Is a vintage aircooled Volkswagen Beetle a good daily driver?

The Volkswagen air-cooled engine is an air-cooled, gasoline-fuelled, boxer engine with four horizontally opposed cast-iron cylinders, cast aluminum alloy cylinder heads and pistons, magnesium-alloy crankcase, and forged steel crankshaft and connecting rods.

There are two distinct families/variations of the aircooled engine namely Type 1 and Type 4. The Type 3 engine is a variation of the Type 1 engine with pancake cooling arrangement.

Variations of the engine were produced by Volkswagen plants worldwide from 1936 until 2006 for use in Volkswagen's own vehicles, notably the Type 1 (Beetle), Type 2 (bus, transporter), Type 3, and Type 4. Additionally, the engines were widely used in industrial, light aircraft and kit car applications.

#vintagecars #volkswagen #classiccars

[robertmatthews]

YES! No radiator. No oil filter. Crank windows. No computer chips. In a pinch, you can shift without using the clutch. You can start it and drive it with a dead battery or no battery. Great car!

[Rottingboards]

Not only is it a great daily driver it also does the following: 1) Makes you smile as you approach it in the parking lot. 2) Causes fathers to hit their children...Slug bug 3) Causes whole school buses to smile and go into a slugfest. 4) Will make old men talk to you for hours at the gas station. 5) Will get the peace symbol throughout the day. 5) Will make your turn around and look at her as you walk through the parking lot.

[winstonvillaflor]

From Tacloban City, Leyte Island Philippines here. I'm a general surgeon. I have a 2004 VW 3.2 Vr6 Touareg and a restored 1971 super beetle. I daily my vw beetle to work. It has an aircon, petronix ignition and dual solex carbs. It is a reliable daily driver day in and day out. No electromics, computers and other gizmos. Just basic driving machine. Maintenance is very easy. I have been a vw enthusiast since the year 2000. Just sharing.

[histriamagna]

It is. I was a proud owner of a 1974 bug for 28 yrs. The best car ever.

[yurigodoy]

I know that the Corolla is technically the world's most sold car ever, with more than 50 millions units sold worldwide. But if you look at the top spots in the all time best selling cars ever, you'd see that above the Beetle, every car changed the looks and construction so much that you could argue it's a totally different car, just with the same name.
To me that's what made the Beetle so special. Since it's inception in the early 30s, to the last unit sold in Mexico in 2003 (I'm ignoring the New Beetles variations), the car was basically the same. If you showed that last Beetle to a german from the 40s, he still would recognize. But if you show the modern day Corolla to a japanese from the 70s, he probably wouldn't know what car it was.
That's why I think the Beetle stands out from other cars. That's why I love it so much.
That and the fact that here in Brazil they were produced until the late 90s, I used to see them every time on the road, my neighbour had one... Yeah, I love this little car.

[clockworkdimetrodon]

I had a ‘74 I got in ‘90, and drove it in southwest New Mexico for 5 years, and never had a heating issue at all. It also did fine in the mountains in winter. Great car.

[mrjoshua]

I had a 73 super beetle in late 90s and was one of the best cars I’ve ever owned to date. Definitely one of the cars I regret getting rid of

[davidgrisez]

I was born in 1951 and the Volkswagen Beetle was my father's favorite car. He owned both a 1965 Volkswagen Beetle and a 1972 Volkswagen Beetle. I learned to drive the 1965 Volkswagen Beetle.

[garyhoward]

My wife had a 71 when we got together.
Light blue and she put Porshe chrome wheels on it.
When she got it, it was 10 years old.
She dailed it for another 10 years.
It was getting tired, so I rebuilt the mechanicals
, and put an 1835 cc kit on it.
Ran real strong, and still looked new.
Not long after, she was involved in a chain reaction crash.
No structural damage...just sheet metal crunched on both ends.
She wanted a car with AC.
So we bought a new Camaro in 86.
Took the bug apart and made it into a Baja Bug.
I still drive it as a cool "runnin around " car.
Love it!!

[edwardcnnell]

I had one, I believe a 1974. Great reliable car that had it's quirks.

Did not lend itself well to air conditioning. In summer open windows kept your kept you cool except from the waist down there was no air circulation so you had an odd sweat pattern of wet below the waist. In winter the heater vent on the floor heated the leather on your left shoe to really hot so you had to be careful where you put your foot.

Great in snow and only failed to proceed one time when the snow was over the bumper. The windshield washer fluid had no pump and ran off sir pressure with a hose from the spare tie. If your windshield washer did not work refill the spare tire.


If you got shaking from the front suspension then replace the horizontal shock absorber that kept the front end steady. Easy job.

Greasing the front suspension was easy. Some zerk fittings were hard to reach but no problem. Under the spare tire were access plates so you could grease all the fittings without jacking up the car.

Changing the oil every 3, 000 miles was a must and when you did that you HAD to adjust the valves. If you do not keep them adjusted they tend to stay open too long and the exhaust valves can burn out. Valve adjustment is very easy. Slip under the rear of the car, no jack needed to raise the car. The valve covers are held on with spring clips and released by hand, no tools needed. Adjust the valves with just a box wrench and screw driver and feeler gauge. Takes maybe 10 minutes.

To keep your old bug going find a copy to the classic beetle book “How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive : A Manual of Step-By-Step Procedures for the Complete Idiot”.

[ABosch-lgpr]

I purchased mine with 300, 000 miles on it and drove it all over the United States and Canada. When I got back from the adventures I continued to drive it as my daily driver. I sold it for what I paid for it with 420, 000 miles on it. The only issue it ever had was a sometimes stuck solenoid that you would have to whack gently with a hammer to get started. I still miss that car decades later.

[AH-ygdj]

Little history lesson, the last vw beetle ever produced was built in 2003 in the Volkswagen’s Puebla (Mexico) factory. Then it was shipped across the ocean to the Volkswagen museum at Wolfsburg, where it is kept until today.

[ThriftMachine]

Putting a Brazilian seal on the front trunk is slightly thicker and seals far better. So going down the road you don't get cold air intrusion.
Keeps it warmer inside

Getting an oil filter relocation adapter kit helps get you an extra roughly 1 extra quart of oil.

These simple to install and make it more comfortable and reliable

[thrivecraft]

I have kept several Classic Beetles in different times but there is one which my father bought 30 years ago and I still have it. It was my fathers first car and now it is my daily. I can bet anyone, that I will take it were ever you say but it won't quit. I drove it in all weathers including heavy rain as well as crossed many flooded paths in it with almost upto 3 feet water and the car didnt even misfire. It is running on its original motor just refreshed it one and it rides like a dream. It was parked for 2 years because I was out of country and when I came back I just filled it up with petrol and it started right up.

My opinion is that these cars are great and will never leave you stranded on a roadside.

[AndyGrouch]

Our family had a Beetle when I was very young. That sound when you open the front hood brings so much memories.

[michaelconverse]

I’ve had quite a few of these and still have several. I had one as a true daily driver from 2002-2015. Year round. Street parked. It brought me from Chicago to Arizona when I lived there and back to Chicago when I moved back. I took it on off road trails In the desert and through the snow in the Midwest. It took me everywhere for 13 years and saw some extremely hard miles. I did have some repairs along the way but not once did it leave me stranded. I bought it with 35, 000 miles on it and sold it with over 145, 000 on the original engine. I bought it for $3200 and sold it for the same !
I added an Espar gas heater which I highly recommend if you daily these in the cold.

Air cooled VWs are some of the best and most reliable cars you can buy if you buy them in good shape or put them in good shape. The issues come when cheap parts are utilized or the work isn’t done correctly.

[southhillfarm]

I had a 1969 made in Mexico. High back front seats, black exterior, black interior. Had a gas heater since I lived in Winnipeg. Worked great.

[seanwashere]

my 1971 bus, 1600cc, has been my daily driver since 2016. Also just took it on a 10k roadtrip around the country!

[dennisvangemst]

I am using my 1983 mexico beetle as a daily driver, 1200 engine, for 6 years now. Is has very little comfort, but I am still happy with it, it gives people a smile on their face when I drive by. If you are handy, it's very cheap in maintenance.

[thecuss]

I bought my 1970 VW sedan in late 1972, and my 1971 VW Convertible in 1976, and still have both. Both run and are registered and insured.