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EverettB 
Administrator
Joined: April 11, 2000
Posts: 69809
Location: Phoenix Metro
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 Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 9:01 am Post subject: Re: appreciate my bug's reliability more every day |
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| oprn wrote: |
In my view the only thing that makes an old VW reliable is it's simplicity. If it ain't there it can't fail!
If you want all the bells and whistles expect to pay for them both in initail cost and to keep all that junk working over the years. |
I was thinking this too... My wife's Mazda has had things break that can't break on my Bus because it doesn't have those parts.
Power windows, for example.
I drove a VW Touareg a while back and looking at the dash and all the stuff inside one of my first thoughts was wow, there is a ton of crap that is going to break here. 
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TDCTDI
Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013
Posts: 12848
Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 9:15 am Post subject: Re: appreciate my bug's reliability more every day |
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| EverettB wrote: |
| oprn wrote: |
In my view the only thing that makes an old VW reliable is it's simplicity. If it ain't there it can't fail!
If you want all the bells and whistles expect to pay for them both in initail cost and to keep all that junk working over the years. |
I was thinking this too... My wife's Mazda has had things break that can't break on my Bus because it doesn't have those parts.
Power windows, for example.
I drove a VW Touareg a while back and looking at the dash and all the stuff inside one of my first thoughts was wow, there is a ton of crap that is going to break here. |
There is more wiring in & to the drivers door of that Touareg than in all of the beetle.
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Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
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kpf
Samba Member
Joined: March 01, 2017
Posts: 852
Location: California, US
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| Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 11:18 am Post subject: Re: appreciate my bug's reliability more every day |
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| Cusser wrote: |
| kpf wrote: |
| Generally, all cars are reliable when they're new. |
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LOL! That's why I said, "generally." 
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1971 Super Beetle |
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djdh68dlux
Samba Member
Joined: February 24, 2005
Posts: 770
Location: I.E., SoCal
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| Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 11:24 am Post subject: Re: appreciate my bug's reliability more every day |
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| kpf wrote: |
| Cusser wrote: |
| kpf wrote: |
| Generally, all cars are reliable when they're new. |
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LOL! That's why I said, "generally." |
I had an aunt & uncle that gave the Yugo a shot during a time when they were struggling financially but needed a car. As I remember it, it was "generally" a piece of shit! 
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1968 Deluxe "Clipper L" Type 2
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Cusser
Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2006
Posts: 31362
Location: Hot Arizona
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oprn
Samba Member
Joined: November 13, 2016
Posts: 12710
Location: Western Canada
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| Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 8:49 pm Post subject: Re: appreciate my bug's reliability more every day |
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| EverettB wrote: |
| I drove a VW Touareg a while back and looking at the dash and all the stuff inside one of my first thoughts was wow, there is a ton of crap that is going to break here. |
Exactly! |
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Zundfolge1432
Samba Member
Joined: June 13, 2004
Posts: 12467
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| Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2018 5:25 pm Post subject: Re: appreciate my bug's reliability more every day |
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| Generally true but consider this there are different types of buyers. Some buy new or lease with a full warranty, they don’t give a thought to what if it breaks. Second type of buyer buys them while they are still nice maybe a few things break they use independent shops to save money. Third type buys high mileage cars cheap hoping they’ve been well cared for, this is cheap way to buy a solid car, maybe they have a complete service history. The forth type buys not caring he knows how to fix whatever is broken, this type of buyer is a mechanic that specializes in a certain brand or he knows people. I’m probably between third and forth type of buyer, miles don’t scare me, complexities don’t scare me, neither does alternative technologies such as hybrid. Rather than being scared by complexities make sure it has a proven track record in reliability, that info is out there. |
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Mos6502
Samba Member
Joined: December 30, 2015
Posts: 725
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| Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2018 6:58 pm Post subject: Re: appreciate my bug's reliability more every day |
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| djdh68dlux wrote: |
| kpf wrote: |
| Cusser wrote: |
| kpf wrote: |
| Generally, all cars are reliable when they're new. |
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LOL! That's why I said, "generally." |
I had an aunt & uncle that gave the Yugo a shot during a time when they were struggling financially but needed a car. As I remember it, it was "generally" a piece of shit! |
Yugos were pretty reliable when new too. Actually scored better than Ford or Volvo for reliability in the 1980s... (ok, maybe not saying much, but hey) problem was when you hit 30,000 miles or so - things went south quick, and the Italian designed engines and parts weren't cheap to fix either.
Longevity is something as important to consider as reliability when new. Yugos were reliable enough to fool people for a couple years, until those first year cars were old enough to prove they had no longevity, then sales tanked. |
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oprn
Samba Member
Joined: November 13, 2016
Posts: 12710
Location: Western Canada
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| Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2018 8:41 pm Post subject: Re: appreciate my bug's reliability more every day |
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Reliability
Longevity
I had a '92 Chev pickup, gave it away at 416K miles, ran prefect not an oil burner.
Original engine, fuel filter, transmission, differential, brakes, ball joints and tie rod ends.
Replaced serpintine belts and all related rotating parts at least 4 times, starter once.
When given away these did not work: heater controls, power widows, power door locks, AC, fan speed, power seats, one speed wipers only, tape deck/cd player and headlights were intermittent.
I believe I had longevity without reliablity? |
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EVfun
Samba Member
Joined: April 01, 2012
Posts: 5475
Location: Seattle
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| Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2018 10:45 pm Post subject: Re: appreciate my bug's reliability more every day |
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| Mos6502 wrote: |
| djdh68dlux wrote: |
| kpf wrote: |
| Cusser wrote: |
| kpf wrote: |
| Generally, all cars are reliable when they're new. |
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LOL! That's why I said, "generally." |
I had an aunt & uncle that gave the Yugo a shot during a time when they were struggling financially but needed a car. As I remember it, it was "generally" a piece of shit! |
Yugos were pretty reliable when new too. Actually scored better than Ford or Volvo for reliability in the 1980s... (ok, maybe not saying much, but hey) problem was when you hit 30,000 miles or so - things went south quick, and the Italian designed engines and parts weren't cheap to fix either. |
No, they sucked by the time they where 2 years old and had just 19,000 miles on them. I suspect they sucked from day 1 because I bought an '87 Yugo in '89 with 19,000 miles on it for just $1900. It looked just like that ad, and was purchased as disposable commuter car because I got a job over 50 miles away from home. The Fiat long block was great, all assembled in Yugoslavia was bad (including installing a tiny 8.2 gallon gas tank.) Between 19,000 miles and 78,000 miles, over a period of 3 years, I did the following repairs:
Alternator failed and was replaced with a Fiat part.
Distributer was rebuilt with bushings added because shaft got so bad the reluctor was hitting the pickups.
Muffler was replaced because it rotted out.
Engine front rain deflector fell off and had to be replaced because without it the distributer would get wet.
Rebuild the radiator, lack of solder used originally.
Rebuild the heater core, lack of solder used originally.
Replace the inside door handles several times, a very poor original design. Running low on wrecker spares I determined how to make the inside hook out of steel to stop the breakage.
Rebuild the wiper motor twice because it collects water by design. The second time I determined that if I assembled the wiper system in place on the car I could turn the gearbox so the wiper motor pointed up to keep if from collecting water.
At 78,000 miles my wife lost control of the car on black ice and flipped it. After rolling it back over the doors still worked and I drove the car home. Still, the roof was tweaked around the A pillars and the car was driven to a wrecker and sold for $75 a couple weeks later.
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| Wildthings wrote: |
| As a general rule, cheap parts are the most expensive parts you can buy. |
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Mos6502
Samba Member
Joined: December 30, 2015
Posts: 725
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| Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2018 11:02 pm Post subject: Re: appreciate my bug's reliability more every day |
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Honestly, sounds nothing out of the ordinary for a car built in the 1980s.  |
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Zundfolge1432
Samba Member
Joined: June 13, 2004
Posts: 12467
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| Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 5:41 am Post subject: Re: appreciate my bug's reliability more every day |
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| Mos6502 wrote: |
| Honestly, sounds nothing out of the ordinary for a car built in the 1980s. |
I bought a 1986 Nissan hard body truck new, kept 7 years over 100k miles no problems even had original brakes and battery. A coworker is still driving 1985 Ford truck he bought new over 320k miles. Maybe some designs / models more reliable than others. |
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Cusser
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Joined: October 02, 2006
Posts: 31362
Location: Hot Arizona
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mukluk
Samba Member
Joined: October 18, 2012
Posts: 7023
Location: Clyde, TX
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| Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 10:33 am Post subject: Re: appreciate my bug's reliability more every day |
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Trucks tend to be overbuilt, making use of more heavy duty components, and therefore often last longer than contemporary cars, especially if they aren't frequently used for their intended role hauling loads.
If you want to be truly impressed with the reliability and longevity of a vehicle, look at a semi truck tractor. They make a vehicle that "only" lasts 300k miles seem like a cheap POS.
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Mos6502
Samba Member
Joined: December 30, 2015
Posts: 725
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| Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 12:49 pm Post subject: Re: appreciate my bug's reliability more every day |
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Yeah, those are trucks. Use them for hauling their payload every week, and you're not going to get 250K out of them. Drive them like a car and you will.
Even my 1982 Toyota which was the most reliable car I've had still had an incredible hunger for clutches, was on its third clutch by 150K, 1st gear went out about 200K and it needed a fourth clutch shortly after as well as new tires so I sold it then. By the standards of a car built in the 80's that was nothing. |
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oprn
Samba Member
Joined: November 13, 2016
Posts: 12710
Location: Western Canada
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| Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 3:47 pm Post subject: Re: appreciate my bug's reliability more every day |
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| I have two 944s, a '83 and a '85. Can't kill them - tough as nails, just keep on running! No idea how many miles are on either one(at 99K they roll over to 0) but the '83 has worn out rubber on the peddles and the shoulder belt looks like a rope. |
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mark tucker
Samba Member
Joined: April 08, 2009
Posts: 23937
Location: SHALIMAR ,FLORIDA
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| Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2018 10:14 am Post subject: Re: appreciate my bug's reliability more every day |
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| as usual I work on my wifes honda element , my bug...just gets the shit driven out of it..although U did redoo the old nasty CMS front wheels this year and put them back on ...with new skins too. |
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sb001
Samba Member
Joined: May 19, 2011
Posts: 10406
Location: NW Arkansas
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| Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2018 3:49 am Post subject: Re: appreciate my bug's reliability more every day |
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| platatomi wrote: |
Next I got a 97 Maxima stick shift which I have heard is legendary for reliability, only 100k miles and immaculately maintained. After a year of ownership, in addition to initial repairs it needed when I bought it: four coils have failed, starter failed, oxygen sensors failed, knock sensor failed, and it has an ongoing overheat problem that I haven't been able to diagnose. Even worse, some of the coil failures have not triggered the CEL or indicated any problem so I have driven many miles dumping raw fuel into the exhaust, so my CAT is probably burned up too at this point. The last coil to fail was brand new so it is killing them somehow...
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Coil packs failing on the 4th gen Maxima is nothing out of the ordinary nor anything to be upset/ concerned about. I've replaced 3-4 of them on mine with no damage done to anything. It's a shrugoff thing.
Your O2 and knock sensors would have coded an error when the coil packs went, they weren't bad just reset the CEL.
The overheat problem I'm not sure about but my guess is it needs a simple coolant flush.
I consider these small issues on a 20+ year old car. On my 99 Maxima I have had to replace a few coil packs as previously mentioned, along with alternator, front suspension (control arms, tie rods, sway bar linkage, struts), starter (again a nothing job on a Maxima) and recently had to have the AC repaired. The AC by far was the most expensive thing ($800) mainly because it's the only thing I couldn't do myself, but again we're talking a 20 year old car that I don't have a car payment on AND liability only insurance instead of forced comprehensive on something I'm financing. If I compare it to having a $200 car payment per month then that repair has paid for itself as long as the car goes past another 4 months. That's not counting the plethora of cash I'm saving on insurance.
I bring all this up because my Maxima has 395,000+ miles on it and drives like it's got 1/4 of that. By that fact alone and with all the repairs costing fairly little money (aside from the AC which I'll give it given the mileage) it's been one of the most reliable cars I've ever owned. And I don't compare its reliability to my 1969 VW because well apples and oranges.
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1969 autostick sedan, family owned since new
1600 SP engine
Solex 30 PICT 3 carburetor
Bosch 113905205AE autostick distributor |
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sb001
Samba Member
Joined: May 19, 2011
Posts: 10406
Location: NW Arkansas
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| Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2018 3:52 am Post subject: Re: appreciate my bug's reliability more every day |
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| skills@eurocarsplus wrote: |
I'm with zund....like my vw's love my audi's and Volvo's |
Zund didn't mention a damn thing about Audis and Volvos in his list of most reliable, there's a reason.
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I'm the humblest guy on this board.
1969 autostick sedan, family owned since new
1600 SP engine
Solex 30 PICT 3 carburetor
Bosch 113905205AE autostick distributor |
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scottyrocks
Samba Member
Joined: August 19, 2016
Posts: 2661
Location: Long Island, NY
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| Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2018 6:32 am Post subject: Re: appreciate my bug's reliability more every day |
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I was appreciating my bug's reliability until it stopped running.
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