There’s three quintessential Eugene-mobiles: any Subaru, the Prius and the VW Vanagon.
The Subaru is the compromise-mobile, for those thta can or want to only have one car. It splits the difference between the other two, since it can both putter around town semi-economically as well as take one down a forest road for mushroom hunting. But for those that are less compromising, and want the ultimate in different capabilities, this is the preferred combination. And one day there’ll be a Tesla Model 3 there, having replaced the Prius, and getting recharged from the solar panels on the roof. But the Vanagon is not so likely to be replaced anytime soon. It’s a keeper.
Looks like Bellingham, WA. Just include a bunch of Jettas.
Add 12 inches of snow and it’s Vermont. My neighborhood.
For the whole state, it’s Subaru, Ford/GM/Dodge pickup, Prius, minivan in that order. VW buses only come out in summer due to road salt and irreplaceability.
That would be a rare pairing in central Indiana. F-150s, Chevy Silverados and a mixture of Camrys and GM W body sedans are the trifecta around here. Subaru, being built locally, is making inroads, though.
“The Subaru is the compromise-mobile, for those thta can or want to only have one car.”
Nailed it. I’m just beginning to realize how much inner SE Portland and Eugene have in common.
Out my way, the Subaru would be the mom-companion to a full-size SUV or pickup.
Ugh. This reminds me of the >300k mile ’04 Prius I need to get rid of. Every piece of it has failed in some way minus the drivetrain. The electronics in particular are past half-life. Resale is in the tank for these for a pristine/low mile example, so it sticks around.
Miserable car to drive, heavy yet vague steering and roll of the dice acceleration rates depending on which engine/motor it decides on. But the form factor is very useful and space efficient.
I’m most certainly not a Prius fan, but it sounds like you got a lot of good serviceable life out of the car. I’m impressed with the durability of the technology. I remember when the Prius first came out, there was a lot of speculation about the life of the battery pack and how expensive it would be to replace. In Seattle, this is the new Panther. 2nd and 3rd generation models make up the backbone of our taxi fleets.
Why 2 vehicules in this driveway when this one could do the job
Nope- this one did the job. (yep- was mine)
Probably to avoid the chuckling teenagers when they notice what it resembles
I sure don’t see that much around here, not the Vanagon anyway.
Ever since we saw the Silver Streak Model T last year my 14 year old daughter has been regularly pestering me about getting a VW camper van.
Just last night: “Dad, there’s only 3 ads in all on Ontario on Kijiji and they’re all wanted ads”
She wants to get some of her friends together and do her version of Darlene and the Bradford Model T girls (Erin and the Dundas VW Bus girls?). Maybe one of my Oregon friends will mail one to us.
Richmond, curiously, is full of Vanagons. Full might be overstating it but there are quite a few, including a fellow in my neighborhood that appears to have two.
We also have a peculiarly high number of Rabbit Pickups (or Caddys, for you Euro-types).
Does the VW Vanagon/Westfalia hold the record for resale value? Depreciation seems close to zero percent? Many of the Westfalias on Craigslist are going for over $20K. I can see why–there’s nothing exactly like it except for maybe a Toyota Chinook.
Over $20K? I’ve seen them listed for over $50K … though usually a fully refurbished (supposedly) Syncro. You know, we owned one over 20 years ago, and in many ways I now wish we’d kept it just for road trips. But other than space utilization … not just efficiency, but access to the space … it’s really not that great a vehicle. Anyway, we have owned both a Westfalia Vanagon and a Gen 2 Prius but not at the same time. Good friends currently have one of each.
Eurovan Campers are bringing stoopid money too. We sold ours for more than we paid for it, 7 years and 70K miles later. In spite of that, we couldn’t buy it back for anywhere near what we got for it… 11 years ago.
VW keeps announcing the imminent production of a smallish passenger van styled in the vein of the original VW minivans. The prototype has been “kicking around” for what seems like years.
Quick question. Why do people swap Mercedes wheels onto these?
It is difficult to find 14 inch tires with the proper load rating. When I bought mine, Hankook RA08 was my only option. Not only are these heavy, but they have huge payload capacity. Used MB wheels have the right dimensions, fit the hubs and are abundant. And, bigger wheels allow you to retrofit brakes from South African spec Vanagons.
Aha! Thank you! I was always curious. It seems like every second or third one I see has these wheels swapped. I figured it wasn’t merely an aesthetics thing.
do we know for sure that this isn’t the vanagon/prius/subaru trifecta? a lot of vanagons have been converted to vanarus. there is a significant subculture of vanagons being powered by subaru boxers.
In my hometown, dusty Central California, your odds of findings such a pairing in a driveway are similar to being hit by a meteorite or winning the lottery.
So about nil.
Priuses, or Prii in Toyota’s preferred neologism, are thin on the ground. I don’t know of a single example living anyplace near my house, though I see them once in a while out in traffic.
And our local taxis are exclusively old panther platforms that look to be former cop cars.
As for a Vangon camper, ha! Trying to remember who was president when I last saw one of those locally. Uh,…hmm…
Now Chevy Astro vans, they are a dime a dozen and in every third driveway.
Come out west to the coast, and you will see tons of this combo.
I need to move to Eugene. I’ve got a Prius and a Eurovan in the driveway right now, and prior to this combo, I owned three Subaru Outbacks.
The Prius is the perfect, thrifty commuter, and a practical antidote to the VW, which is thirsty, unreliable, and perpetually broken.