Is a Bus for Me?

[Isomer]

Hi, I just found out about this website today and I wanted to say I love the little VW cult.

Anyway, I'm going to get my first car very soon and I'm considering getting a bus. I've always loved the look of the bus (Split screen especially) and think it would be really great to have. My friend's uncle is selling a deluxe bus and is willing to cut me a deal. However, I have a couple questions before and I figured this would be the best place to ask since everyone knows the seller is the last place you should get your info from.

1. How easy is it to maintain this car?

I know basic car knowledge, and can fix some things but I was wondering if extensive knowledge is required to fix my bus up.

2. How reliable is it? How often would I need to take it into a shop/How common are classic VW mechanics?
That's one of the biggest concerns I have. With the its classic look comes age. Is it dependable enough to not break down frequently?

3. Can I drive on the freeway with it?
My job requires me to drive on the freeway very frequently. Could a bus manage this?

4.How easy is it to steal a bus?
I don't have a garage for it and it would be kept on the street. Is it east to steal a bus/how can I prevent it?

5. Would a bus be good for a person who is new to stick?
I've never driver stick, but I'm willing to learn. My dad has an old car that I can practice on.

6. I'm kind of a big guy (6 foot, 260 pounds), can I fit in a bus? Could it support me?
This is probably a big one for me. If someone could answer this first, I'd appreciate it. I'd want to save myself the embarrassment of going over to my friend's uncle's house and finding out I can't fit in the driver's seat

[Danwvw]

Hi there Isomer, Glad you found "The Samba" good your here:
1. Easy, Well that depends on a few things I suppose, But I think there easy to work on, I do my own Maintenance as well as change Engines, Rebuild them and change transmission with nothing more than a small floor jack and some hand tools.
2. They are very reliable if you get them right.
3. The early split bus has reduction gears in it which will keep you from going over 65 mph on the freeway unless you put a later model engine in it that will rev up a little.
4. It would be easy for anyone to steal from you but there is no market for for them stolen as early cars are so unique now and can be tracked down pretty easy. I think some of the early ones even had engine compartment locks.
5. New to stick, No problem one of the easiest stick's around to drive.
6. I am 6.4" got 4 inches of head room. there is a lot more room in a bus than most new SUV's.

All this being said. Depending where you live you will need to find a good VW mechanic or friend to help from time to time. I takes years to really figure things out. I have learned more reading "The Samba" about VW engines than I ever learned rebuilding them myself. It's a different kind of learning as there is no replacement for hands on experience.

If your where it gets really cold, you may need some kind of heater over the engine heat as they can be pretty cold to drive if it's below freezing. They go great in the snow not really safe on Ice though!
Check this link out SST: Mt. Shasta Snow Trip -Jan 30th - Feb 2nd 2014
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1960 Beetle And 1679cc DP W-100 & Dual Zeniths!

[Isomer]

First off, thanks for an actual response and a welcome!

[Isomer]

[earlywesty]

Welcome, before someone else reminds you, search engine and FAQs at the top are your friend. Start here, these vehicles can make the best and worst first vehicle ever, depending on your aptitude, interests, wallet size and willingness to learn. Good luck.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=71838

[cru62]

The first thing I would recommend is buy a "BENTLEY" Manual for your bus. You can also get John Muir's book which everyone calls "The Idiot Guide". I can't remember the correct title. But anyone into VWs will know exactly to what you are refering.

Secondly, buy the absolute best bus you can afford. Don't waste your money and time trying to learn on someone else's basketcase no matter how cheap it may be. It will only end in tears. Buy a running, driving and, most importantly, STOPPING! bus. It is way easier to fix something that was working a minute ago than to fiqure out why the bus you just bought that was "running when we parked it" won't even turn over now.

Join a club and/or befriend your local VW enthusiast. They will be a wealth of information. Offer to help them with repairs on their bus or other VW.

Read everything that you think might help you in the various Forums, especially this one. There is a ton of info. And if you ask a question that has been asked 10,000 times before, be ready for the blowback.

Most aircooled VWs are painfully easy to steal. And nowadays, most of them are broken up into their component parts and sold by the piece. If you must park it where every thief in town can see it then make sure you take EVERY precaution to make it as difficult to steal as possible and easy to track/locate if it is stolen. The Stolen Rides Forum is heartbreaking.

The real challenge with being tall (I am 6'3") in a bus is not the headroom. There is plenty of that. It is seeing out of the windshield! VWs were designed for short people who wore hats. So, there is plenty of room up top but the windshield is too damn low. The default posture for giants behind the wheel of a bus is either to rest your elbows/forearms on the steering wheel and slouch enough to see. Or slump down in the seat. Either way will make you glad that your bus only has a 10.6 Gallon tank.

Don't worry about what to do to your bus to make it faster until you master it in stock form. You ask if it would be expensive and would you need to go to a mechanic. That is entirely dependent upon the size of your checkbook, your reading ability and your mechanical aptitude. Having someone with the skills to convert your bus to do what you would like it to do will start out expensive and go up from there. The learning curve to do stuff yourself is pretty steep. If you read about how others have solved the problems that you need to overcome will help immensely. Somewhere on this site, there is a topic which addresses your EXACT problem or very close. Don't be afraid to ask for help. But do some research first.

So, you think it will be "easy" to find a bus in good ol' California, huh? I hope you have a vast network of people who "owe you one" or deep pockets. Because everyone in the WORLD thinks the exact same thing and the first place they look is good ol' California. Here in good ol' California you can take your pick of your new bus being cheap, nice or close. Only well connected or lucky Sum-bitches get all three. The rest of us settle for what we can afford. And besides, everyone knows that there are no more buses in Cali. They all went to the UK or the fatherland. Nothing to see here. Move along, folks.

Look up "keysar" in the memberlist and read his thread. He and many other youngsters are doing just what you want to do. They seem to do alright. I wish you the same good fortune!
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[joe56vw]

do you enjoy or willing to deal with having to do regular maintenance one weekend a month and the random week night repair job?

can you handle cruising at 60-65mph without following to close or wanting to pass everyone?

are you willing to not have AC on a hot august day and/or a small trickle of heat on the coolest day in January?

if your answer is yes to these questions then sure a bus is for you

honestly if you live in a big city where you have to deal with a lot of traffic, crime, vandals, extreme heat, or months of below freezing this is probably not the best daily driver for you
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'60 15 window walkthrough
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=559931&highlight=

why is there no sarcasism button on here?

[Wayland]

Probably the biggest thing to think of with aircooled Vws is that NOTHING maintains itself automatically on these vehicles, ie brakes, clutch, ignition timing, valve clearance, fan belt, point gap, link pin front end, etc, etc all must be checked fairly often and adjusted manually. These are all very easy things to do, and only require simple tools, but unlike American V8s, Vws tend to run fairly close to their tolerances for heat, low oil level, etc. If you are willing to spend a little time checking and adjusting things, which needs to happen fairly often, you will find that an old bus can be as reliable as anything on the road, and much easier to fix on the side of the road if you do run into problems. It's important as well to remember that a split bus is NOT a modern car, and doesn't accelerate, stop, or steer like one. If you are okay with this, chances are you'll love driving a bus.

[Stocknazi]

The best way to find out if a split bus is for you is to DRIVE one.

Find someone local with a bus and see if they would let you take a drive on a deserted back road, or would at least let you come along for a ride with them.

welcome to the samba
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[Malokin Martin]

Maybe it kind of depends on what your "finished product" definition is...

Driver with some rust? The newest/freshest stock engine and tranny you can afford.. maintenance is pretty easy and straight forward if these stay functional. Once you start modifying, you can't depend on the shop manual as much....

Nice paint runner? As little rust as possible when buying and a lot more frequent/complex maintenance in the long run. It's likely that, for equal money, the better looking one (i.e. dropped/lowered/painted/modified) will have a lot more mechanical issues.

Either way, understand you're buying a hobby, not just a car. If you can't see fixing something nearly every weekend as "fun", then time to rethink the deal. It's more about being real with yourself than anything we can say here.

The up-shot is that about $50 in tools will fix almost anything.

[Z]

Welcome to The Samba...you'll find all the info you'll ever need somewhere here. A bus is an addictive and pretty unique vehicle, and I've yet to meet any car person who didn't find them fun to drive.

As for your questions:
1. A stock bus, in good working order is easy to maintain, as compared to other classic cars. NOT compared to anything modern, however. As stated earlier, there is almost nothing on them that 'maintains' itself. People who've never really lived with old cars often have no idea what it's like to NEED to work on their car. The owner's manual is good, but you need to go further. The Idiot's Guide is a good read, and explains many things in layman's terms, but it isn't perfect. The Bentley is the best.

2. Reliability is a function of it's condition. See maintenance comments... How often it goes to a shop depends on the bus, but California should have a bunch of mechanics. Try to find one that will let you peek over his shoulder and learn.

3. A bus will travel on the freeway just fine, given that it's in good working order, but don't expect to keep up with 65+ traffic. Also please remember that drum brakes are fine WHEN PROPERLY MAINTAINED, but even the best drums cannot achieve stopping distances that every crappy econobox that jumps in front of you on the freeway can. There are lots of cars around today with brakes that are probably 200% better than drums.

4. A bus is extremely easy to get into, one way or another, and the idea that they are not attractive to thieves is simply not true.

5. Manuals are easy to drive, and the bus is no different. Clutch cables need adjusting, too!

6. Try one out...they are unlike most anything else. And they were made to carry many times what you'd expect them to, so you shouldn't have any trouble. Just have to develop the 'bus lean' driving position.

In short, buses are really cool and fun, but take work to make work. (tm)

As mentioned, starting with a REALLY good one will pay off in the long run. Using one as a daily driver is done all the time, and I did so for years, even in Houston heat, but all I had to do was GET to work and back. If I needed to drive around for work, I would probably look for a modern ____, and get a project bus to play with, but no reason you can't do it.

Read the FAQ's, follow the links to threads with fix it topics, etc., and come back with questions as you find them. Good luck!

[cru62]

[Danwvw]

Your getting some great responses here to your post! Don't be discouraged by any, they're pretty insightful.
Reduction gears are on the wheel, kind of a hub gear box on each back wheel! They raise the bus up high giving it enough ground clearance to go where most never dare. They also help the small horsepower engines they came with move the 3000 pound vehicle that they are. Some people take them out and lower the buses, I am not sure what this does for them but the later transmissions then become somewhat compatible and the engine can be up-graded to the 1971 and later Beetle engine which can be built to have plenty of power to keep up with any freeway traffic. (it's a pretty big deal to do it though!)
The split are expensive to buy in good condition unless you find one that is not for sale, If you can get into one for $2000 that is complete and not a rust bucket then buy it even if it's in pieces! They're like cash, easy trade and easy to sale! Usually a good potential bus for a project is going to cost 6 to 8 thousand! But get it going and it's worth 10K Restore it and it's worth 20K. I like the campers. I found one for sale for 8000 locally here a while back and really wish I had the place to put it! (did not get it) It rains too much here on the Oregon coast to leave them outside.
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1960 Beetle And 1679cc DP W-100 & Dual Zeniths!

[alijonny]

FYI, I'm 6'2" and about 300lbs, got a solid 42 waist. I have sat in a split window bus and feel just comfy, although the shifter position wasn't ideal in the specific bus I sat in. It's not a tight fit at all for me, which is opposite of what I thought it would be. I look goofy and too large in anything, but I don't really care anymore. It's fun. Best bet, sit in it.
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1965 Beetle
1990 Syncro Westfalia
1983 Westfalia

[joe56vw]

[Chodel]

I have a 79 transport, and it has had no problem thus far. I'd have to suggest getting a later one, for the fuel injection. Unless you are willing to learn about tinkering with carburetors. I've driven on the freeway plenty times, I dont like pushing my bus very hard so 65 mph is max for me even in 75 mph speed limit, as the speed limit is just the speed "limit". I have sliding rear windows, making it very easy to crack open and slide a wire to unlock the doors, i've it done several times when i locked the keys in. The manual transmissions are easy to drive once you get the hang of them. But if the linkage between the shifter and the tranny goes bad its kind of a pain to repair. And as for your size my 6'6 300 pound monster of a cousin had no prob getting in and out, and was comfortable. Hope this helps
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1979 VW Transport

[Wayland]

FWIW, a 79 bus is very different creature than a split bus. Personally, I'd take a carburetor over 35 year old fuel injection any day.

[olliehank47]

Lots of good information so far, and none of it should be ignored. Here are a couple of things I'll add, based on your personal situation.

First, I think you wouldn't have any problems learning how to work on a split bus. However, if you don't have a garage or a place off the street to work, will you really be able to maintain/fix your bus? This is something very important to consider because, regardless of the quality of the bus you buy, it will need regular service and repair--that's the nature of the animal. Will you have to pay someone to do all of this? Something to consider.

Second, reliability and dependability will be your responsibility, based on how well you work on your bus, and is related to my first paragraph, above. No matter what you do, it is still 40+ year old technology, designed to be simple and easily fixed in an emergency. Every bus owner I know carries extra parts and tools on any trip and is prepared for a breakdown. You will need to get into that mind set and skill level. It's not difficult, but you need to realize it.

Third, if you commute regularly on the freeway, I would not recommend a splitty unless you actually ride or drive one at freeway speed beforehand. Even fitted with an engine/tranny combo that is capable of maintaining freeway speeds, they are noisy (wind, engine, road noise) compared to a modern car. Are you ready for that on a daily basis? Are you facing lots of stop/go freeway traffic? Are you ready to face that with a stick shift (regardless of the car you buy?)

Fourth, splitty buses are extremely simple to steal. I would disagree with one of the posts in that they are indeed in demand, maybe not by car theft pros, but by scumbags that know the market for buses today, know VW's, and circulate among those who could give a damn if something is stolen or not. The safety of your bus will depend a lot on where you live and how inconspicuous you can make it (if that's even possible with a split bus.) They have been stolen in some of the best neighborhoods in SoCal, as well as in parking lots of malls. If you must park on the street, lock up every time, and install some method of locking the steering, transmission or disabling the ignition--or all three. If someone wants it bad enough, they'll haul it away on a flatbed. The best you can do is try to foil the opportunity thief who attempts to drive it away.

Fifth, you have a lead on a split bus from a private party but you should follow the advice of others here who mentioned costs. A lot will depend on the condition of the bus and the price you pay. You may be ahead of the game because of the private sale, or you may not. However, I'd put this far down your list compared to the other things I brought up. You,ve never owned or driven a split bus. Set your emotions and excitement aside and objectively look at what you will face with a split bus. Does it really fit you needs? Can you really fix it and keep it running and dependable? Can you really keep it secure?

These are questions only you can answer.

[Harleyelf]

Welcome to the world of Samba!

A splitty can be secured against theft mostly by locking all the doors and windows properly; once inside, they are easy to start, and there is no steering lock. Leaning forward to release the e-brake looks a lot like leaning forward to short out two contacts on the fusebox with a jumper clip and moving your shoulder while turning a key in the ignition looks a lot like touching a coin to the back of the ignition switch to engage the starter. A brazen thief without a key can drive away in front of a dozen witnesses without raising any notice, so long as he was able to open the door unchallenged.

My '66 has a '72 Ghia transmission and a 1600 dual port motor. I've been to California and back in it three times. Night air is your friend if you want to go fast. Modern tires are much better at high speeds than stock tires.

Brakes will be an issue on any well-rested project. New shoes, rubber hoses, master and wheel cylinders all around and replace any drums that are no longer round. For eight grand you should be able to find a daily driver that will serve you dependably. Stay away from factory campers and 21-windows if you are on a budget; you can put camper stuff into a standard bus.

[abritinthebay]

1. How easy is it to maintain this car?

Depends on the initial condition and if you have a VW specialist near you and money

Compared to modern cars you can do basically EVERYTHING yourself. It's up to you if you want to.

2. How reliable is it? How often would I need to take it into a shop/How common are classic VW mechanics?
Also depends on the initial condition. Obviously you'll want to get it serviced regularly (and more often than a new car) but if it's in good condition it'll be fine.

3. Can I drive on the freeway with it?

I do! you just won't be speeding too much with it - I top out at about 65mph on the flat. More if I really push it but that's normal top. Not that surprising as I'm running with a 1600cc engine and as a BUS it's designed to haul loads in lower gears not be a sports car.

4.How easy is it to steal a bus?

It's a stick. That means most people won't want to steal it. But you can install many different things to prevent people from trying. A simple steering lock won't stop anyone but will deter opportunists. Gear shift locks and more advanced electrical alarms are all possible.

5. Would a bus be good for a person who is new to stick?

No. God no. No. Practice first - then get one. You'll destroy the gear box if you don't know what you're doing.

6. I'm kind of a big guy (6 foot, 260 pounds), can I fit in a bus? Could it support me?

I'm 6'4" and about your weight. I fit in it fine. Main issue is that the windshield is a little low, but it's like having sunvisors down. Not a problem at all. If anything it's one of the nicer cars to get into because I step UP into it.