>I would be great to have a 91 with only 14k =
miles
wouldn't it?
>Can anyone think of things that would deteriorate =
from just
sitting for 8
>years?
First of all: I don't want to blame or flame
anybody.
I just want to tell you of my personal experience =
with 'low
mileage' cars.
Low mileage (for year) on an old car has always been =
interesting for me.
My first Type 4 had 32.000 km (20kmls) when I bought =
it 11
years old back in 85.
It had been seldom but regulary used - and serviced. =
It had
very little of the normal rust
and gave me a wonderful, trouble-free year with =
another 20kmls
before I sold it again.
On the other side I got one of =
the 'last
european edition' beetles (made in 85) three years ago, =
in '96,
again the car was 11 years old and had genuine 9.000 =
km
(6kmls). I've got it from a good friend,
who had it from new, used it for two summer-seasons =
very
carefully and stored it all the other years in dry
showrooms and garages. It was'nt cheap, but I got a =
rare, very
low mileage car for my money.
On my way home, I realised a =
hot rear
brake, the wheel cylinders were leaking, so I installed a new rear
brake.
The rear axle
sealings were also leaking gear oil into the drums, of course they were
renewed.
It passed the
german TUEV at once (of course, there was no rust or anything wrong with =
it).
Two months later the main crank sealing was leaking =
and I
changed it.
One of the rear shockers abnerved me with ratteling, I =
installed
two new ones.
A week later a =
ground
connector failed, no real problem (the battery was already =
new).
Next month the
main brake cylinder gave up, so did I - and renewed all remaining old
break-parts.
The flexible fuel lines were also =
renewed.
A week later the speedo cable =
broke - and
was renewed. It broke again within a day, the speedo itself was
the
original =
reason.
From then on it was a reliable =
car, except
of the old Michelins. They showed no wear at all, but the sidewalls
cracked.
The total costs for all spare =
parts I had
to buy were nearly 20% of the price I payed for the car, all work
was
done by
myself.
Then I bought a non low mileage '77 westy, =
190.000 km
(130.000 mls), again well serviced.
I changed the engine when I got a brand new one for =
very
little money- just precaution. The original engine is still running in a =
friends
car
(who never leaves our county with it) and it is =
still running
strong.
Cars are not made for eternity. They need care and =
service,
earlier or later. The Westy earlier, the beetle later.
But it was a good car - it was an 11 years old beetle, looking perfect, =
driving as a
one year old car, giving me a lot of fun.
I =
could'nt have
restored another one for that price - and with that result.
My 2 =
Pfennige
Michael =
Meier
Germany (so
please excuse my terrible english)
58 split
77
westy
74 412