Just wondering what everyone's thoughts are on this subject. We have all bought VWs from other people before, in varying degrees of condition.....and some people have rebuilt cars, etc.
At what point do you call your car reliable? Where is the dividing line between 'old car with some problems' and 'reliable daily runner'?
For example, I recently bought a VW and thought it was in pretty good nick, however spent weeks redoing the wiring. It spent 3 weeks in a mechanics and came out having had the heads, brakes, front bearings, and some minor electrical work done. The engine purred and after over 2 months of solid work, the car was ready for rego, only to become broken the day before when part of the clutch assembly karked it.
At what point do you move from being a 'cautious driver', not wanting to take it too far, to being happy with the performance and fairly ready to drive anywhere?
Is it a time factor between breakdowns ('the car hasn't broken down in 6 months...') or is it purely the fact that you know you have already serviced or replaced two-thirds of the parts in the car?
well I did a Subaru Engine conversion on my dual cab and the day I finished I drove to Melbourne. 5000km later I was home and she never missed a beat. I am happy it is reliable.
Brad
Why copy when you can own an original ?
Meyers Manx AustraliaMy splits are reliable, i drive to sydney 4-5 times a year no trouble...very rarely breakdown, I have nrma membership just for peace of mind, but have only ever used it for the odd jump start when i cant do it or once when it was pouring rain for a tyre change (didnt want to get wet and wanted to get something in return for my membership), id consider them reliable....always being serviced though, every weekend spend an hour or so doing something to keep them in good order
replacing everything does give piece of mind, i recon your car is reliable when you trust it enough not to have to baby it, ie. slow around corners, dont accelerate/brake to quickly, cringe at unrecodnised sounds, wonder if you are going to get to your destination or not. you and your ride have to build a repore with each other, i always like things that need to be fixed, cos you dont have to worry about them again (hopefully)
At what point do you call your VW 'reliable'? When its not moving. These are old cars that were talking about, expect the unexpected.
Its all just a matter of luck sometimes, whether ur vee dub wants to go or not.
But like what akean1 said, once u replace a stuffed part, u know its not going to get buggered again in a long time (well, u would think). Cause the broken parts that u may have to replace can be up to 30 to 50 yrs old. So you have to agree, that even though a vee dub may seem unreliable today, when looking at how long that the vee dub has lasted, u have to give it credit for that.
But yeah, unreliability can be a worry. But its just something that is going to happen if you drive one, some just be ready at the time. Have insurance, a toolbox, a spare tyre, and a membership to nrma or racq.
(ô_!_/ô) (ô_!_/ô)
69' baja: kombi box, thing spindles, irs, disc front, type 3 rear drums, 2 inch lift kit, 31x10 rears. 👍
New engine in process: 94mm p&bs, 74mm C/w chomol Crank, 35.5x39 SP heads, turbo. Wierd combo, hopeful torque monsta!
There's not a week that goes by that I don't see a late model,practically brand new car broken down in Melbourne. I can't explain it but what I've seen so far is a Saab, an X5 BMW, Commodores,Subaru and once, a Mercedez Benz Convertible Kompressor, with the female driver cursing it in full public view!.
yep it dont matter if your car is new or old if something is going to fail it will,just with a beetle or bus most repairs can be done by yourself 🙂
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https://www.facebook.com/FlatFourdriving an old car, you always take your chances. I always start with the safety items first (brakes,seatbelts,lights,wipers) then get the motor running sweet, then replace the wheel bearings( at least you then have a starting point) then start turning it in to what you like to drive. I drive nearly 100k's a day in a 44year old car and have not been stranded (yet!)
Do the little things right and the rest will look after it self. Happy motoring:thumb
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Yer they are old cars. Anything 30yrs plus is going to be a mixed bag. I guess it'd have to be completely rebuilt properly for it to be truly reliable. Still I'm sure the odd thing would stuff up being such an old car. Although what brings peace to my mind is that any problems you ever encounter, it is fixable and you can be sure someone else has had the exact same problem.
Still I reckon dubs would be pretty reliable for their age, just look at any pommy cars of the same vintage (lucas electrics = off, dim and flicker🙂) or even some italian cars and other classics.
Jon
I carry a well stocked toolbox, a heap of the usual spares and a mobile phone to call a VW friend. That's reliability!
Che Castro wrote:Anything 30yrs plus is going to be a mixed bag.
Yeah..... good on ya Jon!
You will get to be this old one day!
Well.... i think i am reliable :jesus
Futue te ipsum!!!
ive driven my car long distances (newcastle mostly) several times, in fact im driving from wollongong to narellan 5 days a week, roughly 100kms a day.
two weekends ago my superbug took me from campbelltown to wollongong to gosford and back on 30 litres of unleaded juice with no hassles whatsoever. thats plenty reliable enough for me.
ive been in nrma plus for 10 yrs now & the qld equivelent
when i lived there & have been looking forward to using it
but the bloody kombi wont break down.
nrma plus has a lot of benefits like motel for 3 nights, free towing
to your mech from anywhere, free car hire to keep going etc etc.
i suppose its that i have mech service every 3 mths so if anything is
wrong its picked up before problem expands.
why mech service quarterly because business pays & must use daily
many a summers day i see car on side of road with bonnett up & reminds
me must put water in window washer😀😀😀
i call reliability when you can take it out and not worry about it dying on the road. yes, the late model cars break down the same, maybe more, but they have a shitload more parts to fail. like a wire could burn out or something and the ecu detects that and decides it can't go further without doing damage.
but it all the same, you look after your car (in the way of regular services, maintainance etc) and it will look after you.
early 60s beetle for sale - ex bush basher - spares - $100 or offers
we bought our kombi just over a year ago without having it mechanically checked, and got it home, re-regoed and it has been driven every day since then without missing a beat.
That's (touch wood) reliable. Or maybe thats just lucky ????
I will never call my VW reliable, because the day I utter those words is the day Murphy pops his head up from under my desk, and all hell will break lose. :cussing
I will just call myself lucky that this baby gets me up and down the F3 every day, for 150km round trip.
It comes down to keeping it serviced, and maintaining a speed that's not going to kill it. The occasional "burst" from 100kmph to 120/130 is fun however.
My experience is that what stops VWs is usually one of three things,
1. poor repairs/modifications.
2. lack of service.
3. lack of fuel.
Having said that, I have had the odd faulty part. But generally No.1 has been my biggest enemy. The other two are easy, and I figure, if I can't make sure No.2 is done properly I pay someone to do it. In the end they are hardy machines and so if you treat em right they last.
(Sadly, I don't think they NRMA road service is worth the ink they print the letters with anymore. However, the country guys are usually ok.)
I thought all VW's only become reliable when trying to sell them... <hehe> :P
I an say that all of our old cars we have at home reliably cost us money 🙂
Lol I'd say Heidi is very reliable *touch wood* for a 45 year old daily driver ...I'd feel comfortable driving up to Sydney in her (would be a lil slow though) I've got RACV roadside care and have used it once in the time I've been driving her (about a year) but that was because of a dodgy mechanic and not the car itself.. I've had one flat battery to but that is expected.
She does get serviced very reguarly though.. so I guess its the continuous outpouring of money that keeps her cruising along..
Heidi - 1960 White Beetle
'65 Kiwi Ghia
hows it hangin' phantom?
unless you have a service history........i don't think its reliable until you have taken the time to look at all the important....no...everything.
this takes time..a lot of time if you do it your self...but a great way to learn about your car and how it works. if you don't have any mechanical interest then you have to pay or find one that someone else has spent t&m on and pay
use it as a round town car until the homework is done or it feels right.
if you don't have a manual...get one..you need it
you need tools
my last project..1303...you know the one...i thought it was in good nick.....took 12 months in the shed to get it how i wanted it...plus another 3-4 in and out doing and adjustin...started with the suspension bushes, wheel bearings, brakes, engine seemed ok, transaxle...ok, steering..etc mostly cleaning ,checking,regrease, refill
most things are easy once you do them a couple of times but the first time can be painful/stressful
wiring issues can be difficult..you need to take it slowly and try to think logically
but at the end i think you can have a reliable car that would only need routine maintenance
Hey Phil! Long time no see!
Yeah, I can see the general points here....lots of regular attention, and don't push the poor old buggers.
Well, we'll see how my latest VW copes after it gets more attention, this time it had better make it past rego, then it can curl up and complain!
My only advice, if you can buy genuine German parts even if it's more expensive, do so. I have had such a good run with my V'Dubs...I'd love to know how reliable some of these late model cars are after forty years of service....oh that's if mother nature doesn't reclaim it first from rust!
[Edited on 15-6-2005 by SPRINTSTAR]
Well the kombi the old 1600 30000km of 5 grand gear changes type 4 40000 km of 5500 gear changes burnouts and floging the crap out of it and still going sweet today. Baja first 1600 5000 kms of floging the crap out of it and then the sump got filled with mud and it still made it the 200km home with a sump full of 80grit sand paper try that with a new engine, type 4 15000kms of 6500 2nd donuts in the mud and on the sand and then i sold the car but still have the motor id say you cant kill em but i do my matanence every 5000 and use good oil
You only need two tools
Wd40 if it don't move and it should
Duct tape if it move's and it shouldn't
Ive had my daily driver for 3 years and I had to change an engine mount today it took ten minutes to get the tools out
and 5 minutes to change the mount no wonder every one hates golfs
other wise just regular maintainance and petrol and a good thrash
I'm not so sure about the "treat it right and it'll be reliable" thought. I've had my kombi in at the mechanics about every two weeks for the last two months. I've regularly serviced it, and so on, but being honest I can hardly call my kombi reliable. I think it helps if you start out with a reliable engine. If you buy the vehicle with a dodgy engine in it (and don't realise :cry) then just about nothing will make it reliable........
but thats just my experience 🙂
I suppose it would be realistic to believe that all vehicles are unreliable and therefore when they are reliable we are happy.
hmmm, I would say that realiability is an interpretive term. A reliable car for one person, is a basket case for another one. I have own my notch for 2.5 years and I have regularly serviced it. it is a daily driver and the only thing that has gone wrong is the accelerator cable snapped at the pedal end about a year ago and the voltage Regulator died. That to me is a reliable car, when you can start it and go, maintain it and if something goes wrong to be able to repair it without fuss. BUT, for a person that is mechanically challenged, my car is a basket case, needing constant maintenance and things breaking.
'We teach best what we most need to learn'
VW no more... sigh.... well, at least it's a cousin
i suppose when you can jump in turn da key and broooommm away she goes
first time everytime
of course regular servicing is a must or you'll be pushin more the driving..
just love my VW so simple to work on without computer crap to bugger everything up!
so more time for :beer 🙂
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