It's kind of a funny story, but not for the PO.  I asked the dealer where he
got the vehicle (they have to tell you), and it apparently had a fuel
injection problem the California dealer could not fix.  After two years VW
bought the car back under the CA lemon law. The Seattle dealer said their FI
expert fixed it and they warranted it.

Well, as soon as I tried to cruise at about 35 mph it would buck and
stumble, so I brought it back.  They still couldn't fix it so I bought the
Bentley and started to go through the FI system.

I'm sure most of you have figured it out by now--it was a mis-adjusted
throttle position switch, done at the factory, since the paint seal on the
screw had not been broken.  It was a couple of turns off, and of course
behaved just like the test procedure for the switch said it should, bucking
and stumbling when held closed and the throttle is opened.

The poor PO put up with this for two years and 30,000 miles, and at least
two factory trained mechanics couldn't fix it in all that time.   I got a
nearly new Westy that had hardly been camped in.

Failure to follow logical trouble shooting procedures!

Stuart

-----Original Message-----
From: George Laubach [mailto:skiplaubach@comcast.net]
Sent: Saturday, December 28, 2013 7:34 PM
To: Stuart MacMillan
Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Selling my 1989 Bluestar ($25k)

Stuart,
Curious what were the problems with the '84 that caused it to be a "warranty
buy-back"?

Skip

Sent from my iPad

On Dec 28, 2013, at 9:13 PM, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM> wrote:

> Correct.  The major difference is there are two warranties on a
> vehicle bought from a reputable (and state licensed and regulated)
> dealer like Go Westy.  The first is the written warranty, and the second
is the "implied"
> warranty.  If you have a problem you think they are responsible for
> and they refuse to fix it, you can cause them a lot of PR trouble that
> could have a big impact on their business.
>
> Typically a reputable shop will either fix problems or refund your money,
> even to the point of buying it back at full price.   In fact, my '84 Westy
> was a VW warranty buy back that I purchased in '86 from a dealer.  But
> that's another story.
>
> A private seller will offer a vehicle only "as is,"  and it should be
> cheaper.
>
> Since GW offers a warranty, you can assume they have gone through
> everything to justify their price.  At a minimum the brakes, tires,
> and other safety related equipment will have been brought up to snuff to
avoid liability.
> You won't be stuck with a lemon.
>
> Stuart
>
> Nice '85 Westy--yours for $25k, no warranty.  Not even half a block.