I realize they were never as popular as the Vanagon or the chrysler based one that followed, but I used to see quite a few of the square eurovans about, now they all seem to have scampered off into the woodwork or returned to the earth. What's wrong with them?
The early ones rusted like the A3/Mk3 cars - very, very badly. The I5 was reliable in the early ones if you did the timing belt service but the auto transmissions had a high failure rate.
The later ones seemed to have better build quality but mostly seem to die off from VR6 timing chain issues or bad auto transmissions (which was the only option in the US).
I saw a very very rusty manual Eurovan with California plates the other day at work. It really surprised me to see a manual but the rust did not surprise me.
In reply to buzzboy :
I had a manual one, great van for hauling motorcycles around, but it was a total rotbox.
We only had the manual option stateside for one year IIRC. Mine was a total unicorn from what I could find. Great as a van but built like E36 M3. They fixed the build quality with the facelift but went to the VR6/slushbox combo as standard which had its own issues.
I see them every now and then, but even when they were still sold new they weren't exactly thick on the roads.
I think it just came down to the fact that, while they did look pretty cool, they weren't very good vehicles compared to many of their competitors. So people bought the Chryslers, or Astros/Aerostars, or whatever.
Had some friends with one. It's gone after stranding them twice. They loved that van but crap is crap.
They weren't known by anyone as reliable, even in euro car comparison. I have a certain morbid curiosity about them but heard horror stories from my mechanic buddies.
Parents had a five speed they bought new in 93, but it broke down 7 years later stranding us in NJ. It was unreliable and my parents switched to Honda ever since. Had the Odyssey from 2001 until Dec 2018 and outside of going through two transmissions, was much more reliable.
Oddly enough there are quite a bit of eurovans down in the Tampa area, I occasionally follow a 93 on my morning commute and I still see VR6s every now and then.
IMO, VW missed the mark with the Eurovan by trying too hard to compete with the mainstream competition. If they had kept more of the "Euro-ness" I think sales could have been more sustainable - never really high, but at least consistent. The biggest miss was never offering it with a TDI engine in North America. I never knew any of them were sold with a manual transmission here.
I'll admit... there is part of me that wants to search the Euro mainland for a 1994 TDI 5 spd model and ship it over under the 25 years rule. Not a strong enough part of me to actually do it, but I still think it would be neat.
There's a few TDI swaps on Malone's website. 236hp and 344ft*lbs would be pretty fun with a stick in a Eurovan
In reply to buzzboy :
The problem with TDI swaps has always been legality. You can get away with one if you live in a state with loose emissions monitoring, but under Federal laws pretty much every one of them is illegal.
irish44j said:I think it just came down to the fact that, while they did look pretty cool, they weren't very good vehicles compared to many of their competitors.
Since when did that stop VW van enthusiasts? Based on Eurovan attendance at the last couple of dirty hippie bluegrass festivals I've camped at, they're the new VW Bus. Any they aren't cheap.
There are a ton of them hiding up here in the PNW (Seattle for me). There is one a block away from me with some Porsche rims on it, looks a touch lowered. I've seen a couple more in the neighborhood as well.
(sarcasm) I found one on Marketplace for only $133,000.
Seriously... I think I could find a rust-free California 18-window safari from the 50s split-window era cheaper than I could find a Vanagon/Euro rustbucket around here.
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