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Comments
Graphite works good for frozen cylinder locks, but I don't know if some spray graphite would do any good on the top mechanism.
Steve, Host
WD40 stands for "water displacement 40" meaning 40th formula. It's a good cleaner and it certainly displaces water, but is not much of a lubricant regardless of what the bottle says. Like many guys who used to wear camoflauge, I used to think it was the berries. Even used it for mouthwash and deoderant occasionally. It's great for cleaning rifles, and keeping them from rusting, but it shouldn't be around your automobile much.
I agree and would use graphite on the locking mechanism of the top and for that freezing sliding door lock mechanism.
>>My MV Weekender's top creaks as well.
Record cold makes funny things happen, like plastics creaking or stiff steering. If it's a new problem and it disappears when the temps return to 0 degrees or higher, I wouldn't be concerned unless I lived in Greenland.
Understand that these vans have about 3/4 of their roofs cut off. The area around the incision is reinforced, but still not nearly as structurally rigid as a solid top van. It's very similar to a convertible in that it will always be less rigid and more likely to creak and have noises due to this lack of rigidity.
>>coolent return hose mounted upside down so the cooling fan cuts a hole into the hose
I assume VW fixed it. You have a Winnebago EV Camper, right? Maybe they had it off for some reason?
>>stearing wheel rough on cold days
Not uncommon, at least for the really cold days.
>>-electric water pump leak
Winnebago.
>>-sliding door lock sticks when cold
Graphite lube in the lock. For that matter, do all your locks. While you are at it, do all of the hinges on everything that moves (doors, hatch, hood, wiper arms, etc) with a good lube like spray silicone or just plain old grease. Get in the habit of doing this.
>>-can't get trans into reverse
Never heard of this. Major problem I would think, although it could be as simple as a sensor or shifter adjustment.
VW hasn't produced quality vehicles for decades. The engines and trannies seem strong enough, but electrical and fit & finish issues aren't what they should be. Be persistent with the service dept and don't take no for an answer. You paid a lot for this van, I'm sure.
I'm wondering if anyone has added any cross-bracing to their pop-top VW vans to try to counteract this problem. It seems to me that a couple of 1" alloy tubes, firmly anchored to the roof perimeter structure up by the B pillars and back at the rear, would add some stiffness back to the box, and add greatly to the van's road manners... as well as reducing all that stomach-turning creaking and shuddering that we have now.
Ideas, anyone?
regards,
Ed
That said, I think it'd be pretty hard to cobble on much cabin stiffness after the design stage.
Have you thought about suspension mods, anti-sway bars and the like?
Think how bad it'd be if you added a second slider like they did with my Quest. Crash test results went down when they did that!
Steve, Host
Or for that matter has anyone running anything bigger than a 205 width been able to fit chains or cables? I know VW says its a no-no, but I'm wondering what the practical experience has been.
I need chains for about one hour every three years, and I hate to compromise (downsize) my tires too much for the other 26,279 hours, just for that one hour of (highway-department-mandated) traction.
regards,
Ed
Several mechanics have told me that they believe that VW under-engineered the brakes and discs for this vehicle. Has anyone else experiences this?
i'm now 30-something, i still really want a new eurovan camper, and the wife says it's ok. and so my question: is now the time to buy new, or should i wait for the (maybe) upcoming microbus? i'd purchase the long-wheelbase, full-featured camper (sadly w/o the syncro or TDI options). from what i've read on the internet and heard from a few owners, the eurovan--while now fast and roomy--seems to have serious issues with reliability, durability, and crashworthiness. i've owned acura, toyota, and nissan with virtually no reliability issues. could you all give me your advice? should i buy new, should i buy used, or should i wait for the next redo (presumably the microbus)?
thanks in advance for your kind advice.
tim, gentlegiant
I'd wait for the new one if you can, but it's not coming until 2005 it seems. I looked into Eurovans in '99 but their reputation is all over the map. Hopefully the new Microbus will sell significant numbers and make the parts cheaper and more easily found.
Current owners (or other shoppers), please weigh in.
And a moment of silence for the soon to be extinct old Beetle :-)
Steve, Host
I am surprised that a vehicle should need new brakes after only 28 K miles. I would not bother replacing the rotors every times unless they are deeply gouged warped. The sad thing is, today's rotors are made deliberately thin so that very little or no extra metal thickness is left to be able to turn them and reuse them.
I almost dropped dead when I got the bill. It would not be so bad, but this is the 2nd set of rotors and 4th set of pads in 38K miles - ridiculous. I called VWoA and gopt absolutely no satisfaction from them as, 6 months ago, when I had the rear pads changed, the dealer told me to replace the rotors and I declined - just could not afford it at the time.
VWoA said that becuase it was recommended and I declined, they were under no obligation to take responsibility for the excessive brake wear - its sick how much I spent on brakes ion this VDub.
Otherwise, we love the vehicle, it is different and comfortable and utilitarian. Plenty of power, decent handling. Just these stinking brakes...
Does anyone recommend any other vehicle in place of this one?
Pads are dealer-only for now; no aftermarket yet for the 2001's.
28000 is about average for this model Eurovan, from what I've heard. The vehicle is driven mostly in the suburbs of Chicago, primarily stop-and-go.
What was done at the 40k service other than the brakes?
1)'04+ Sienna
2)'00+ MPV
3)'01+ T&C & GC
4)'96+ Chevy Venture, Pontiac Montana/Trans Sport, and Olds Silhouette long wheelbase
5)'04+ Quest
6)'00+ Windstar
7)'99+ Odyssey
8)'01+ Caravan/Voyager
9)'96+ short wheelbase Chevy Venture and Pontiac Montana/Trans Sport
10)Volkswagen Euro Van
Maybe in '05 when the Microbus hits the showrooms you'll see some activity.
Steve, Host
Some auto parts stores will pull the codes for free and you could see if any codes are stored in the van's computer.
Steve, Host
Our question is about roof racks. We both whitewater kayak and have always put the boats on thule or yakima roof racks on the other cars we have had. But can we install a rack on the poptop? Boats can't go on a hitch-mounted rack like bikes do. I'm worried that wind resistance at highway speeds would pull the top up, and I don't think thule recommends using a roof rack with the weekender Eurovan. I've started noticing other Eurovan campers and think I see three different options:
1)Mount a rack to the poptop using the bolted-on gutter mounts that thule recommends for pickup truck campers. I've seen a few of these but haven't been able to talk to the owners. Downside could be leaking through the boltholes, poptop not made to be bolted into, and perhaps a need to unlaod the boats before opening the top (not a big deal). Maybe beef up the poptop latch so it does not blow open.
2) Mount the rack to the actual van gutters and straddle the poptop (I saw a guy on I-95 who had done this). Seems more structurally sound, but you would have to remove the entire rack just to open the top. Pretty inconvenient, and I don't trust myself to properly install the rack each and every time.
3) Forget the rack idea and get a small tow-behind trailer. Several manufacturers make them and advertise them for small-car use. They are maybe four feet wide by six feet long, and the top is about four feet off of the ground. Gear goes in the trailer; bikes and boats can go on top. Some of them have a rack built into the top, and other accept a thule or yakima rack. Upside is that less of the gear has to be crammed into the van. Downside is cost ($3,000 - $4,000) and the need to keep, maintain, insure, and store the trailer. Plus the minor hassles of towing a trailer on our boating trips.
Does anybody have any experience with these options? I know that vw does not sell many Eurovan weekenders in the states, but since the people who buy them are probably the camping type, somebody must have run into this problem before.
My Yak rack towers pop off pretty quickly but it would be a pain to do every night, but I prefer having my canoe/kayak on top instead of having to pull a trailer.
I don't know what I'd do in your case although mounting the rack brackets to the popup itself has a lot of appeal, and your boats plus rack may be light enough that you may get by with popping the top without having to remove the boats.
You may want to check rec.boats.paddle on Usenet (search google groups) and see what other Weekender owners are doing. Hmmm, maybe not; only got a few hits there, and none helpful. (Edit - here's a link suitable only for canoes/sea kayaks, but maybe it'll trigger an idea).
Steve, Host
Eurovans and Weekenders hold a bit of fascination for me but, like the '69 VW bus I had, I worry about repair expense and parts costs. VW sells so few Eurovans here you'd think the dealers would love to dump them off their lot as quickly as they could.
Apparently it doesn't work that way, and there's evidently a pool of die-hard VW fans who pay a lot of money for these vans. And the fans of the Weekenders, like Westfalias of old, are even more die-hard and forgiving of gremlins and break-downs.
I think I'd try a blast email and/or fax and not limit my search all that close to home. It'd be great fun to pick it up 1500 miles away and camp all the way back home.
And VW, bring on the new Microbus!
Steve, Host
I'd do the blast-fax. Or try an online-purchaser like carsdirect.com. You might save enough to pay for the trip, and it would make for a hell of a story after you've had it for ten years.
Why let yourself be mugged by this one dealer? Wouldn't a camper from any other state drive as sweet?
-SanFranDan
I've read through all of the discussions on this list and get the idea that the EuroVan is a lot like Saab in the fact that one often has a love/hate relationship with them. One loves the vehicle but hates the fact that things tend to break more often than one would like and getting parts and people who know how to work on them is difficult and expensive. I understand that.
The one aspect of the EuroVan discussions that seems to be lacking is safety. Even edmunds.com doesn't list any crash testing results, but that is because they weren't done. I'm sure it isn't worth it to crash test such a low volume vehicle in the U.S., but I'm sure crash tests have been done in Europe, and there obviously must be a history of real life crashes.
Does anyone have any information on this? A poor showing in crash tests would be the only thing that would keep me from buying a EuroVan, that and I have to convince my wife that a second sliding door isn't really necessary.
Thanks,
Chad
I've leased a 2003 EV MV Weekender, and I'm enjoying it a great deal, even though I was formerly a "lifetime" Toyota Tacoma truck owner (4 Tacoma trucks over 8 years).
I had a bad "creak" noise coming from the pop-top latch, and at high speed (about 75 mph) with a window open, whistling from the heater/air vents.
The cure: I greased the pointy latch pole that pokes through the latch on the roof with a long-life typewriter grease. This stuff never dries out, and the squeaking from the bouncing roof has never returned.
As to the wind whistles, I was surprised to note that the air direction settings don't include "face AND feet", but rather you can select the upper vents, or the lower. However, by setting the knob halfway between the two vent settings, I now get air from both upper and lower vents, and the whistling has stopped.
Hope this helps any others out there.
PS.... I chased a "rattle" for about a week, then remembered the 3 St. Pauli Girl brewskies stowed in the fridge. lol! That's a rattle I can live with!
Ouch!
Steve, Host
Our local Mazda delership recently advertised $ 10.99 oil change special. This includes up to 5 quarts of Castrol GTX oil and a genuine Mazda oil filter. I cannot beat this price even if I buy the oil on sale and the filter with 20% discount from Mazda and do the work myself. This should convicne you that $ 69 oil change charge is outrageous. Of course, I do not believe that the dealership is making any money on this special, so a $ 20 or 25 charge would be reasonable to pay for labor. The special is designed to attract new customers and buy the cars from this dealership.
Advice: Do your own oil changes. You can also perform other simple maintenance tasks such as checking the fluid level and tire pressure, drive belt tension, and battery connections on their vehicle. Buying a shop manual for your vehicle is always helpful.
When they take their car in to the dealer for an oil change, they wind up with 5w30 and the service desk tells them it makes no difference.
The real reason of course, is that it's lots cheaper for the dealer to get the 5w30 in bulk and use it for every car that comes in the door.
Yet another reason to d-i-y.
Steve, Host
absolutely delightful vehicle, stout v-6.
To the guy who changed oil at the dealer: my jiffy guy said it has to go onto a hoist, i bought filters at the dealer took it to a guy with ahoist, asked him to avoid smashing my pop-top into the ceiling, he changed the oil, apparenlty the filter is hard to reach. But no excessive charge. Good luck ps using mobil 1.
It's not in English, so I am not quite sure what it says.
http://www.mobycampers.ch/Deutsch/California_Comfortline_T5.htm
But most all the other North American minivans have grown, and the Microbus would buck that trend.
Steve, Host
In the news, the retro design has been thrown out <sigh>.
2005 Volkswagen Microbus
Steve, Host
Maybe because it isn't retro at all. It could have been retro, maybe with round headlights and a little more flat nose. I don't know where those squinty eyed looking headlights came from.... maybe from a Chevy truck parts bin somewhere.
Overall, it looks more like the Previa sitting in my driveway and than the microbus sitting in my driveway. I don't understand VW's incompetence vis a vis vans. VW thinks it needs to compete with the Chevy Astro by offering a V6 with a slushbox that gets 17 mpg. For some reason, VW chose Astro as the target of the now departed EV and the New Microbus Concept. Why? I don't know. They don't use Cavalier as the target for the Golf. Or Grand Prix as the target for the Passat. They bring over something distinctly European with a nice engine and tranny offerings.
Someone at VW was smoking too much of that stuff that used to be smoked in microbuses.
Maybe as we approach Al Gore's dream of $3.00/gallon gasoline, they'll open their eyes and start shipping over TDi EV's with manual trannies. That's what VW customers want. They should pay less attention to their Kalifornicated design studios and more attention to VW customers.
No Microbus for VW Until '07
Steve, Host
Back to the Eurovan: Volkswagen has NEVER produced a powerful minivan with decent gas mileage like the Astro.
And a diesel would be popular:
"Right now, we are seeing probably three times the number of people coming in the doors asking for the diesel products than we used to see," Momentum VW Sales Director Dustin King."
News24 Houston
Steve, Host
For the same money there a lot better choices on the market.
Peace,
Don<><
The a/c and electrical component problems wouldn't be solved by a TDI EV. VW just can't seem to get those things right. However, I think a lot of people would overlook some of those issues for a van that gets excellent MPG.
For comparison, some vans get batter fuel economy when cruising due to low engine RPM in top gear, which can be easily achieved with a larger displacement engine with higher torque capability.
One way to get decent fuel economy out of Eurovan is to use a turbodiesel engine with a manual transmission. Unfortunately, this combination is not sold in the US, and until it is, I will not even consider buying this vehicle.