Mileage discrepancy 1971 VW bus!! What to do???

[Ozzy Pete]

A bit of T-cut and a tank of petrol . Spain here we come......

 

[Steve1]

Back in the day when you could pick up a T1 or T2 for peanuts and buy spare parts for almost nothing and we’re prepared to get you hands permanently dirty they were great.
But today with vehicles that will get twice the fuel consumption and cruise along safely at 70 or 80 mph in comfort and quiet why would you really want something like this.
With prices of new Californias reaching ridiculously high prices and second hand ones pretty much the same people think the other option would be a T1 or 2.
If you had ever owned one in the past you wouldn’t be thinking that way.
Nostalgia ,rose tinted glasses and very deep pockets are keeping the prices sky high.

They do have their place like all classics though. They are lovely to look at, and excellent if you like local journeys to shows and things. Where would we all be at the VW shows if no-one owned them.

I do agree that they are not great if you try to use them for serious motoring. I had my one about 8 years ago and even after working through everything once, the maintenance required to keep it going was exhausting (and I am a restoration enthusiast). The driving experience was also difficult at times, like attempting to join a motorway on an uphill slip road where the fastest you could thrash it to is 30mph.

But that is true of most classics, most are used for short journeys on Sunday days for a bit of fun and I'm glad some people still want / can afford that because it would be a shame not to see them about. They are fun !

 

[Perfectos]

If you are looking for a T2 with guaranteed mileage, I can recommend my parents one.

I can 100% guarantee it’s mileage for the last 35 years… ZERO!

View attachment 110669

One careful owner ?

 

[Perfectos]

Back in the day when you could pick up a T1 or T2 for peanuts and buy spare parts for almost nothing and we’re prepared to get you hands permanently dirty they were great.
But today with vehicles that will get twice the fuel consumption and cruise along safely at 70 or 80 mph in comfort and quiet why would you really want something like this.
With prices of new Californias reaching ridiculously high prices and second hand ones pretty much the same people think the other option would be a T1 or 2.
If you had ever owned one in the past you wouldn’t be thinking that way.
Nostalgia ,rose tinted glasses and very deep pockets are keeping the prices sky high.

The OP has a T6.1 Cali Already !

if everyone took that attitude there would be no classic vehicles left.

where has all the fun gone, I used to own one and would gladly have another, but it wouldn’t be my daily driver !
I think that is the point the with the OP, he’s already got his uber expensive Cali and some other toys and now he wants a bit of a historical fun nostalgic vehicle before it’s too late and there are none left (people taking your advice)

When does the T5 become a classic or redundant?

Horses for courses.

 

[Perfectos]

If you are looking for a T2 with guaranteed mileage, I can recommend my parents one.

I can 100% guarantee it’s mileage for the last 35 years… ZERO!

View attachment 110669

Seeing the Sticker in the back window, is that why the van hasn’t moved in 35 years ?

 

[chockswahay]

Reading all this has got me thinking…….. how Come the T2 was so dreadful? My Beetle was 1967 1500 and a fantastic car drive. So I think I will have to answer my own question here…… I bought the Beetle in 1974 from my brother….. he was a very successful rally driver and tweaked and tune the car to suit his needs…... then when I bought it (at 18 yrs old) I just assumed that it was fairly standard apart from a few ‘rally bits’. It would do 110 mph, 0 to 60 in less than 8 seconds, 85 mph in third gear and about 15 mpg (20 if light footed). I only found out from my brother when we were having a chat about it one day about 2 years ago that that he kept the ‘actual facts’ from me. It had Koni suspension, massive disc upgrades, raced tuned flywheel and valves etc, the engine had almost every tuning work possible done to it for road use! He didn’t tell me at the time because he thought I might not get insurance!

And there was me thinking my car was a little bit special

 

[rod_vw]

Maybe it needs a club sticker to cheer it up

What, one like this?

 

[Scoobyboy5555]

Back in the day when you could pick up a T1 or T2 for peanuts and buy spare parts for almost nothing and we’re prepared to get you hands permanently dirty they were great.
But today with vehicles that will get twice the fuel consumption and cruise along safely at 70 or 80 mph in comfort and quiet why would you really want something like this.
With prices of new Californias reaching ridiculously high prices and second hand ones pretty much the same people think the other option would be a T1 or 2.
If you had ever owned one in the past you wouldn’t be thinking that way.
Nostalgia ,rose tinted glasses and very deep pockets are keeping the prices sky high.

I agree what your saying, I know its going to be slow, drive like crap, brake like crap and struggle to keep up with the lorries on the M6, but it also wont be a everyday vehicle, probably get used once in a while, I have another 4 vehicles in the household so the daily chores it wont be doing, but something I can tinker with, and as im into detailing and looking after my vehicles I'll have it looking mint and keep on top of it and have some fun in it.

Or it could be a midlife crisis, and haven't got enough money for a Porsche.

 

[Steve1]

I agree what your saying, I know its going to be slow, drive like crap, brake like crap and struggle to keep up with the lorries on the M6, but it also wont be a everyday vehicle, probably get used once in a while, I have another 4 vehicles in the household so the daily chores it wont be doing, but something I can tinker with, and as im into detailing and looking after my vehicles I'll have it looking mint and keep on top of it and have some fun in it.

Or it could be a midlife crisis, and haven't got enough money for a Porsche.

Keep it relaxed, slow and steady and local and well maintained and it will be great fun. Our one was, it was when we wanted to go further distances on holidays in it as the kids got older that we couldn't carry on with it and had to move on. If I could have kept both though I would have !

 

[Kayleigh]

Seeing the Sticker in the back window, is that why the van hasn’t moved in 35 years ?

As the designated driver, I only got pulled over once, even with about 10 passengers, which I put down to the sticker.

 

[derek_j_buchanan]

Have you asked the owner for a full explanation?
if so what was the explanation?

Hi guys/gals im in need of some help, I went to view a UK/RHD 1971 VW bay-window bus the weekend and left a deposit(£200) The bus was very clean and had lots of money spent on it(No rust/Rot) and boxes of invoices and everything was mint on it, So I agreed a price which for the condition and mileage (55k) was above what you would pay (£16k) as there seem to be quite a few which looked OK for £2k less, but this van stood out from the rest.

Anyway I did a HPi check when I got home and it says there is a mileage discrepancy, and says as follows:

Date recorded	Recorded by	Mileage reading	Total
14/07/1995	NMR	60000	60000
26/07/1995	NMR	63000	63000
03/10/2003	DVLA	20000	20000
20/04/2023	VOSA	55554	55554

All the MOT's all match up with the mileage from 2006 onwards, and a online MOT check also shows all miles/dates match, but obviously before it was all recorded by VOSA at MOT stations, back in the 90's it showed more miles then it has now as you can see above.

What would you do??? My head is saying leave it and its £200 lost, As if I come to sell in the future would I have the same problem when someone does HPi check.

Is this a common problem with old vehicles(never bought something this old) will I be having the same thing with other vans I view as most seem to be quite low mileage for there age!!!

Do you give a sing? Does it really matter if you have the van for a few months if not years. Live life and forget the sing. jFDI

 

[derek_j_buchanan]

Hi guys/gals im in need of some help, I went to view a UK/RHD 1971 VW bay-window bus the weekend and left a deposit(£200) The bus was very clean and had lots of money spent on it(No rust/Rot) and boxes of invoices and everything was mint on it, So I agreed a price which for the condition and mileage (55k) was above what you would pay (£16k) as there seem to be quite a few which looked OK for £2k less, but this van stood out from the rest.

Anyway I did a HPi check when I got home and it says there is a mileage discrepancy, and says as follows:

Date recorded	Recorded by	Mileage reading	Total
14/07/1995	NMR	60000	60000
26/07/1995	NMR	63000	63000
03/10/2003	DVLA	20000	20000
20/04/2023	VOSA	55554	55554

All the MOT's all match up with the mileage from 2006 onwards, and a online MOT check also shows all miles/dates match, but obviously before it was all recorded by VOSA at MOT stations, back in the 90's it showed more miles then it has now as you can see above.

What would you do??? My head is saying leave it and its £200 lost, As if I come to sell in the future would I have the same problem when someone does HPi check.

Is this a common problem with old vehicles(never bought something this old) will I be having the same thing with other vans I view as most seem to be quite low mileage for there age!!!

As my great friend and wife says will it matter in 6 months? No!

 

[Ozzy Pete]

It’s only nostalgia that keeps these vehicles on the road. Oh and of coarse people with more money than sense and too much spare time on their Hands.
We look back to the “Good old days” when petrol was 4shillings and sixpence a gallon. but then it needed to be when you were lucky to get more than 20 mpg out of anything.
They all left a nice pool of oil on your driveway.
One saving feature was you could repair them yourself with a few spanner’s and a couple of screwdrivers.
This applies to all vehicles whether cars vans or motorcycles.

 

[GranddadBeattie]

T2, owned 4 of them. Took my driving test in one back in 1976. Never got more than 18mpg (so 25mpg is a bit of a porky) and never past 60k without an engine rebuild. Great fun though, if you don't mind greasy hand prints everywhere

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

 

[rod_vw]

T2, owned 4 of them. Took my driving test in one back in 1976. Never got more than 18mpg (so 25mpg is a bit of a porky) and never past 60k without an engine rebuild. Great fun though, if you don't mind greasy hand prints everywhere

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

Na you should be able to get nearly 30mpg out of a standard 1600cc engined one, I used to get around 24mpg out of the one that I put a 1700cc Type 4 (aircolled) fuel injection one in on a decent run although that was a bit heaver around town. I ended up doing the Type 4 injection conversion for a couple of friends after that. 80bhp made all the difference from the 50bhp 1600cc unit!

 

[Californication69]

Here are a few pics stolen from the for sale advert.

Totally different beast to my T6.1 Ocean, and the slowest/oldest vehicle I will probably own ever





View attachment 110630

What’s that in the engine bay, NOS ?

 

[Greg&Mel Australian Cali]

Just to give you an idea of what that Kombi would be worth in Australia. Take a look at the mileage!

 

[Greg&Mel Australian Cali]

I have owned 7 VW’s: 2 beetles, a Karmann Ghia, a New Beetle Turbo, a Passat and lastly a Cali. Never owned a Kombi until now.
Beetles are great to drive, early Kombi’s less so as until they were equipped with 2L motors they used the 1100, 1200, 1500 followed by 1600 cc motors that were in the Beetles. Underpowered and always under stress.
A good, unrestored early Beetle is now selling for 20K and a reasonable Ghia for 50K in Australia. A good Type 2 for 20-50K and a good Type I starting at 100K.
These cars will continue to appreciate.
So buy the bus, look after it and will appreciate in value.

 

[Vagophile]

Never got more than 18mpg (so 25mpg is a bit of a porky) and never past 60k without an engine rebuild. Great fun though, if you don't mind greasy hand prints

It's strange that I don't remember mine being particularly thirsty, not to the extent that it was something to remark on. What I do remember is that I did a straight swap for a Volvo 245 and that WAS thirsty, never more than 19 mpg, so the VW must have been doing a bit more than that.

 

[rod_vw]

I have owned 7 VW’s: 2 beetles, a Karmann Ghia, a New Beetle Turbo, a Passat and lastly a Cali. Never owned a Kombi until now.
Beetles are great to drive, early Kombi’s less so as until they were equipped with 2L motors they used the 1100, 1200, 1500 followed by 1600 cc motors that were in the Beetles. Underpowered and always under stress.
A good, unrestored early Beetle is now selling for 20K and a reasonable Ghia for 50K in Australia. A good Type 2 for 20-50K and a good Type I starting at 100K.
These cars will continue to appreciate.
So buy the bus, look after it and will appreciate in value.

@Greg&Mel Australian Cali - What's this worth down under? 1946 fully restored to as near original specification as possible.

For the none VW Buff it sports a 25bhp 1131cc engine driving through a non-synchromesh gearbox and stops (eventually) with the aid of cable brakes connected to the road by 500/525 x 16" cross ply tyres.

 

[Scoobyboy5555]

Well im back in 1 piece, first time I've ever driven something this old and something a lot older then me and my wife, was a bit of a shock to the system for the first couple of mile but soon got the hang of it, Brakes are terrible, felt like you got to brake with the gears as it didn't feel like I could push the brakes for it to stop itself, so will need to look into that unless that's how they come, but can be scary.

Power wise, well coming from my daily car which is 600bhp it never going to compare But getting it up to 50mph its not to bad its just that it seems with a 4 speed gearbox you just run out of gears and that's it your doing 50-60mph, Other then that the experience was great, it got plenty of looks, waves from other road users in non-VW vehicles and when I stopped for food, it amazes me how many people come up wanting to talk about the van.

The whole experience was great coming back, I even took the A41 back through Whitchurch and past Weston Park where Camper Jam was on, I was tempted to go but was tired and just wanted to get back for a cuppa.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread, and put my mind at ease with the mileage query I had.

 

[WelshGas]

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[Greg&Mel Australian Cali]

1946 Beetles are rare. One in the US is going for 100,000 USD. This is the most expensive I found in Aus.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

T2, owned 4 of them. Took my driving test in one back in 1976. Never got more than 18mpg (so 25mpg is a bit of a porky) and never past 60k without an engine rebuild. Great fun though, if you don't mind greasy hand prints everywhere

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

Our T1 split screen 1200 did a constant 18 mpg. We did many thousands of miles traveling all over Australia. You say 60k for an engine rebuild, did you mean 60 miles......It was the top speed that was mind blowing. We did see 45mph Once going down a long hill with lots of wind behind us..

 

[Kayleigh]

Our T1 split screen 1200 did a constant 18 mpg. We did many thousands of miles traveling all over Australia. You say 60k for an engine rebuild, did you mean 60 miles......It was the top speed that was mind blowing. We did see 45mph Once going down a long hill with lots of wind behind us..

Our T2 was two litre and used to do about 20mpg. It would cruise happily at 70mph from what I remember.