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Sun Oct 23, 2016 2:32 pm

Am I the only person the does this? Going to drive my 50 year old car over 300 miles one way just to go to a toy drive/car show. This will be the second trip down there in the '66. We drive this car everywhere, plus I daily drive it, so I have no concerns about it not making it. Anyone else do crazy stuff like this in their classic VW?

Sun Oct 23, 2016 4:15 pm

Yep, in fact I just posted pretty much the same info up in the oval section, but a couple of weeks ago my buddy and I made the 800+ round trip treck from the North Bay down to Solvang.
A hell of a trip but well worth it. 8)

Sun Oct 23, 2016 4:29 pm

Nope. I'm finally beginning to trust Harvey but still reluctant to drive more than 30 minutes from home at this point.

As a caveat, in my late teens my ex and I used to both daily drive 62 and 63 beetles respectively and drive them all over the state of Florida without a second thought.

Sun Oct 23, 2016 4:45 pm

I did about 750 to go watch TV with a friend once.

Sun Oct 23, 2016 6:00 pm

Sharp64 wrote: As a caveat, in my late teens my ex and I used to both daily drive 62 and 63 beetles respectively and drive them all over the state of Florida without a second thought.
What changed :wink: I drive mine each year on a 10-14 day road trip besides being a daily driver. . Last year it was 12 states and 4K and one slow leak in a tire.

Sun Oct 23, 2016 6:23 pm

60ragtop wrote: Sharp64 wrote: As a caveat, in my late teens my ex and I used to both daily drive 62 and 63 beetles respectively and drive them all over the state of Florida without a second thought.
What changed :wink: I drive mine each year on a 10-14 day road trip besides being a daily driver. . Last year it was 12 states and 4K and one slow leak in a tire.

Well.... back then, the cars were only 23 years old. My bug is now 52. Neither car ever left us stranded. Wish I could say the same for my current bug. Both cars also had fairly recent rebuilds and 12 volt conversions which made them a lot more reliable in my opinion. Or at least a lot less maintenance. Also didn't have kids and wives who don't appreciate sitting on the side of the road in 96* weather waiting for assistance. With that said I may try to get down to the Bug Jam in November which is about and hour and a half away. Unless the wife comes and then the chances drop to nil.

Sun Oct 23, 2016 6:27 pm

nope not in a long while, however I do have a tentative 2200 mile round trip scheduled for next month in my ghia..

Sun Oct 23, 2016 6:29 pm

63 vwnotch wrote: nope not in a long while, however I do have a tentative 2200 mile round trip scheduled for next month in my ghia..

Is that the Canada to Mexico thing?

Sun Oct 23, 2016 8:08 pm

Cali_Army_Guy wrote: 63 vwnotch wrote: nope not in a long while, however I do have a tentative 2200 mile round trip scheduled for next month in my ghia..

Is that the Canada to Mexico thing?

I think you are referring to the yearly Airhead Parts Treffen, which runs in July.

Sun Oct 23, 2016 9:05 pm

how does that make you crazy? it's a car!!! they made them to be driven. I havent a clue as to how many miles my car has on it. but the engine has about 80000 miles and I drive it justabout everywhere...justablot Im not driving it to italy ,swizzerlsnd,germany eyourrope in dec.Ill give it a 2 week vacation weather it wants it or not. now to learn to speak german....I already speak italian & spanish.....pizza please &...seesta time!! :shock: crap I better take some english lessons too :wink: ( also fluid in japoneessee...meezoo!!) so am I crazy enough??( remember stupid dosent have anyhing to do with crazy)

Sun Oct 23, 2016 10:28 pm

I just drove from Phoenix to LA for the OCTO Bus meet.

I didn't do that math this time but it's usually at least 800 miles round trip.

I mostly drive around town though.

Mon Oct 24, 2016 12:20 am

1500 miles round trip from Louisville to the Outer Banks North Carolina. It was amusing seeing my google maps app continually readjust my arrival time as I was not nearly holding the 70 mph estimate while going through the Appalachian Mountains.

Mon Oct 24, 2016 5:20 am

I trust my VWs to get me where I want to go, I don't think that is crazy. The longest trips so far are to my sister's in Barnegat N.J., and the Flanders N.J. show, in my '66 Singlecab, it cruises @ 65mph while getting passed by everyone...

Mon Oct 24, 2016 6:55 am

Nope you are not the only one. 2015 drove from east central AZ to Kansas City Mo. Attended the MOKAN VW club car show and took the long distance award. 2500 round trip. 2014 drove to the Texas classic, did not get the LD award the Canadian drive did. I think it is cool when we take on these trips.

Mon Oct 24, 2016 6:18 pm

I don't understand why this question keeps coming up, it's a machine. A properly maintained machine in good condition would be able to travel whatever distance is required operated within the parameters/design limitations. Back in 1979 I drove a beetle from pan handle of Florida to Long Beach California without problems. When Ford celebrated their 100th anniversary a caravan of Model Ts drove from all over to assemble at the Highland Park factory where they were built. Some of the cars were well over 80+ years old at the time. Howabout driving a machine with a top speed of about 45mph in mostly open air. Drive your car, enjoy your car. Cars that are unreliable are a direct reflection of the owners incompetence, nothing more.

Mon Oct 24, 2016 9:02 pm

Zundfolge1432 wrote: I don't understand why this question keeps coming up, it's a machine. A properly maintained machine in good condition would be able to travel whatever distance is required operated within the parameters/design limitations. Back in 1979 I drove a beetle from pan handle of Florida to Long Beach California without problems. When Ford celebrated their 100th anniversary a caravan of Model Ts drove from all over to assemble at the Highland Park factory where they were built. Some of the cars were well over 80+ years old at the time. Howabout driving a machine with a top speed of about 45mph in mostly open air. Drive your car, enjoy your car. :D Cars that are unreliable are a direct reflection of the owners incompetence, nothing more.

Agree^^

I'd get in any of my VW's tomorrow and drive to the east coast. Ok, maybe not the bay window until I find a more comfortable drivers seat.. :lol:

Once you have gone through the new to you USED VW mechanical systems thoroughly, it should be very reliable as long as the mechanic knew what he was doing and used good parts.

There's two members in the bay forums who put 20k miles a year on their old buses w/out issues. I put about 8k miles last year between my three VW's w/no issues either.

I chuckle at how big a POS my HS bug was. It was abused, poorly serviced and never broke down on me. These cars are robust.

Tue Oct 25, 2016 10:05 am

Zundfolge1432 wrote: I don't understand why this question keeps coming up, it's a machine. A properly maintained machine in good condition would be able to travel whatever distance is required operated within the parameters/design limitations. Back in 1979 I drove a beetle from pan handle of Florida to Long Beach California without problems. When Ford celebrated their 100th anniversary a caravan of Model Ts drove from all over to assemble at the Highland Park factory where they were built. Some of the cars were well over 80+ years old at the time. Howabout driving a machine with a top speed of about 45mph in mostly open air. Drive your car, enjoy your car. Cars that are unreliable are a direct reflection of the owners incompetence, nothing more.

A bit harsh. Not all of us are mechanics or strive to be. I do my best to keep my bug running as well as I know how and have done all the work so far. I've read, watched videos and asked questions to learn as much as I can. But let's face it, these are old cars. Old cars break down. While these are less complex machines than say an old Italian supercar, there is still a learning curve involved. I'm a desk jockey who takes whatever free time I can find to work on my bug. I enjoy it, but it's not my full time job. Add in a wife, kid with special needs, housework, and whatever responsibilities I have and cut those of us that aren't as proficient as you feel we should be a break. We all started somewhere. Keep in mind too that this is a weekend cruiser and part time grocery getter not my primary source of transportation. I'm glad yours is tip top and always mechanically reliable. Hopefully mine will be too as some point.

Tue Oct 25, 2016 10:13 am

You equate old car with being unreliable and have missed the point. I thought the mention of the Ts might help. Ever heard of the power tour? It runs coast to coast old cars every make every model. These folks enjoy the cars the aren't doubting or feeling scared. Just do as much as is comfortable for you, but by all means have fun enjoy the car and the people you meet.

Tue Oct 25, 2016 10:21 am

Sharp64 wrote: Zundfolge1432 wrote: I don't understand why this question keeps coming up, it's a machine. A properly maintained machine in good condition would be able to travel whatever distance is required operated within the parameters/design limitations. Back in 1979 I drove a beetle from pan handle of Florida to Long Beach California without problems. When Ford celebrated their 100th anniversary a caravan of Model Ts drove from all over to assemble at the Highland Park factory where they were built. Some of the cars were well over 80+ years old at the time. Howabout driving a machine with a top speed of about 45mph in mostly open air. Drive your car, enjoy your car. Cars that are unreliable are a direct reflection of the owners incompetence, nothing more.

A bit harsh. Not all of us are mechanics or strive to be. I do my best to keep my bug running as well as I know how and have done all the work so far. I've read, watched videos and asked questions to learn as much as I can. But let's face it, these are old cars. Old cars break down. While these are less complex machines than say an old Italian supercar, there is still a learning curve involved. I'm a desk jockey who takes whatever free time I can find to work on my bug. I enjoy it, but it's not my full time job. Add in a wife, kid with special needs, housework, and whatever responsibilities I have and cut those of us that aren't as proficient as you feel we should be a break. We all started somewhere. Keep in mind too that this is a weekend cruiser and part time grocery getter not my primary source of transportation. I'm glad yours is tip top and always mechanically reliable. Hopefully mine will be too as some point.

I think the point of the veteran contributors like myself and others are making is these cars can be very reliable where you don't have to worry about a break down if you go on a road trip. I certainly don't look down on anyone who's intentions are to learn and make their VW as good and reliable as it can be. EVERYONE including myself has benefited from this site and the experiences of others.

At times the folks who have participated on this site for many years can simply get a bit frustrated at the perception or stereotype of these old VW's not being close to being a reliable vehicle. Any car, including new ones can break down. Hell, I had a Honda with less than 30k miles on it leave me on the side of the freeway with an electronic ignition part failure. We all see (rich) people fully refurbish 70 plus year old WWII aircraft that are extremely complex and bring them back to flight in better than new condition.

The good news is that the information is out there on this site to help anyone put their 40+YO VW in excellent mechanical condition. By methodically going through each mechanical/electrical system on the vehicle and servicing or replacing what's needed. This will make them reliable. Certainly navigating through all the parts choices and not putting on poor quality replacement parts is critical as well.

I think the most popular threads on this site are when someone jumps into their classic VW and does a long road trip. We all enjoy seeing these cars out on the wide open road, doing what they were designed to do in a reliable manner.

Tue Oct 25, 2016 11:35 am

Points taken. I guess I took umbrage with the assertion that people with unreliable cars are incompetent. While perhaps true in the sense that they aren't as knowledgeable as they could be, I think there is a line at some point. By the same token, my car may very well be reliable at this point. It has been a month or so since it refused to start after I went through the ignition system cleaning up splice, dirty connections and ground wires and a good 10 months or so since it has left me stranded, I am still not super comfortable hopping in and taking it for a 3 hour drive on the interstate with wife and kid in tow. But that's my hangup, not necessarily incompetence.

Regarding the Model T's and Power Tour, I would put a wager that there was a veritable fleet of chase/support vehicles not far behind in both instances. Heck, even when I used to see large parades of motorcycles coming through town they had at least 3-4 vehicles following behind with a trailer or two. They probably weren't too fearful because they knew they had help if needed. Not like they were Johnny VW Driver by himself puttering down the interstate.

Anyways, back to the topic.