TheSamba.com :: View topic

Fri Aug 29, 2003 9:47 am

I'd like to see some statistics on the reliability of your bugs. Please include how long you've had your bug, what year it is, and how on-the-ball you are with maitenance. :) I know some people who barely change the oil in theirs VW and the bug goes and goes. Some people have nothing but problems.

I would if I could, but I don't have my bug yet. :) It's a '75.

Fri Aug 29, 2003 11:42 am

Stupid breakdown. Battery cable was loose. FI fuel pump wasn't getting enough juice. I could have avoided a $75 tow charge if I had just checked the battery connections.

Fri Aug 29, 2003 12:35 pm

Over the past four years I have owned my '67 bus it has broken down the following times:

1. The first week I owned it. Ignition problem, I replaced coil, plugs, wires, etc.
2. Clutch cable broke.
3. Front outer wheel bearing siezed while on road trip vacation.

My previous '67 westy and '70 bug are another story!

Fri Aug 29, 2003 12:37 pm

p.s. routine maintenance prevents 99% of break-downs

Fri Aug 29, 2003 12:49 pm

NEVER! No, I'm not on denial. the one bug I had, a '70, had it for about two years and really just kept going without a problem. If your talking buses, now that's a different story. Mine breaks mostly when I overthrash it. Before the freeway flyer I used to smoke motors like every other year with a new tranny every 3 or 4. In all, my previous bus required about seven motors and four trannys in the almost 15 years it was with me. Needless to say, I finally tore IT apart. Only plus about that is that there's no more replacing motors and trannys on it :roll:

Fri Aug 29, 2003 12:54 pm

Had my 74 since sept last year, but it's only been on the road as a daily since Feb. Only suffered from one problem: cable from starter solenoid was cable tied up too tight & kept pulling off the solenoid when I hit a big bump. Problem sorted now & no further probs.

Fri Aug 29, 2003 12:57 pm

I must add, it all depends on what you cosider a "breakdown :!: Of all the years I've been driving, any car for that matter, I've left a car on the side of the road less than ten times. Especially VWs, since there's so many things (tricks?) that you can do to at least get you home 8) i.e. broken shifter = hanger wire will fix :!: broken nose cone = couple of C-clamps and away you go :!: :wink:

... broken steering shaft = alright, call the tow truck :cry:

Fri Aug 29, 2003 1:09 pm

justbuggin wrote: ...cable from starter solenoid was cable tied up too tight & kept pulling off the solenoid when I hit a big bump. Problem sorted now & no further probs.

That's almost exactly what happened to my '66 bug last week. I put in a longer wire. 6 hours troubleshooting, 10 minutes to fix, back on the road next morning.

Fri Aug 29, 2003 1:49 pm

Throw out bearing went out in my 56' back in Germany after serving over 122,000km`s original Km`s! (I earned my watch) soon after this Reverse and First went on me.............. :cry:

I drove this car for 9 months (daily) with NO FIRST GEAR..........until we found a replacement transmission for her, BTW rebuild VW transmissions are EXPENSIVE as hell in Germany..........someone over here should make a business selling rebuild transmissions to Germany you would make a killing..........just that shipping it all over sucks, (most of the TOP VW transmission guys in Germany are dead, have passed on years ago)

I have also had choke cable breakage, roller pedal cable breakage, (DROVE 10 MILES WITH THE CHOKE CABLE......BOY! THERE WAS A PISSED OFF LINE OF CARS BEHIND ME!) :shock: and brushes go bad in the gen but a balanced and blueprinted 36hp will run forever!

I also drove a 59' Euro with a beater 1600 in it at least 10,000 miles with no problem through Southern Ca. traffic for a few years when I lived out there, keep up your maintenance and tune ups, and treat it with respect and your car will run for years...........ohh try to use German parts LOL! :wink:

Der Winkermeister

Sat Aug 30, 2003 12:58 pm

I the past 2 years I've put about 19k on my 71 Beetle and I have only been left stranded in her once. In March of this year, while coming back from a very cool junkyard she blew the rear main seal. (Boy, it is a scary sight to look in your rear view and see a cloud of black smoke billowing out of the back of your VW! It gave me that sick feeling in my stomach.) This was after taking me 330 miles just in that day. I had to be trailered home by a friend of my Dad's. I dropped the engine out, took it to a VW shop (I didn't have the tool to take off the flywheel.) Including this and a few other assorted stuff I bought that day I paid $25.00. Most cars now cost more than that to fill up their tanks. She had just turned over 143k and now she's at 148.5k so I haven't slowed down any.

Sun Aug 31, 2003 10:40 am

P-Dub wrote: p.s. routine maintenance prevents 99% of break-downs

YES YES YES!!!!! for all those that think vw's break down and arent good daily drivers, SELL me yer vw and watch me drive all over the country :D

Sun Aug 31, 2003 3:01 pm

My fuel pump went out on my baja last summer. Other than that I've never been stranded in the 15 years I have had it. My squareback still has a clean record after 2 years. Usually they (especially the baja) give me 2 weeks notice that something is wrong and I had better do something about it or else.

Sun Aug 31, 2003 7:34 pm

i don't think my 1st bug or my 57 ever broke down, but my 65 has had some issues. she was very clean but poorly built when i got her. of course once i got her i did maintenance.

1. hook on clutch shaft broke
2. brake pin fell out. it was night so i had no clue what happened (NO light in car) my dad was pissed he had to come help til he found out it was his fault. he didn't put it back together right after he fixed #1
3. clutch went out
2. carb went bad
3. accel cable broke
4. accel cable came loose after getting it replaced b/c the dipsh!t at the shop didn't tighten it all the way. after this i started fixing my own sh!t
5. went through many wheel drums-stripped the splines out
6. accel cable broke
7. clutch cable broke
8. welds on clutch tube broke loose
9. leaky trunk= blown fuses
10. never could lock the bitch due to sh!tty aftermarket handles- but sometimes the door just wouldn't open. had to take out the quarter window a few times to get in.
11. external oil filter hose melted through- piece from a coke can and clamps fixed that
12. stuck float in carb

i'm sure i'm leaving something out. but she never left me stranded after i started fixin her myself. sh!t always broke in good spots. now ya know why my alias used to be FKNBRKN?

Sun Aug 31, 2003 7:40 pm

BTW, once you put it together right, they make awesome daily drivers as long as you can handle the weather. the 65 was my DD for 5 yrs. most of the sh!t that happened to her could have been avoided if she was put together right. i ended up replacing almost everything on her other than INT, paint and wiring. nothing is better than having an aircooled DD-even that thing i'm sure some of you are thinking.......

Sun Aug 31, 2003 8:44 pm

Well if we're talking the bus pictured in the avatar, it broke down 3 times in one day and I said screw it and went and got my tow bar to get it home. The first time was the distributor coil wire rubbed against the fan belt. Fixed that and was on my way. Later that same day it overheated(vaporlocked) and wouldn't start. Called a friend and he came and we eventually got it started. Got about another 20 miles and it did it again. Luckily my friend was following me. I left her on the roadside and went to get the tow bar. Oh did I mention it was only 104 degrees that day. My 150 mile trip that day was designed to see what bugs she still had before I decided to take a long trip in her with no help to get back if something happened.

Mon Sep 01, 2003 1:37 am

I was in a fender bender last year...bent my front axle because my brakes went out so i replaced the front beam with one i got off a ghia at a junk yard(disc brakes already on it) :) I've had a few clutch cables break and accelerator cables break at bad times but nothing to bad yet.. :P

Mon Sep 01, 2003 1:05 pm

I put over 20k on my bug last year. I had a few issues, but all were related to my driving style, and performance upgrades. If properly maintained they make great daily drivers, even better when they're fast too!

Tue Sep 02, 2003 2:21 pm

Yep, you kind of have to define "break down".

Quite a few years ago my 71 burned a hole in the top of the #3 piston. It was quite a ride, but I limped it the 25 miles home. After an overhaul, for which I bought a total of $200 worth of parts, it has been on the road ever since.

Years later, I've anticipated everything else that could have been a break down, and fixed it before it became a problem. I'm pretty lucky that way.

It's a daily driver and I'd drive it anyplace in the country right now. In fact, I'm going to Wisconsin in a couple weeks. Should be lots of fun.

JSH

Tue Sep 02, 2003 4:19 pm

nope, never had a real break-down. owned my bug for 3 yrs and put maybe 8-10k miles on it since then. sure, things have stopped working while driving, including the spedometer when driving it home for the first time, but i was always able to nurse/drive it back home regardless.

Tue Sep 02, 2003 9:51 pm

The bus in the avatar has traveled 7500 miles in the year and a half I've had it on the road after I bought it. New engine, rebuilt tranny and redux boxes, new steering box and rebuilt brake system. So it was mechanically a new bus when I started out putting miles on it.

Never broke down, but does have "issues".

1. Has weeping outer seal in rear redux. box. Messy, but she runs.
2. Starts to whine somewhere in the tranny or redux. boxes after pushing for over 45 minutes or so over 55 miles per hour.

Since this is a "small nut" early '64 bus with the higher gear ratio (greater reduction) redux. boxes, 55mph looks like what the limit is.
I could have them rebuilt, again, but I'm guessing that I should just slow down a bit and let the bus be happy.