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South American vs German Volkswagen Build Quality & Variations
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Are there any differences between South American vs German Volkswagen Build Quality
If it is stamped “German” don’t walk, run!
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Not a big difference between South American Volkswagen build and any other
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Rustymetty
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:11 pm    Post subject: South American vs German Volkswagen Build Quality & Variations Reply with quote

All,
It’s consistently been said, that South American Volkswagen build quality is inferior to that of German. While it is difficult to get a true comparison—as model years are not one-to-one, i.e. A German 67 Beetle, is different than a Brazilian 67. Components of pre-67 Beetles were used in later years on Brazilian models—bumpers for instance. That being said, I’ve also been told that cabriolets were never produced in South America.

My Questions:

Can anyone speak to the supposedly inferior build quality? I’ve never seen any actual evidence of this, and I suspect the quality delta is less than may be rumored.

What are the differences between the various beetle models? Big topic I know, perhaps this has been documented somewhere already?

Were cabriolets ever built in South America? Starting when? Ending?

I realize South America is a continent, with various countries producing Volkswagens independent of one another. I’m not attempting to engage in political discussions. The Volkswagen is just as beautiful, timeless and endearing in Sao Paola as it is in Big Sur or Berlin. I’m simply curious about the cars history and have often been tempted by beautiful South American examples.

Best!
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viiking
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 22, 2021 4:33 pm    Post subject: Re: South American vs German Volkswagen Build Quality & Variations Reply with quote

No answer for you for a long time. I can't help with South American VW's but I can give the experience of Australian built VW's.

The build quality of the Australian VW is just as good as the German VW. Why? Because having worked for a big German company who manufacturers all around the world (not cars) they absolutely insist that the quality of their products are identical everywhere. This is just inherent in the German manufacturing psyche.

So in the case of Australian VW's, the specifications for products were identical to the German made products. For example we had Bosch parts made in Australia, generators, starter motors etc. In the 60's for example the government mandated that cars HAD to have >90% Australian made parts. This was to protect the local car industry and provide jobs.

The only differences were that locally made VW's had locally formulated paints which may not have always matched exactly with the German production.

When the Australian plant closed down, the body presses were sent to Brazil to be used in production of the bodies I believe until the end of production.

Now it is not to say that production of parts from the '70's on were perhaps not "cheaper" because VW had stopped making air cooled cars in Europe and their focus changed to the Golf water cooled platform.
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alex857
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 19, 2022 6:34 am    Post subject: Re: South American vs German Volkswagen Build Quality & Variations Reply with quote

Hi
as far as I know there was never an official Brazilian Fusca convertible, but... there was a company which produced good metal made convertibles out of closed Fuscas. One of them transported President Itamar during the 1994 relaunch of the Fusca:

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


As for quality, I think that a general assessment is impossible. Furthermore, both parts and cars were built to the climatic and market expectations. I have no experience with South American Beetles.

Mexican Beetles however were exported in a huge number of over 100.000 to Europe (of which I own three). They gained a reputation for being mechanically durable and sturdy, but not too well built against harsh climate, roadsalting and corrosion. This seems logical: The taxi use in Mexico forced VW of Mex to build them better and stronger that ever; Mexican climate allowed them to be neglectful in painting and corrosion protection.

Personally, I would expect the same from Brazilian Fuscas.
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favguy
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 08, 2023 8:39 am    Post subject: Re: South American vs German Volkswagen Build Quality & Variations Reply with quote

A reply to an old thread, but may still be of interest to someone.

I owned a 1984 Mexican built beetle. At the time they were built for official VW export to Germany for the dwindling, but still limited market for the beetle at the time. Mexican beetles of this era were excellent throughout and I'd say quality was on a par with or even exceeded that of '70's German Beetles. I ran mine all year round for 9 years and 73k miles with no problems at all and no rust issues. My granddads German '72 beetle for comparison, was severely rotted to scrap by 1983, after covering similar mileage in our climate.

As for the T2, I recently bought a 2014 last edition Brazilian Kombi. I like it, it's interesting, but having been all over it now, can confirm attention to detail in the build process, including jigging & alignment of the structure, welding, and paint finish is well behind anything that came out of Germany on a bad day. Lot's of things are "good enough" for a low cost alternative vehicle, which is what it became latterly in Brazil, but would in no way get through '70's German QC! Other things to note, all the outer body panels appear to be about 0.1mm thinner in gauge than the last German buses and you can see "rippling" and some spot weld points showing through from the inner structure if you know how to "use light" when looking down the sides and around the bus. (It's not terrible though, and many wouldn't notice)

If used in anything apart from summer weather in wet climates, you'll need extensive rustproofing/cavity wax injection doing as they are built for warmer, none salted roads too. (Although frankly, German T2's hardly lasted long term either in salted winter road climates without additional help!)

The above said, it's still a nice bus and drives and feels like a late bay, apart from a little more steering wander. (front end is still largely king pin/split screen based)

At 78 bhp, the 1.4 water cooled engine is also more powerful than anything air cooled that ever came out of a German VW factory as standard.
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