Hey, I won't say I haven't ever had any troubles with my VWs. I can't say I never had to spend any money on any repairs. But I have had a lot of fun, a lot of good miles, and pretty good luck. I have no gripes. VWs have run pretty well for me. I don't baby them too much, but I do try to treat them fairly as I work them hard. Note, if you divide 1,392,000 miles by 15 engines, that's better than 90,000 miles per engine—and still rolling, on at least four of them. And a lot of miles to go. That's not bad, considering I bought some used cars with a good bit of miles on them, and still received good service.
Old Joke: Question: Why is it that VWs don't slow down for corners? Answer: Because if they did, they would never be able to get up to speed again.
That may be some kind of old joke, but VW drivers have always found it fun, and challenging, to get through corners as fast as they can. Slowing down for corners is for other drivers to do. A VW Beetle isn't exactly a "sports car," but it can be driven as a sporty car. The steering is light, so you can tell if you are getting into trouble by going too fast. Of course, if you try to be the fastest car on the road, then you can spin out and get in real trouble. On the other hand, on a snowy day, it's easy to be faster than 99% of the cars on the road, and quite safely. That's a lot of the fun of a VW.
Obsolete? Are VW Beetles obsolete? You might say that. Many cars are obsolete the day that they are made. But there are still a lot of old VWs running strong, out here in the West. So there are still a lot of people who enjoy their VWs, and we don't care if some people think they are "obsolete." Hey, there are MILLIONS of Fords and Chevys and "you-name-its" that were built after my '69 or '70 Beetle, and a lot of them have been junked. Out of all those other old cars that were NOT junked—how many of those cars are better than mine? How many of them have a lower operating cost? How many are fun to drive? I rest my case.
When is a VW not a VW? You might say, "Pease—you only know how to drive old junky cars." That isn't exactly true. One time Porsche of America invited me to test drive some of their cars. The instructor showed us a test of driving in a loop around some cones. He got a Porsche 911 around these cones in 5.4 seconds. When it was my turn, I got the 911 around those cones in 5.4 seconds, also. That 240-hp car, on good pavement, had the same feel as a VW on snow—except it was faster and quicker. I figured that out as soon as I floored the gas on a machine that I had never driven before. I have driven Corvettes and hot Mustangs, and a Chevy Corsica that really liked to MOVE. And I even managed to keep them all on the road.
Buying a Used Car? If you want to buy an old VW Beetle or Bus, I would caution you where to look to see if there is rust—such as, under the spare tire. Plus, you would need an experienced guy to drive it and see if it feels right. The late John Muir wrote the book, How to Keep Your VW Alive, John Muir Press, 1992, about $25. That's a classic book. If you want to buy and drive an old VW, that's the book that you need, as it has a chapter on How to Buy a Used Car. I don't know how many Beetles and Busses are still running, but there's a LOT.
Nonpolluting Cars? Pease, you drive all these miles—but these old cars are all a lot of polluters. You must be responsible for smogging up the whole San Francisco Bay area—eh? Not really. I keep my car tuned up, and it rarely falls below 27 mpg. My car usually passes its smog test with no problems. Even though there are no required tests for CO and NOx on old cars, my car continues to pass those tests, even though it is not required to. So, it's not so bad.
My Next Car? OK, Pease, you drive this old 1970 clunker. When it gives out, you can't buy another one. So what are you going to buy?
Well, it's NOT true that I can't buy another one. Every week I see three or four advertisements for a 1968, 1969, or 1970 Beetle in very good shape, with prices in the range $900 to $2000. So if an elephant comes along and sits on my good old 1970 car—I'll just buy another one. Really!
New Beetle? Pease—what do you think about the New Beetle? I haven't yet driven one, but obviously it's a pretty good car, and a fun car, and I smile and giggle every time I see one. But I'm certainly not going to invest THAT kind of $$,$$$ just to have people giggle at ME! I prefer to pay just $$$. You can still laugh at me. It's permitted.
The Sound of WHAT? Recently I figured out perhaps another reason why I like VWs. The sound of the flat-four engine, with the pistons reciprocating like crazy, shuttling back and forth, is NOT like the sound of any other car. But it does sound like my mother's old White sewing machine. That's another very comforting sound that I have heard over many thousands of hours.
All for now. / Comments invited!
RAP / Robert A. Pease / Engineer
rap@galaxy.nsc.com–or:
Mail Stop D2597A
National Semiconductor
P.O. Box 58090
Santa Clara, CA 95052-8090