I miss my VW's

[max930]

I noticed most of the threads here. American cars! Not that anything wrong. But as Canadians we can love European or even Japanese as much or more then American products. As we are not Americans! My best car was basically a fluke. 1970 VW Karmann Ghia. Bought cause a 20 year old single mother needed first and last months rent. So I bought her car. Girls loved the Ghia. So did women. This led me to buy a VR-6 Corrado with lowered suspension and a few engine mods, chips, etc. That car was awesome on the highway cruising high speeds.......... I also want a 1970's era Westfalia camper van. So who else was or is a VW fan?

 

[Rick9456]

I purchased a 1958 VW bug when I was a kid. Had a blast in the car. I did my best to destroy it but couldn't. It just keep running. I kept it a couple years then traded in in for my 68 Charger. Wish i had both on them now.

 

[max930]

Back in the 1980's since VW still made air cooled vans and bugs in Mexico. parts very reasonable back then. I replaced the carbs on the Ghia. Used it was $20 each for the better carbs. It was also super easy to work on. Awesome cars for those that liked to wrench and drive! I wish kept the Ghia now.

 

[YFCvii]

common post your car pics up because, just like with new acquisitions ... ... if you got them ...
(and then we see photos of the cars to relate to your story - and not be imagining these girls in your dreams - although sliding an additional pic or two doesn't hurt either)

 

[williame3590]

Bill

 

[Hiroki Soki]

I noticed most of the threads here. American cars! Not that anything wrong. But as Canadians we can love European or even Japanese as much or more then American products. As we are not Americans! My best car was basically a fluke. 1970 VW Karmann Ghia. Bought cause a 20 year old single mother needed first and last months rent. So I bought her car. Girls loved the Ghia. So did women. This led me to buy a VR-6 Corrado with lowered suspension and a few engine mods, chips, etc. That car was awesome on the highway cruising high speeds.......... I also want a 1970's era Westfalia camper van. So who else was or is a VW fan?

Them Corrado VR6's with aftermarket exhausts sounded pretty wicked!

I still remember from back in the days when i used to borrow my friend's IROC convertible i went up against a gal in a tuned Corrado VR6. I got my butt kicked

 

[John B]

I still have a Vw it’s parked next to the Vett with my model A on the other side

 

[hemicat]

My first car was a 1965 VW. Drove it to high school for a couple of years. In winter, I had to use it's gas heater and use those stick-on defrost panels on the windows so you could see out. Anybody remember those?

I purchased a 1958 VW bug when I was a kid. Had a blast in the car. I did my best to destroy it but couldn't. It just keep running. I kept it a couple years then traded in in for my 68 Charger. Wish i had both on them now.

 

[RockyPM]

Mid 80's i bought the classic Manx style street legal dune buggy. Going to have to dig through some old photo albums to find pics. Metallic silver flake paint chrome 60 series tires, pipes that by chance were burned out so you could hear me coming from miles away. Becuase fo the engine noise i have to put in an amp and bigger speakers! I miss that thing.

 

[Tourmax]

Volkswagon?

Nope. Not a chance. Yep, I'm Canadian. Still mostly "nope" to European cars.

I don't like Volkswagons. But I have reason for it. I don't mind driving them, but when I was working in a garage as a licensed mechanic (long time ago, was still a pup) we would all run for the break room or the smoker if the counter guy came back with a work order for a "volkswagon XXX". Things were just built too differently and they needed (at least it always seemed like) too many special tools for working on most of the cars systems. Obviously I'm not talking about the old "bugs" (which seemed like you could fix with a pocket knife and a pair of scissors), but pretty much anything Rabbit and up. Everyone in the shop hated working on them.

I mean seriously: who the hell though toot was a good idea to use BOLTS to hold the wheels on instead of studs and lug nuts? Pull out the wheel bolts and you better be ready to catch that G-D tire before it hit you or the floor. Putting it back on was an even bigger hassle.

Truthfully, we didn't get a lot for european cars, but they were all a major PITA to work on. Everything from a V12 Jaguar (don't get me started on trying to synch up a set of V12 carbs or changing the rear brakes on a Jag IRS, carb synch on a Jag ran on stright time, book rates went out the door on those gawd-awful things) to a BMW sedan, just too different from what we were used to working on. We could, but it was always a hassle. That's not what you want when you're working for flat rate. You want it in and you want it out, as quickly as possible.

Don't get me wrong; I enjoy a nice BMW or most of the European exotics. I drove a Jetta TDi for a couple weeks once and it was great getting somewhere around 60+ MPG on the highway runs.

But I only ever want to drive them, never own them. At the end of a drive, I'm perfectly happy to hand the keys back to whoever owns it and wonder when they're going to have to take it in for work and how much it is going to cost them. No thank you . Not for me.


Jap cars? Meh, I can take 'em or leave em. Except for a few jap models, I've always found them to be......well, boring.

Jap cars usually drive great, work great, (usually) reliable to a fault, immeninetly practical and (almost all of them) get good/great fuel mileage. But man, the average Jap car just leaves me so......flat. North american cars can be that way for me too, but ti usually has to be some "low end" model (like a sunfire or that type of econobox) to not be at least somewhat fun to throw around.

But if a guy likes Volkswagons; fill your boots. You can be very happy with VW. They are great cars......until something breaks. Then you need deep pckets and lots of patience. And that's if you are getting someone else to fix it. If you're fixing it yourself, you need even more money and more patience. I've got several friends that have(more modern) Volkswagons. They love 'em. Until they break down and they get the bill to fix it. Then they can't get rid of them fast enough, even after it's fixed.

I've even have had a couple ask me to help them fix their Veedubs at times. I feel bad because they're all just working stiffs and I don't want to seem like an @$$ to them, but they always get the same answer: I've got the tools, test equipment and the space (not to mention a 55" tv and the, ummm...."fridge").

Bring it over and you can use my stuff to fix it. I'll even give you pointers and advice if you want it.

But I'm NOT touching one damned bolt on that G-D thing......lol!

 

[Rruuff Day]

Had my first VW at 14. A 1958 that I also beat around the fields and backwoods roads at my grandpa's farm. Finally tosted the engine and bougt a 1962 to continue my fun until I was old enough to get my licence. Worked construction in the summers in Dartmouth and bought my first new car in 1972. Yup. A VW beetle... Traded it off for a used 1972 340 Duster 3 years later.

 

[Icecap]

I've been driving since I got my license in 1965 and have had British, German, Japanese and American cars. I've owned 4 VW's, 2 beetles, a diesel rabbit and still currently have a Mk5 Jetta TDI that I bought in 2007 since I had a brutal 8 hour weekly commute that was killing me with fuel costs to run my pickup truck. I still daily drive the TDI but that car has soured me on VW as a result of a warranty issue they wouldn't honour costing me a wasted $2,600 for their extended warranty. At the time I joined a VW club and forum where I found out that my TDI had a rash of camshaft failures due to a poor metallurgy and and engineering issue. Since I had the heads up about the camshaft issue I started to do scientific used oil analysis on a regular basis and starting in my second year of ownership started to have elevated iron content in the motor oil. My analysis reports all indicated abnormal and excessive wear. I took it up with the dealer and VW and they were deaf to my plight. The reading became progressively worse until in my final year of warranty I received what was to be my last UOA report with the print all in red advising me that I had a major engine failure in progress and to not drive the car until remedial action had been taken. VW's response was that they don't recognize used oil analysis even though it is an industrial standard used in many industries as a preventative measure to catch issues before they become expensive repairs or a danger as in the shipping or aviation industry. The week after my warranty expired I fixed it myself for 1/2 the cost of what I spent for their useless extended warranty. From my experience VW is just as scummy as the worst of the car manufacturers. The older unsophisticated VW cars were solid, reliable and fun to drive but I can't say that for the newer stuff as I have a friend that bought one of the new EOS's with the convertible hard top and has had nothing but engine problems and roof leaks in our rainy climate.

 

[Rruuff Day]

I've been driving since I got my license in 1965 and have had British, German, Japanese and American cars. I've owned 4 VW's, 2 beetles, a diesel rabbit and still currently have a Mk5 Jetta TDI that I bought in 2007 since I had a brutal 8 hour weekly commute that was killing me with fuel costs to run my pickup truck. I still daily drive the TDI but that car has soured me on VW as a result of a warranty issue they wouldn't honour costing me a wasted $2,600 for their extended warranty. At the time I joined a VW club and forum where I found out that my TDI had a rash of camshaft failures due to a poor metallurgy and and engineering issue. Since I had the heads up about the camshaft issue I started to do scientific used oil analysis on a regular basis and starting in my second year of ownership started to have elevated iron content in the motor oil. My analysis reports all indicated abnormal and excessive wear. I took it up with the dealer and VW and they were deaf to my plight. The reading became progressively worse until in my final year of warranty I recieved what was to be my last UOA report with the print all in red advising me that I had a major engine failure in progress and to not drive the car until remedial action had been taken. VW's response was that they don't recognize used oil analysis even though it is an industrial standard used in many industries as a preventative measure to catch issues before they become expensive repairs or a danger as in the shipping or aviation industry. The week after my warranty expired I fixed it myself for 1/2 the cost of what I spent for their useless extended warranty. From my experience VW is just as scummy as the worst of the car manufacturers. The older unsophisticated VW cars were solid, reliable and fun to drive but I can't say that for the newer stuff as I have a friend that bought one of the new EOS's with the convertible hard top and has had nothing but engine problems and roof leaks in our rainy climate.

Not that I was in the market for a VW but good to know just the same.