At $12,500, Could This 2002 VW EuroVan Make A Van The Plan?

If you’re going to join a cult, it might as well be a weird and quirky one like that surrounding old VW vans. Today’s Nice Price or No Dice EuroVan could be a good entry into the club if the admission price isn’t too high.

Good parenting is important for the development of functional and well—rounded people and those seeking the same attributes in automobiles. In the case of the 2006 Aston Martin DB9 we looked at yesterday, that parenting was overseen by Aston Martin’s then-owner, the Ford Motor Company. Its influence can be seen under the DB9's bonnet, in the cabin, and in the way the car feels like it’s of a piece and not merely an assemblage of unrelated parts from other manufacturers. At $32,000, it also proved to be a bit of a bargain, what with 75 percent of you giving it a thumb’s up in a Nice Price win.

Do you have a bread box in your home? Yeah, that bit of space-eating kitchen clutter seems to have long ago fallen out of favor, what with modern store-bought bread being pumped full of preservatives and, hence, not needing its own home within a home.

A similar story befell the like-proportioned Minivan. Once a staple of suburbia, the form factor is now the exception rather than the rule when it comes to comfortable family travel. That’s not to say that minivans don’t still have their fans, and in the case of VW’s Buses and Vans, like today’s 2002 VW EuroVan MV, those fans tend to be all-in.

There is a lot to like here. After all, the EuroVan is based on the T4 Transporter, which VW designed to be spacious and capable as a carrier of all the things. In the MV, there’s versatility, too. The rear-most seat folds down to allow for a somewhat bumpy bed, while the middle seat faces backward to accommodate a fold-up table.

The front two seats are captain’s chairs, which, in this van’s case, have been accentuated by neck and lumbar pillows. Beyond that, the gray patterned mouse fur upholstery looks good throughout. In fact, the cabin overall seems to have held up well over the van’s 22 years of life and a startling 238,000 miles in travel.

The mechanicals are noteworthy as well. The Porsche 924 was a favorite whipping boy of the Top Gear team because, as they were keen to point out, its engine came from a VW Van. Maybe if the 924 had an engine from a EuroVan, the British Trio wouldn’t have been so dismissive. This van’s engine is VW’s powerful (201 horsepower) and lovely-to-hear 24-valve 2.8-liter VR6. That’s a good find, no matter what the car. The only transmission offered by VW in the U.S. van was a four-speed automatic, and that proved to be the model’s Achilles heel.