment purposes, so putting money into it doesn't bother me, I just get huge smile dividends each month.
tell you what, make it another ten years... then decide if you still want fifteen more

I agree with Kev.
If you want your van to last 25 years, with enough effort you will make it happen.
Hopefully, most difficult to get parts will be re-manufactured and any impossible parts will be overcome by modifying or thinking 'outside the box'.
I hope to keep my van for the next 25 years.
I cant remember who said 'the best way to predict the future is to invent it' - that works on lots of levels.

Radiator hoses won't be a problem, I'm just having them made in silicone as well as the rest of the cooling system pipes for the JX engine.
I have the prices, just need to pay for the tooling after my jollies.

Supply and demand.......where there is still a demand there will always be supply..simple economics. And Simon (Brickwerks) is a fine example of that philosophy.
Martin