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VW Vanagon Parts & Accessories

Shop from our huge range of VW Vanagon parts, spares and accessories. Choose the category below and filter down to the part, brand or quality you need. Try our Heritage kits, handy project bundles for everything you need in one box. Don’t forget to check the new products for your vehicle and there are always 100’s of parts in our sale section.

VW Vanagon FAQ’s

Are VW Vanagon’s reliable?

A good one is, yes.

VW Vanagon’s are now at an age where years of poor maintenance is catching up with them, especially those at the lower end of the market, which may appear to be a bargain buy!

Much like an adult who regularly skips showers and scoffs sweets and junk food like a teenager, your 40 year old Vanagon could be looking (and smelling) worse for wear if it hasn’t been looked after… 

Owners who have bought wisely and spent the time and money to look after their Vanagon will happily trust it with daily duties or a long journey at the drop of a hat. Those who are driving a patchwork quilt with regards to service history and maintenance will probably be less confident about the reliability of their beloved Vanagon, or blissfully unaware that it is just a matter of time before a breakdown strikes. 

If you have plans to be using your Vanagon regularly, a decent service schedule is key to your reliability concerns, along with being proactive about maintenance should a new issue arise. A small knocking noise or oil leak could be a simple and relatively cheap fix when it first occurs, however if left it will become worse, and potentially cause damage to any adjoining components, making the problem a more complicated matter to fix. 

Of course, should you be working on a Vanagon project with a view to building a reliable classic campervan, then what has gone before matters a bit less. You are in control of righting any mechanical wrongs before that vehicle takes to the road once again. Take your time to go over any potentially perished bushes or rubber hoses. Check everything is tightened correctly and of course that there are no oil leaks or rust holes that might weaken the vehicles’ structure.

If you are not mechanically minded, then you will need to have a friendly but trustworthy mechanic or specialist workshop on hand to help you. Our team can help suggest someone in your area, should you be unsure. Ideally get their input at the buying stage of your VW journey to avoid purchase something you later come to regret, or at least go into a project with your eyes very much wide open. You may need to pay for an inspection, but this will repay you many times over if it saves you buying a money pit! 

Are VW Vanagon’s expensive to maintain? 

The cost of keeping a Volkswagen Vanagon, also known as a T3 or T25 is largely dependent on a few factors, including how old the vehicle is, where it is kept and has lived its life, the condition of it now and how it gets used. 

A Vanagon that is kept in the garage, only used in the summer and serviced every six months, will long term be a far cheaper car to run than the Vanagon that lives on the coast and only gets a splash of oil when the warning light comes on. 

While Vanagon parts aren’t particularly expensive you may find the labour bill for extensive maintenance work to be quite heavy if service jobs have been routinely put off in the past, and that’s before we mention the dreaded tin worm. 

The Vanagon suffers badly from ‘seam rash’ which is a localised corrosion around the external panel joins. And this rust will spread its way around the vehicle if given the chance. 

Underneath the Vanagon is a similar story. A vehicle which has been parked in the rain, driven in the snow and only washed once a year will no doubt need attention to its chassis structure and floor panels. On the other hand, a well valeted T3 that has been treated to a decent undersealing and regular rinse down could still be structurally sound underneath, with no obvious causes for concern. 

Vanagon restoration costs can spiral quickly when you factor in replacement Vanagon panels and, welding work, paintwork and new rubber seals for when you put it all back together again. We do not want to talk anyone out of a restoration, as it’s a very satisfying and fun process, but when a project unexpectantly slips down this slope, it normally means somebody wasn’t 100% honest about the vehicle they were selling, or the buyer didn’t check close enough. 

Finding a specialist workshop to maintain your Vanagon is a great idea, especially if you are lacking some mechanical knowledge, or too busy to carry out the work required. If you do enjoy spinning a spanner or two, then most jobs should be within your skill set with a workshop manual and You Tube on hand if you get stuck!

How many miles will a VW Vanagon do? 

Lots! We are aware of VW Vanagon’s covering more than half a million miles, and plenty are in the 200,000- and 300,000-mile club, having been driving for 40 years now. 

What is important to understand however, is that these very high mileage vehicles have been well looked after to record big numbers, and that most will have had their engine replaced at least once, if not a number of times, with a similar story for the gearbox and other key components too. 

In the UK, the average vehicle mileage used to be 10,000 miles per year, and by using that calculation for a VW Vanagon that was made in 1983, the odometer could easily be reading 400,000 miles if it had been in continual service since new. 

Since the Pandemic, however, average annual miles have almost halved to just 5500 in 2021, so expect to see less of these high mileage figures in modern cars, especially with their accident crumple zones and complex technology rendering them uneconomical to repair much earlier in their lives. 

In theory however, with enough Vanagon parts and a decent maintenance schedule your Vanagon could live forever. 

Are Vanagon parts expensive? 

Parts for a VW Vanagon aren’t particularly expensive. However, when compared to the market value of the vehicle, they can appear more especially when the purchase is unscheduled to fix a breakdown, rather than a treat or additional nicety that you had in your wishlist. 

What is important is keeping your Vanagon maintained and in the best mechanical health. Not only will this increase your driving pleasure and ownership experience, but also help retain the value in your investment. 

Service parts for VW Vanagon models with cross over engines which can be found in other Volkswagen models are a little bit cheaper than those that are specific for the Vanagon. The Waterboxer engine, for example can only be found in the VW Vanagon, whereas the diesel engine shares its lineage with the Mk1 Rabbit and the 2 litre aircooled engine is very similar to the Bay Bus, helping to increase parts availability and reduce the costs of manufacture.

If you have bought a rusty Vanagon that needs new panels welding in, then you will find our range of Vanagon repair panels very competitively priced and in line with the metalwork we offer for other models. 

Modifying or converting your Vanagon can be expensive, but it all depends on your taste, and what you want to achieve. Think about how long you plan to keep the vehicle, what you want to do with it, and if you are building it for fun and enjoyment or just to turn a profit.