To buy or not to buy? A VW vanagon?

Question 1
To buy or not to buy? A VW vanagon?...  I have recently been interested in the vw vanagon. I don't have my drivers lisence yet, but will soon. I also have just been looking at different vehicles.I really want a hippie van. I like to go camping and stuff so that is definitely one of the reasons, but i would also just like to have more space. I've heard of people who have converted their vanagons to electric. Is this a good idea? I wouldn't worry about its declining value because i doubt we would ever sell it. I also would like an automatic, as I'm not very comfortable with a stick shift. Are there any vangagon owners who could give me more info about this vehicle? Anyone who know s the slightest bit of info about vanagons feel free to comment.Also does anyone know what their gas mileage is?

Answers
1)   They are horribly unreliable and unsafe. If you hit something with it best case you will get badly hurt. About the only positive is that they are easy to work on and it wont take long to get lots of practice. - emiller1998

2)   Do not buy one unless you are a mechanic or you know one who will work for free.

Go to www.thesamba.com.
Then go to the forum for vanagons and read your heart out, you will learn all you need to on that site - SJ

3)   You also should compare car insurance quotes for cars before buying one, for example here - carinsurance.yoll.net - Andrew

4)   Buy an old chevy van, still very cool, and a whole lot easier to fix! - onlyoldiron4me

5)   Well I, personally, would look for an earlier model. say, pre 1975. Those were simpler and the maint. was pretty straightforward.

Having said that the maint. is demanding. Easy to do but unforgiving if you skip it. Oil, lube, rust prevention are all easy to check and handle but, for example, an engine can go south really fast if you don't check the oil and change it at least bi-monthly.

On the plus side, the value of these things is going UP, not down. So if you buy it now it will likely be worth more when you actually start driving it.

Ok.. having said that.. skip the automatic and learn to drive a stick. THe autos have a bad record while the 4 speeds just keep going and going and are easy to replace.

that's my 2 cents...

. - ca_surveyor


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Question 2
Does Volkswagen make a 2003 Passat that has a diesel engine? Where can I find info on this car?...  I'm thinking of getting a Passat and the dealer said they had a 2003 that was diesel but it wasn't in the lot and I have been trying to find info on them. Is 100k for a diesel Passat alright? Is it worth $5,000?

Answers
1)   There's this little website that I like to use to find stuff out. Not many people know about it so don't tell anyone. Its called google! - JM

2)   Yes, Volkswagen made a TDI diesel Passat from 1999-05 for sure. 2004-2005 was a 2.0L 4cylinder diesel engine, before that was a 1.9L 4cylinder diesel. The 2.0 was much more powerful (134hp and 247ft-lb torque vs 90hp and 165ft-lb), but it's also hard to find. For a diesel engine, 100,000 miles is just getting broken in, unlike a gas engine where problems start happening after 100,000 miles. They will also get better gas mileage than their gas counterparts, but at the expense of acceleration. The diesel is much slower. - Sean

3)   100? Just broken in. And expected. But at that mileage you need to have the car looked at for all the other stuff (especially the timing belt needs replacing at this point as it is an "interference engine" meaning if the belt breaks the valves will hit the pistons and break, bend, and just mess up the innards. Also have someone inspect the Constant Velocity Joint boots and the axles themselves to see if there is any "play in them". Boots tend to split as they age and all the grease will fly out and dirt will enter and that is the end of that CVJ.
My car was a 25y.o.diesel Rabbit with 720K on the clock. and it would have continued (but the body rusted away). Was not burning oil or anything. Also, it was non-turbo. Did not go like a V8 but it went OK. @ 65mpg
A non turbo is a dog compared to a turbo, but then I did not buy it for "drag racing" and it is much better than a motorcycle (especially in the rainy weather). A turbo model I have had as well, and again you did not buy the car for drag racing. However, the turbo has alot of pull to it(at the expense of fuel economy) >in the 30's< - Xavwieztsky

4)   for the US market, in the B5/5.5 body style with a longitudinal engine, there is no 2003 Passat TDI. The 8-valve 2.0L Pumpe-Duse engine was introduced in Model Year 2004.

The dealer could have had a typo - cant_think_of_1


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Question 3
My golf mk4 drivers door will not unlock, key just goes around & around, can anyone suggest a way to open?...  I can open my passanger door but even from the inside the drivers door will not open, and the central locking will not open the door either. At the moment I don't want to contract vw as this will cost me to much.

Answers
1)   smash the window. the locks broken you cant do nething about it... youl have to pik it afta removing the window.. take it to a garage and pay them aroudn £40 theyl do it all for you i had the same problem - azam

2)   sounds like you may need a new barrel, you should open your door panel can take a look at the problem if it is your barrel then you can get one from vw they dont cost much and do the work yourself if its not the barrel then it might be an electrical fault and you would need vw to run a diagnostics to find the problem - Amilli_N

3)   Some cars have a security feature that makes the barrel rotate when an incorrect key is used, to undo this you should turn the lock to its original position (either dead vertical or dead horizontal) with the original key, remove the key then re-insert it. Dont know if this is the same for a Golf but worth a try.. - Regards - Daz - Darren M

4)   the rod has dropped off inner panel will need to come off to gain access - J R


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Question 4
Where can I find a Volkswagen Microbus?...  More commonly known as the "Hippie Van."

However I just want to find a light blue and white plain bus, like this one *without circles*:

http://www.autospectator.com/uploads/Volkswagen/Other/SCENTAIR_VWmicrobus.jpg

-or this-

http://www.snuffledopple.com/images/2531b.jpg

I really would like to find one, I'm willing to fix it up, but I can't find one ANYWHERE :(

Answers
1)   Might try ebay motors, or cars.com, or hemmings motor news, they specialize in older vehicle classifieds. www.hemmings.com. Not sure of the website but try the VW owners' club. Might have to check all of these sources fairly often, when one is listed I'm sure it doesn't last long. - Rick

2)   Well as you have discovered they are rather hard to find on the market (which will also reflect on your wallet).

If I were looking I would first try Craiglist (www.craigslist.org) and search not only for your City or metro area but for areas within 100 miles or so. WIth some slelective search edits you may find one either under autos or perhaps under autoparts where you might find one without an engine.

My second choice would be eBay. This is a global community but the search mode allows some edits to your locale with a radius feature. Again.. a broad search will get you more but they may not be what you are looking for. At the very least if you also check the SOLD auctions you may get an idea of their respective values.

Lastly try www.thesamba.com. Here you will find people who know about VW's selling VW's. So do not expect any bargains... but there may be more available because of that.

good luck in your quest...

, - ca_surveyor

3)   thesamba.com

There are many for sale there - Rod Knocker

4)   Try

www.thesamba.com - SJ


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Question 5
2004 Passat Timing Belt just broke, what now?...  Our 2004 VW Passat, original owners, only 49k miles, regular dealer maintenance, suddenly snapped the timing belt while car was stopped at red light. VW will absorb the "$5,000" cost of repairing this catastrophe. So what next? We get the car fixed, then will the car be prone to more future troubles? Why would this have happened in the first place? Thank you!

Answers
1)   Bearing failure in the tensioner pully? Monday belt? Got the engine hot on some other problem? Bad Luck....

Good on VW for standing behind this. God help you if it was at 60,001 miles. I am not a fan of the 20V Turbo Engine from Audi (Actually all 20V's).

Sell it as soon as practical and get a Nice Jetta VR5.

SCI VW since 1959, 2003 GLI (6 spd 24V VR6) - sci

2)   i hate to be a debby downer but on Volkswagen's, timing belts and water pumps are crucial to take care of on these cars. i know it's a very expensive thing to fix which is why every 60k miles your suppose to get these parts replaced so you don't have to worry about your whole engine getting messed up. i know your pain, but i love Volkswagen's too much to give mine up. good luck with future problems you may have. and try to keep your cars maintenance up to date. that's all there really is to say but watch out for those 2 things. - Anthony

3)   Most car manufacturer's 4 cylinder engines have a timing belt with tensioners, etc. Also, most 4 cylinder valve assemblies are 'interference engines'. This means that if the timing belt breaks, the valves 'punch' their way into the tops of the pistons. Therefore, you need new valves, pistons, etc. Expensive.
I do not know the engineering reason for this type of design. But most cars, some Hondas, Toyotas, etc. use this design , including of course, VW.
You are fortunate that it happened before the 60k warranty expired.
I own a '06 GTI with the turbo 4 cylinder. The owners manual does not state when to replace the timing belt.
So I e-mailed them at vw.com . Within 12 hrs they responded that I was to have the belt inspected at my regular maint. service at 20k, 60, 80, 100k. If the belt looked worn , it was to be replaced. VW also said to replace it at 105k regardless of condition. I wonder if the average Joe can do this inspection without taking it to the dealer? I'll ask on this site.
Why did this happen in 1st place? Because belts are just rubber-coated fiber. Belts must survive millions of revolutions , snaking around spinning steel gears. At 100+ degrees. They work hard, but get no respect.... Its a wonder to me why they dont break more often under these conditions.
IMO, the timing belt issue does not signify more woes. Other VW engines, the 5 cyl. and VR6, have timing chains that some say last up to 100s of thousands miles. My wifes 05 Jetta has a timing chain. Two of my friends have Passats and enjoy them immensely.
However, I must add that Consumer Reports gives the 2000 thru 2007 Passat 4 cyl. a below average reliability rating. But the 08 and 09 Passats get a green light as a Recommended Car to Buy. They said reliability was much improved. Also listed as Below Average Reliability were Cadillac, Chevy, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, even Honda yrs. '01&02.... they have also suspended recommendations of all Toyotas because of the unintended acceleration fatalities.
Thanks for the question, as it emphasized my awareness of the timing belt. Definitely keep an eye out for it.... - fenton

4)   timing belt tensioner could have lost some tension due to wear causing alot slack in timing belt causing it to break.you need another engine valves bent when hitting pistons the piston heads is damaged.. - chevyman


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