teach my Eurovan or Vanagon

The Cruiser will be asked to provide to-school transport for three in a year or so. We have a real minivan for everyone on 'everyone' days. Short of having Mom put the kids in the Cruiser, drive to where I work, switch vehicles, and pick up the kids in the van, we need something else.

Mazda5 or Rondo. That's the 'easy button' but it's a little pricey. I noticed Eurovans can be had for 3-5k newer than 2000ish, they score well in safety (I use the Euro NCAP when possible, not IIHS or NHTSA), but I have no idea about reliability or ease-of-repair. Truedelta is empty. Any thoughts?

I think Eurovans are a kind of funky European cool that I don't have in my life, but VW products of that era worry me a bit. No actual experience with them though, so take that for what it cost you.

Just as a data point, we managed to pick up a manual 06 Mazda5 for $6500, not too far off your Eurovan budget. They were asking $8K+, but there's just not that many people who want manual minivans

OR

Buy a Eurovan and let me vicariously live through your experience!

Quite a difference between the Eurovan and the Vanagon.

Thesamba.com is where to find the owners. At least with the Vanagon, there's a rabid DIY community to offer support. I don't imagine the Eurovan is much different.

I've got a Vanagon. It's full of character and a very useful size. Plus it's ridiculously fun to drive, like you're sitting on the hood of a 911 that's 7 feet tall. But it (like all Vanagons) is high mileage and nearly 30 years old, so it has matching maintenance needs. The Subaru engine in the tail helps there

The Eurovan can be tough to work on. Just about any front end work will end up being an overhaul and that's a daunting task. After doing it in a shop, I'd NEVER try it in my garage. That's a fresh kind of hell I never want to experience again.

for family hauling I'd be hesitant to use a Vanagon due strictly to safety/crash worthiness. Plus I'd rather not use my femur as a crumple zone.

The Eurovans due suffer from that era VW problems, and I also have heard the front ends are a PITA to rebuild/repair.

Basically they're cool cuz they're different, but there's a lot of more reasonable options in traditional minivan space out there. That said... I'm still tempted by Eurovans. Because this:

I like the Eurovan, but a VR6 from that era scares me. If a TDi version had been sold in the US, I'd probably own one.

Let's limit it to non VR6 Eurovans then... I thought the terms Eurovan and Vanagon were interchangeable for a little bit of time there.

Vanagon's a pusher, Eurovan's a puller The name change happened with the chassis change.

tuna55 wrote: Let's limit it to non VR6 Eurovans then... I thought the terms Eurovan and Vanagon were interchangeable for a little bit of time there.

If you don't want a VR6, you need to go older than 99. That leaves you the choice of a SOHC 2.5L audi 5 cyl. or a 2.4 diesel version of that engine. Both are painfully slow. But you could have those with a stick.

Now a full 5 cyl turbo with a stick would be a very interesting minivan. Not practical or reliable, but cool.

The only 5 speed Eurovan you could get in the USA was in 1993. I had one and wish i never sold it. Fun to drive and an insane amount of room for a mini van. Eurovans from the 90's rust like crazy. I have never been able to find another 93 at a price i was willing to pay that wasn't rusted to hell

xflowgolf wrote: for family hauling I'd be hesitant to use a Vanagon due strictly to safety/crash worthiness. Plus I'd rather not use my femur as a crumple zone.

You'd be surprised. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO_AfCFQR2M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTFN3faKPgw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNNWF5iW-Xc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A206PNqNf-U

Eurovan or Vanagon? Neither. I've owned both. The Eurovan was a nightmare. I eventually resigned myself to the idea rhat the CEL being on just meant it was running. The Vanagon was no better in terms of how often it broke, but added a higher center of gravity, more expensive parts & a feeble heater.

I was wrong. I was only able to see the NCAP results for the T5 van, which was one generation after the T4 van which we got. I am assuming the T4 van was similarly safe as it seems very similar, more like a facelift change. Am I wrong?

So I hear two stories:

If you get a manual transmission version it will be awesome, change your life, make girls tear off their shirts as they approach you, and generally change your life for the better.

OR

If you get a Eurovan you will be constantly on the side of the road with electrical fires, you will be shunned by society and disassociated from your family while you're stranded in the garage trying desperately to rewire it all.

Here's a rub. If it was cheap enough, and manual, I would be OK with a 'hot rod' Painless type wiring harness as part of the DD readiness routine. I don't have emissions testing here, and so long as it's DD reliable after some of this, I am OK. It's cool looking. Karl got one for $120, and it's big enough to do better than the three-kids-to-school job while still maintaining what seems to be better-than-minivan-mileage.

I, too owned a Eurovan 5-speed for some time. I loved it, it was great for hauling motorcycles. Like most VWs, or German cars in general, a PO service history goes a long way. The ones that have beaten on are never worth it.

In the US the only manual Eurovan we ever got was in 1993 (1994 too in Canada) with an Audi 5-cylinder. Anyone who says otherwise hasn't owned one or somehow ended up with a grey-market import. The later VR6s aren't bad if you can deal with an auto, they just have different problems. Not better or worse, just different.