We have had our '71 1302 S Beetle for over 10 years now. Done 50,000 MILES (80,000 k's) on a second hand vehicle.

Not counting regular kilometre consumables like oil, service, plugs, filter, points, grease, battery, tyres, brake pads.

Also not counting physical damage or personal or performance improvements.

We have had to
replace front strut inserts
replace igniton lock due to wear
replace front brake calipers (were original)
replace rear handbrake cables
replace engine rear main seal (engine out job)
replace front lower ball joints
replace distributor for new unit

Not bad for a suburban daily driver. It really is our only main daily car. We get asked what our new car is, but that is it. The bus is the weekend car.

My bugs my daily too.. cost wise since I deviated from stock has been a little more $$ but in terms of wear and tear - the past year of daily driving I've had a replace of distributor and fuel pump had a couple manifold and exhaust leaks plus one window regulator and speedo cable (driving without a speedo/odometer is always interesting when I relied on it to know when to put fuel in as I also lack a fuel gauge haha).

It's been on a tow truck once due to the fuel pump failing and didn't make the trip to Valla (it was running but had massive power loss and couldn't do 100km/hr).

I try not to add up receipts - but when I briefly had a new car it was 4X the price to insure (for less value) and triple the service costs so I imagine daily driving the bug comes close cost wise (possibly slightly cheaper - my new car was a lemon so was actually in the shop more than the bug has been). Overall the enjoyment factor is many times higher!

I've run a '66 type 3 wagon and '75 kombi as my daily work vehicles.
They were great value.
Once you get any issues ironed out there is no reason they shouldn't be reliable.
and you don't have the depreciation of a new vehicle.
And the great thing about pre-computer/ electronic cars is they are so simple to repair/maintain one self.

Really this goes for any old vehicle.

I currently run a '72 Holden one toner as my daily work vehicle. It is equally as cheap.

and once Matt gets our engine built we'll be running our '68 bug as our daily.

The old HQ 1 tonner. A guy at work has been driving one for 9 years, done 180,000 k's on the 308 Trimatic and has done nothing to it but replace the front balljoints, tie rods and the diff centre. It is probably worth more than he bought it for.

my notchback? not really owns me shits loads and not even finished yet, only take it to club meeting every so often and locally.

The daily 92 holden has been my best value.
200 bucks for a new engine many years ago.
cheap genuine bits aussie and US made that last.
super easy to work on and extremely reliable and durable.
The EFI system on it is a godsend DYI tunable and all kinds of goodies with it.
cheap as on fuel.

coming up to 400k, got it at 176k, 10 years ago
600k on a 2nd gearbox with tons of daily abuse.
its my daily, track car, off roader, weekender, work car, R &D car.

doing a fresh up on the panit and interior atm, designing a new engine for it and general mechanical rebuilt just to make it nicer and more powerful to drive.

its been great value!

Not a fan of those trimatics. my older brother's VK in the day blew the internals to bits of 3 trimatics in a row behind the EFI 202.

Carl, i did exactly that. I got a heap of old holdens now after having such a great run in my first one lol.

My 75 L bug is a daily and my work vehicle. It tows a builders trailer full of tools, and will turn up 660,000 kms in the next few weeks. We are the 3rd owners - bought it in 1988 with 145,000 kms on it.

I do a lot of the maintenance myself, so cheap as chips (and I rather enjoy doing it), and at times I seem to get a run on things to do, then at other times I seem to go for 6 months or so without having to touch it.

Over the years I have maintained it (engines, transaxles, re-sprays, rust repairs, and all sorts of running gear), repaired it from prangs and a rollover etc., and modified it with remote central, electric windows, interior retrims, etc., but spread over the time and mileage, it is still quite cheap to run. The only exception would be fuel economy from the 1916 which is hurt by towing the work trailer (weighs about 650 kgs with standard tools etc. in it, but more with building materials etc. on it), probably in need of a tuneup by someone more knowledgeable than me, but mainly, from my hooning right foot - I can out accelerate most cars out of a roundabout - towing the trailer.

However, even though it is great how everyone knows me in my bug; I get a lot of comments on how cool it looks; I can unhook my tool trailer, clean it, and take it to shows; and the fact that I can use my hobby as a tax deduction; the main thing is the damn thing is soooo much FUN.

Quote:

Originally posted by Carl and Emily Anyway,. back to talking about VW's otherwise everyone will go out there and start buying old holdens.

Dont ask.

My last Caravelle was a ripper.
$4k to buy and about 6 years before some dick wrote it off

Probably did about 50,000 kms in it and did bugger all to it.

New caravelle is shaping up the same but I paid a fair bit more for it.

Had L bugs for 20 yrs but I enjoyed spending on them.

Still nowhere near as much as the depreciation my Polo GTI has cost me

As a kid the young man next door bought a new 1968 beetle. It was red and sounded nice. He loved to surf. We lived in Deer Park west of Melbourne and each weekend he'd drive to the coast.

He knew zilch about mechanic and got it serviced. That was 1968. In 1981 I spotted him in nearby Sunshine filling up his trusty beetle. Yep, near 200,000 miles on the clock....nothing had gone wrong except he repalced the exhaust.

Modern VW trikes often come with the 1916 egine and can tell you they are never that reliable. Pity.

Some will know the ea81 now in my trike. Brumby and Leone owners laugh as they make the 300,000 kms and still running well.

With only 660 kgms and synthetic modern oils the ea81 should see me out. I'm 59yo. Told the Mrs she must bury me with it but she has her license now and reckons it should be buried with her. pigs arse.

thats not bad for old tech really.

but its hard to beat some of the more modern engines out there that easy get 400k and odd cases of 600-800k never rebuilt or open. Some over 1 mil too.

I reckon the newer BA onward 6 cyl are the next generation to get those sorts of numbers. I see a lot with stuff all maintenance and they run like new with high ks.

I got a bunch of Buick V6s which have high mileage (350-400k) and when I open some of them up the lot of it internally was no different to a 30k engine, still like new. Damn they are a tough engine!

I never felt the vw box was much strong in standard form. I admit I have blown one up took out the pinion bearing and all adjacent gears. The thing was a mess. Lucky at the time I picked up a whole pan with box for 150 bucks. gearbox on it was a winner.

I have a T5 borg warner in my holden with 600,000km. geez it gets a flogging like you wouldn't believe, wont break! all original and never been open. Can power quick shift all day everyday. must of been built on a Wednesday! most gearbox builders don't believe me haha.

I've been dailying my 74 Super for five years and about 50,000km.

I've replaced the front struts and springs, redone the brakes, replaced the clutch, exhaust, reco carb, gearshift coupling and bush and a few seals.

As for breakdowns, I had a coil wire come adrift once and the gearshift coupling disintegrate. The coil wire was easy, simply reattach. The gearshift coupling was bodged up with a pencil eraser and cable tie. It's never failed to get me home.

I also had some rust repairs done and a tidy up after a minor bingle a couple of years ago.

The car cost me $2500 and I've spent about $5k in maintenance and repairs since. Very happy with that.