darwinsfoot
01-09-2005, 08:16 PM
i owned a type 2 as my first vehicle (it was a cheap and, as a result, a noisy, mechanically unsound, structurally unsound and unreliable beauty) but unfortunately had to sell it to go abroad. having driven normal cars for a while now i just cant take it anymore and am coming back to the type 2 flock. however, while i may be aware of the dangers of buying just any old van (see the above comments about my first type 2!) i am unsure of a few things and so have a few questions if anyone would be kind enough to answer any of them in any sort of way. any help would be much appreciated...
1 - i have about 5k to spend on a vehicle. the camper i want to end up with is a two litre, hard top, bay window, walk through camper with a basic cab interior and a completely empty rear. while the van will be a day to day vehicle i will need to do some light moving work with it so cant have any interior taking up room. of course i want mechanically and structurally sound vehicle. i believe from a few comments elsewhere 5k (or thereabouts) should be enough to get an ok vehicle. is this right?
2 - when looking at a van before purchasing everyone says one of the most important things is to look underneath. being a mechanical retard what exactly am i looking for? i imagine it will be pretty dirty under there (sorry to sound like the mechanical dunce that i so patently am...) so how is someone who has never actually had what they are looking for physically pointed out to them by someone in the know supposed to be able to identify anything that should set the alarm bells racing? are there any good reference points that i could look for underneath to help send me to trouble spots? like is there some knobbly thing (yep - thats about as good as my knowledge gets) that is easy to spot that if i found it i could then look ten inches to its left and that is where rust often appears...?
3 - bearing in mind the problems that i will face when giving the van the once over would people recommend going to a van dealer or garage? in volksworld there are lots of restoration garages etc that seem to both sell standard ones but also restored ones. am i right to assume that one of the restored ones (and i guess the standard ones too) would have had all the trouble spots looked at and treated? or are they just as risky to buy from as buying from a private ad?
4- many of the above mentioned garages seem to be up north or in wales or in the south west. living near heathrow they are not easy for me to get to. does anyone know of any good vw type 2 dealers near the southwest london area or surrey/sussex/hampshire area? and in addition, would anyone know specifically of any garages that would take my request (hard top, 2ltr, RHD, type 2 with no interior in the rear of the vehicle) and find/build one up specifically? i only ask this because apparently there is a garage in the netherlands that will more or less supply what you want but i am not keen on going over there and driving it back! i am just hoping there would be similar garages in this country!
i apologise for the length of this post but think you knowlegeable people on forums like this are probably my best guide. i come to this conclusion through the experiences i had with my last type 2. in a nutshell - over two years several different "type 2" garages couldnt find a problem with my van, which persisted through a refitted engine (yes i was a mug and hence want to avoid it again) and numerous "checks". the two type 2 enthusiasts who bought it off me had the problem diagnosed within 15 mins...
cheers for any help...
nick
1 - i have about 5k to spend on a vehicle. the camper i want to end up with is a two litre, hard top, bay window, walk through camper with a basic cab interior and a completely empty rear. while the van will be a day to day vehicle i will need to do some light moving work with it so cant have any interior taking up room. of course i want mechanically and structurally sound vehicle. i believe from a few comments elsewhere 5k (or thereabouts) should be enough to get an ok vehicle. is this right?
2 - when looking at a van before purchasing everyone says one of the most important things is to look underneath. being a mechanical retard what exactly am i looking for? i imagine it will be pretty dirty under there (sorry to sound like the mechanical dunce that i so patently am...) so how is someone who has never actually had what they are looking for physically pointed out to them by someone in the know supposed to be able to identify anything that should set the alarm bells racing? are there any good reference points that i could look for underneath to help send me to trouble spots? like is there some knobbly thing (yep - thats about as good as my knowledge gets) that is easy to spot that if i found it i could then look ten inches to its left and that is where rust often appears...?
3 - bearing in mind the problems that i will face when giving the van the once over would people recommend going to a van dealer or garage? in volksworld there are lots of restoration garages etc that seem to both sell standard ones but also restored ones. am i right to assume that one of the restored ones (and i guess the standard ones too) would have had all the trouble spots looked at and treated? or are they just as risky to buy from as buying from a private ad?
4- many of the above mentioned garages seem to be up north or in wales or in the south west. living near heathrow they are not easy for me to get to. does anyone know of any good vw type 2 dealers near the southwest london area or surrey/sussex/hampshire area? and in addition, would anyone know specifically of any garages that would take my request (hard top, 2ltr, RHD, type 2 with no interior in the rear of the vehicle) and find/build one up specifically? i only ask this because apparently there is a garage in the netherlands that will more or less supply what you want but i am not keen on going over there and driving it back! i am just hoping there would be similar garages in this country!
i apologise for the length of this post but think you knowlegeable people on forums like this are probably my best guide. i come to this conclusion through the experiences i had with my last type 2. in a nutshell - over two years several different "type 2" garages couldnt find a problem with my van, which persisted through a refitted engine (yes i was a mug and hence want to avoid it again) and numerous "checks". the two type 2 enthusiasts who bought it off me had the problem diagnosed within 15 mins...
cheers for any help...
nick