Faults:

You can kill these by neglect. If you maintain them, they drive roughly forever.

You have to replace the hoses & belts every few years.

Engines are "water-boxers" - basically an air-cooled engine retrofitted & wrapped in a metal jacket of coolant. You must keep the coolant & oil levels good or you will wreck the engine.

Even if you baby the engine, it will need rebuilding every 80k to 100k miles.

Find a mechanic who specializes in VWs.

General Comments:

Mine is a Westy camper. It has a seat / bed, closet with shelves, pop-top, swiveling captain's seats, table, etc. Used to have a sink / stove / fridge unit. I put a storage area there instead. Auto, AC. Two batteries & inverter.

Very comfortable for camping. Lotsa storage space. Makes a good office space. The windows have such a dark tint that you have complete privacy inside.

Long vehicle = 21 ft. You have to take corners wide. It is a BUS, not a VAN. You sit ahead of the front wheels. Good visibility.

Just plain well designed. 300k miles so far and easily many more to go.

Faults:

Other than the dashboard water temperature LED flashing for no discernible reason, absolutely nothing in 206187 miles!

General Comments:

I only wish my present "significant other" was as reliable and dependable as my Vanagon. Of course, I probably take better care of my veedub than her.

Proper heat range plugs, phosphate-free coolant, correct lubricants, regular service etc. And strictly adhering to the manufacturer's specs is critical to the longevity of these phenomenal original SUVs. Deviate from them and... badabing!

I would definitely sell this vehicle to my best friend with no guilt... but I won't. It takes me where I want to go, when I want to go every time, albeit slowly. A Porsche it ain't. But, what the hey, at 62 years old I'm not so fast either.

Old hippies never die, they just get another VW bus!

Faults:

This was by far the worst vehicle I have ever owned.

Electronics failed, engine blew, head warped, linkage for transmission was flaky, ignition system was pathetic, touching the wire harness under the dash would kill the engine and would not start. There were numerous electrical fires, The battery is under the seat. What a POS.

General Comments:

Though the space is well set up inside the car. This is by far the worst vehicle I have ever owned. None of the drive-train or electrical / mechanical systems were reliable. This was a very badly engineered vehicle.

Don't touch it with a 10 foot pole!

Faults:

Blown heads 3 times. EXPENSIVE to fix.

Cooling system problems.

You have to literally burp the cooling system if you open it up; requires positioning vehicle at very steep angle.

General Comments:

This is AWD water cooled model.

This thing is DANGEROUS.

Lousy brakes.

Totally inadequate power.

Wind sensitive; SCARY in crosswind.

Unreliable.

Wouldn't shift easily until warmed up.

Wouldn't idle properly.

Parts hard to get, always expensive.

Accelerator and trans shifter mushy.

Heater and defroster inadequate.

Harsh ride.

AWD makes scary grinding noises in tight turn.

I HATED this thing and was glad to finally get rid of it.

Hard to work on, especially cooling system.

Ignition system vulnerable to rain.