Used Car of the Day: 2001 Volkswagen Eurovan

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

Let's go camping! This 21-year-old Eurovan has the 2.8-liter VR6 engine, and it's all yours for $39,900.


There are 75K miles on this van, and it has an automatic transmission. There's a fold-down bed, fog lamps, curtains that have never been unfolded (so, the van's never been a rockin'?), new all-season tires, and snow tires are handy.

The owner claims the van is in excellent condition.

Unfortunately, this listing doesn't have pics -- I almost skipped it for that reason, but hey, it's vantime.

I've never used a van to camp. In fact, I've never really camped yet in more than 40 years on this planet. I am not counting the backyard camping I did as a kid, with the house 30 feet away. Or the Cubs scout stuff, where we slept in a cave but bathrooms and a kitchen were nearby. I bring this up to mention that the camper-van life is something I'd love to try, as a way to get outdoors without sleeping in a tent on the cold ground. A good way for the noob to get involved.

In other words, that's why this van caught my eye. The fantasy of sitting out in a field, whiskey in one hand, meat on the grill, the VW nearby with a comfy bed...

Yeah, OK, I'll stop daydreaming now. Head over to VW Vortex to check it out.

[Image: Volkswagen]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

More by Tim Healey

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5 of 13 comments
  • SCE to AUX SCE to AUX on Nov 22, 2022

    "Four New Vredestein all weather proper load rating tires" = True Believer

  • Oberkanone Oberkanone on Nov 22, 2022

    Give us a break from VWVortex classifieds.


    I'll recommend 2023 Toyota Sienna LE AWD Hybrid for under $40K all day all week all month long over this 20 year old money pit Eurovan.

    • FreedMike FreedMike on Nov 23, 2022

      Yeah, but a Sienna doesn't have the #vanlife cachet that an old VW does,


  • Dukeisduke Dukeisduke on Nov 22, 2022

    Does it have a built-in fire suppression system? It better.

  • Marcr Marcr on Nov 22, 2022

    I had a '97 Eurovan Winnebago camper (VR6 automatic) which i purchased new for $28K in '98. Used it as a daily driver (a bit unwieldy for that), plus tow my gliders (in trailers, gross weight 2500 to 3000 lbs) and camp all over the western half of the US. In 100K miles I had exactly one issue, a corroded ground cable left me without air conditioning and cruise control until repaired. Sold it 5 years ago for $25K to a friend of a friend who has put another 100K trouble free miles on it.


    On the other hand, my wife bought a new '99 Jetta (4 cylinder manual). Within months plastic parts started falling off. The oil pan cracked twice (without hitting anything) eventually dumping the oil each time. Other mechanical issues stranded her a few more times, Replaced after 40K miles with an '05 Subaru Legacy wagon which was still going strong when we sold it after 100K miles trouble free miles.


    Have a '16 Outback now, would like to get a hybrid or electric to replace it (when prices come back down to earth). I don't think we'll consider another VW.

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