Reliability and repair costs

[Marisa Halbach]

Hello!
I am looking into buying a 1967 or up year Beetle. I would use this car a few times a week. I am wondering how much are repairs generally? We have had 2 Jettas and a Passat wagon in the past and the repair costs were always atrocious.

Also, are they pretty reliable? I would be selling my 2013 Jetta and replacing with the Beetle, so I don't want to go from something I can always depend on to something that I never know if it's going to run or not. I want one that is restored pretty much and not in rough shape. Doesn't have to be show car quality though.

Thanks for your input!

[sjbartnik]

If you are not doing repairs yourself, you will spend a whole lot of money having the car at a shop. The shop is unlikely to be competent on air-cooled VWs and will probably break more things than they fix.

If you want to own a 50 year old car your best bet is to maintain and repair it yourself. Cars from the '60s and '70s had much more extensive regular maintenance requirements than modern cars do. Technology has come a long way since then. You will be doing a service on the Beetle at least every 3000 miles. That gets expensive if you're paying someone else to do it.

As for reliability, they are as reliable as your competence allows. If you are a crappy mechanic or you hire a crappy mechanic and you or that mechanic use crappy aftermarket parts, it will not be reliable. If you maintain it well and use quality parts it will be reliable, with the caveat that sometimes 50 year old stuff just breaks unexpectedly.

Even a car that is restored is no guarantee of reliability. A restoration can look great but if they used crap parts or didn't know how to build an engine, you'll be hating life. Even on a well-restored car, figure about a year for a shakedown period where you fix all the little things that are wrong and get it running/driving like it's supposed to as you learn the car.
_________________
1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[Sharp64]

If you have to ask this question, you shouldn’t do this. Stick with a new car.
_________________
1960 Indigo Blue Ragtop (Blue Barry)
1967 Ghia
1985 Westy Money Pit
“...some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.” - Michael Caine

[Q-Dog]

No sane person would replace a 5 year old car with a 50 year old car and expect the same reliability.

Ideal would be to keep the Jetta and use the Beetle as a play car.

Also, the only thing a Jetta and an aircooled Beetle have in common is the fact that they were allegedly built by the same company.
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Brian

'69 Dune Buggy
'69 Beetle Convertible
'70 Beetle

[scdevon]

These cars are a hobby, not a Toyota Corolla "get in it and go" type of vehicle.
It's almost guaranteed that any local repair shop will cause more harm than good working on them unless they are a VW specialty shop and most general repair shops will shy away from working on them anyway these days.

If you really want one, shop for a high end example that's mostly original and complete and free of cancer rust. It's going to cost you though. It's almost a requirement that you do your own work on it and never let anyone else even touch it. These are simple cars, but they require CONSTANT babysitting and maintenance.

The more pristine and original the car is, the less problems and headaches you will have with it.
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1970 Beetle 1600 DP

[Cusser]

I just reviewed my maintenance and repair record for my 1971 VW convertible; even though it has a larger 1835cc engine, in the last decade my repairs (other than oil change/valve adjustments/brake adjustments) have been 2 new batteries and me installing a spark plug insert on #2.

My 1970 had been sitting for 23 years before I resurrected that 1.5 years ago, so that's not an equivalent situation.

But I agree that owners of these VWs should know or learn basic maintenance and repairs, and that includes engine R&R !!!
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1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[TDCTDI]

Are you prepared to check the oil every morning? How about adjusting the brakes, the valves, the points, & the timing every 3,000 miles when you change the oil? This is routine maintenance on an aircooled VW.

Are you willing to give up air conditioning? How about heat? Sure, some cars have them but it's probably like 98% don't have A/C and at least 40% don't have heat.
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Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[anthracitedub]

Take your time, ask tons of questions and buy the best one you can find.

[Canadian VW]

[KTPhil]

I won't tell you not to do it, but consider the following:

The maintenance is simple, and doesn't require a lot of tools, but it does take time. If you do it, it's cheap. If a professional does, it's expensive. What is your competence level?

How many miles is your 3-times-per-week drive? What kind of driving? Where are you located (weather can play a role). Do you have a backup transportation plan if the car fails on you?

I drove mine daily for years, 35 miles each way, a mix of freeway, country dirt road, boulevard cruising. I did all my own maintenance, so a day per month was spent on the car. It rarely let me down, and was almost as reliable as my replacement car, a 5-year old Toyota (the gold standard).

But if I hadn't done the maintenance, it would have probably broken down many times. I was sensitive to how it drove, so I could feel problems coming on with the engine, brakes, clutch, electricals, etc, before they hit total failure. Are you tuned in to your car that way?

[Cusser]

[bluebus86]

Millions have found the Bug to be very reliable. You do need routine maintenance however...
oil change at 3000 miles, but no filter to change, very easy to do yourself, how to do it might confuse the typical jiffy lube shop however. valve adjustment every other oil change, this is important, is medium easy to do, or have an aircooled specialty shop do it for you, figure half hour labor. every few years the carb might need cleaning and new gaskets. the rest is pretty much like other cars, change brake fluid every 2 years. No radiator flushing is ever required!!! No AC to fail, no power lock, power windows, power mirrors, power steering, to fail. no computer code problems, possibly no smog testing depending on laws where the Bug is registered. No pricey catalyst to replace, no timing belt that must be replaced before breakage, else engine is smashed as on some new cars.

You will need to do periodic points and timing service, but installation of an electronic points replacement eliminates this service requirement, this upgrade is not too expensive.


Get the best Bug you can afford, find an aircooled shop for service unless you do the work yourself.

Bug On! and good luck in your search!
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Help Prevent VW Engine Fires, see this link.....Engine safety wire information

Stop introducing dirt into your oil when adjusting valves ... https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=683022

[TDCTDI]

[Q-Dog]

[rcooled]

One major thing to consider is your safety in modern traffic situations. I know that many do drive their vintage VWs on a daily basis, but I'd say that more owners now consider these to be 'hobby' cars and use them rather sparingly.

Except maybe for seat belts, a 50-year-old Beetle has NONE of the safety features that're taken for granted in a modern car. No crumple zones, no anti-lock brakes, no air bags, no side-impact beams and no bumper protection to speak of. The stock headlights/tail lights are not up to par by today's standards, the windshield wipers/washers are marginal, the suspension is quite primitive, the brakes are barely adequate and the heating system can best be compared to a hamster breathing on your ankles. And if you live in snow country, you'll be needing a scraper to remove ice from the INSIDE of the windshield during the winter. The bottom line is that if you get into a serious accident...especially with a huge pickup or SUV...you'll stand a good chance of being severely injured, or even worse.

Although regular maintenance isn't a complicated chore as others have said, vintage VWs need quite a bit of tinkering to keep everything in top shape and working properly. And there are very few repair shops around these days that'll even want to mess with any 50-year-old car, let alone a VW.

All things considered, especially if you're not comfortable tinkering with old cars and with using basic tools, you'd be better off not depending on a vintage VW to get you around. As a weekend cruiser, maybe...but not as everyday transportation that you'd need to count on to always be ready to go when you are.
_________________
'63 Ragtop (current)
'65 Ghia coupe (totaled)
'67 Ghia convertible (current)
'69.5 Ghia convertible and
'62, '63, '65, '69 Bugs (all long gone)

[bluebus86]

[Sharp64]

Has anyone noticed that the OP joined 3 years ago, first posted yesterday, and hasn’t visited since? You guys are tilting at windmills for nothing.
_________________
1960 Indigo Blue Ragtop (Blue Barry)
1967 Ghia
1985 Westy Money Pit
“...some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.” - Michael Caine

[bugheadred]

wow you people are so negative ! the beetle in not a delicate flower . IT WAS MADE TO DRIVE ! not to sit on the mantle get the car buy a book read about the maintenance that requires to have one if you can do the work your good to go I have been driving these cars for over 30 years if it wasn't for the lack of cars here In ny would drive one every day

[bluebus86]

[wheel607]

NO it is not reliable and yes it is expensive to repair......compared to a newer car of your generation. It is everything you hate and just a little of what you like, its cute! Well cute is not the reason for wanting an air cooled VW, that is hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Cute will not get you to the corner and back, a Honda will. You cannot afford cute.....ask your parents.