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trade it in? I thought they did not want them
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reluctantartist
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Joined: August 13, 2006
Posts: 1927
Location: Bloomington, IN
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 8:35 am    Post subject: trade it in? I thought they did not want them Reply with quote

I am filling up my 412 at the gas station and a man comes up and is asking me about my car. He liked it a lot and then he tells me he is an associate vp at the VW dealership and wanted to know if I would be interested in trading it in or sell it. I guess I have to take that as a compliment. There cars seem to have more appeal now than when they came out.
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1982 Westy, 1974 412 Variant... Yes, Aircooled's are great! Oh and I do have modern computer controlled vehicles too, but I just don't care about them.


Last edited by reluctantartist on Wed Nov 26, 2014 5:07 pm; edited 2 times in total
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raygreenwood
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Joined: November 24, 2008
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Location: Oklahoma City
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 9:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Its really funny .....these cars survive.....because even though they were a pain in the ass to maintain back in the day ....dealers hated them because what few issues they had were related to fuel injection, automatic transmission and front end component wear (struts and alignment)........
and this stuff usually showed up between 30-60k. Most of the problem was a combo of some minor design flaws.....and limited training at, VW dealers.

But owners loved them.....because they were killer comfort, great drive.....great quality....smooth....powerful for an ACVW....great weekend highway getaway car.

Most actual owners I have loved these cars until when out of warranty the dealers could usually not affordably fix them.....there there was little publicly available technical information available for DIY.
And because these cars cost more than a, cadillac when new....many of them....those that were left....got parked in backyards.

Ray
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Lahti411
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Joined: January 26, 2005
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Location: Lahti, Finland
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 12:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have similar experiences. Owners really loved these cars and there are still lots of 411's/412's hidden in the barns because original owners didn't want to get rid of the car when they stopped driving them.
Today i took a drive to a local supermarket and an elderly guy rushed to me and asked if he could take pics of the car. He's uncle used to have a similar 411 Variant and the guy just couldn't believe that somebody was still driving a type 4. He even lost his grandson to the parking lot as he was so amazed about my car Very Happy
And i must say i absolutely love my 411. It's not too difficult to work on and it drives just beautifully. It's much better than the Saab 99 Combi Coupé i used to own. The body is much more rigid and the suspension is much more comfortable -and the car still handles better! I only wish it had similar power as my Saab had (108 hp from twin carburetted 2,0l).
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My cars: 1972 VW 411 Variant; 1973 VW 412 4d sedan
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raygreenwood
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Location: Oklahoma City
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 1:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lahti411 wrote:
I have similar experiences. Owners really loved these cars and there are still lots of 411's/412's hidden in the barns because original owners didn't want to get rid of the car when they stopped driving them.
Today i took a drive to a local supermarket and an elderly guy rushed to me and asked if he could take pics of the car. He's uncle used to have a similar 411 Variant and the guy just couldn't believe that somebody was still driving a type 4. He even lost his grandson to the parking lot as he was so amazed about my car Very Happy
And i must say i absolutely love my 411. It's not too difficult to work on and it drives just beautifully. It's much better than the Saab 99 Combi Coupé i used to own. The body is much more rigid and the suspension is much more comfortable -and the car still handles better! I only wish it had similar power as my Saab had (108 hp from twin carburetted 2,0l).


Yes...I used to have a 1983 Saab 900. You can, definately tell that the 411/412 and, the 99s and early 900 were meant to be in the same class.

The Saab was just to flexible and floaty....and the suspension was tough to work on compared to my type 4.....but I liked it for many or the same reasons. Very comfortable, smooth, good power....great winter car. Ray
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bradself
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Joined: January 13, 2013
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Location: SF, CA
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 5:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A fair number of SF "tech-bros" hit me up at stop lights or in parking lots asking if I want to sell my Volvo/BMer/Peugeot/etc. I say, "10 grand." And I'm serious, but even if somebody does let go of 10 large I suspect it would end up in a scrapyard in due time, at the first sign of trouble. I am very fortunate to have and old time independent Teutonic shop in my 'hood, and the head mechanic has always said he'd be more than happy to work on the car--for $120 an hour, woof!

Mine has 393k on it, if the odo is the same as the records indicate. -Brad
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Lars S
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 10:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have the same experience when parking my 412 coupe, a lot of elderly men (in my own age Wink ) show a great intrest, some of them think its a 1600TL, some call it a "Variant" and some a "Valiant" but some know its a 411/412...one of them told me they were nice and beautiful cars but he hated them since they were a pity to sell - he was a former VW dealer!


/Lars S
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Porsche 914 -72, Bahia Red daily driver Smile
VW411 2-d -70, White, sold Sad
VW412 4-d, -73, Gold Metallic, daily driver
Suzuki T500, -69, Candy Gold, sold Sad
Suzuki K50, -77, Black, daily driver
BMW R69S -69, White, sold Sad
Husqvarna 118cc, -47, Black, Sold Sad
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kirk knighton
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Joined: January 23, 2005
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 27, 2014 12:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've had at least one Type 4 for thirty years....now I have three of them: one 411 and two 412s. It used to be driving the cars got me no attention whatsoever; nowadays I get nothing but attention - stares, looks, smiles, thumbs-up. It's all good.
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adamharo
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Joined: October 18, 2012
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Location: Fresno Ca
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 11:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

These cars are definitely a novelty. I've been parked next to brand new Corvettes and gotten more attention with my 411. It usually gets called a squareback until people see the headlights.
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SimiRon
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Joined: December 30, 2012
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Location: Simi Valley
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 9:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I get smiles and thumbs up every time I drive my 411. Last weekend, two middle aged men in the same parking lot approached me a few minutes apart asked me what year it is. Very comfortable to drive compared to my bus and bug.
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