After spending some quality time with the Vanagon over the last few days, EMo & I have become well acquainted with some the many “quirks” of the Vanagon. Much like with people, it’s often the little annoyances that end up making someone memorable and endearing.
Here are a few of the Vanagon’s (sometimes) endearing quirks:
- Closing the passenger door requires just the right type of swing. It doesn’t really help to slam it harder, but instead you need to concentrate on your follow-thru. EMo says, “Technique over Power.”
- The radio does works, but only when used as a radio. When you put in a tape adapter in order to play your iPod, music only comes out of the left speakers. There is no remedy to this that we have yet figured out, so we are using a portable battery-powered iPod speaker mounted on the dash.
- When filling up, gas leaks out underneath the intake area. This is not so endearing.
- We have determined that that speedometer is almost exactly 10mph off. For instance, when it reads we’re going 70, we’re actually going 60. We have verified this using:
1. GPS on our phones.
2. Timing how long it takes to go a mile using the milemarkers
3. With the radar speed enforcement signs along the highway.
Interestingly, this 10mph rule seems to hold just as true going 25 as it does going 65.
- The gas gauge doesn’t work. Neither does the odometer. Or the trip odometer. This can make knowing when to get gas a little bit tricky. Consequently we’ve done quite a bit double checking on our mileage calculations. So far so good.
