sammyg

We are seriously considering buying a kombi for a second vehicle!

I absolutely love them, but know there can be difficulties keeping them going!
I just wanted to know if anyone has had one here in aus and if so what were the prices of repairs and restoration like?

It wouldn't be running all the time, as i am hoping to eventually get work locally to where i live and ride my bike when possible.

Can anyone share their experience of owning a kombi??

thanks
sam

hunter

had a poptop kombi camper years ago, loved it.. just to slow though. plenty of mech's and clubs that can keep then going
here's a good link

http://www.4u2hire.com.au/packs/index.php

Clippy

I want one! You have to drive me around in it when you get it

sammyg

oh yes, we'll go cruising and you can help me decorate it with rainbows and pretty curtains

xx

Clippy

Oooh yay!! I love rainbows



xx

Mr Anderson

i had a transporter(like a mini bus ) but still the same

get one with a refurbed engine and itll go for years. Try and get one with at least a 2000cc engine in foir the extra oomph

There are plenty of vw clubs about and the camper engine and beetle,karman,early porsche,vw variant, and many others are the same engines and most parts are interchangeable. The body work is the most important and expensive to replace and fix and spray etc so look for a good van with a duff motor instead of the other way round and you could always replace the motor later on for a thousand pound

better if you can get a good body and recon engine with a crap interior and thats only cosmetic

google the vw clubs and for parts suppliers and you can see how much you can buy for them

ive just sold my 63 karmann ghia beofre moving out here and was gutted to leave it as such a beauty.

Buy one and have a broad smile on your face. Buy a standard toolbox of a hammer, pliers, an adjustable spanner and a spark plug spanner and a few spare bulbs and gasket seal, some oil and off you go.

If you have a manua,l and can follow instruictions its so easy to fix most things as they are as basic as you can get.

Most of these engines have been in the car from new and still run!

good luck

al

sammyg

thanks for that, it's really useful and just what we needed!
We'd have never known about the body expense - i'm going to check them out now

jimmyd4006

]
i have a 2002 VW transporter kombi, and love it. Nothing like the freedom of just being able to up and go, having everything you need with you. want a cuppa by the side of the road, no problems !! you will fall in love with it if you get one, they become part of the family lol I am going to try and get one in the Uk soon, as I want to move there eventually, here is the VW forum for all you need to know about kombis in oz, also has a link back to UK forum..best of luck and welcome to the club !!
http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newf...splay.php?f=26

sammyg

oohhh, thanks

you have a posh new one then!! just had a look at them, very well equiped!

we have been looking at the older type - can't wait to get one

sam

jimmyd4006

silly question, but have you looked at carsales.com.au or rvpoint.com.au, they usually have a few for sale, t2 and t3 are quite popular now.i would go for a 2litre ..the search begins

jimmyd4006

this is what's for sales at carsales

http://www.carsales.com.au/used-cars...=0&Model=KOMBI

Mr Anderson

although great motors i would recommend getting a type 1 or 2 camper first so you can experience the highs and lows of classic owning and getting to know every knock rattle and squeak as its very own personality. Only then should you consider the newer more comfy and in my opinion only...... less fun and defo l;ess frustrating option of a newer one.

Theres nothing quite like your first classic van. All the good times you caqN HAVE and fond memories and stories.

The bodyqwork hopefully shouldnt be as much an issue out here(please correct me as i dont know) but defo better than the uk as less salt on the roads and probabkly less rain(although dont buy one located next to a beach apparently as sea salt is just as bad as rock salt)

Just look for bubbling around arches and feel inside the arches. Look at the front step in particular and inner arch

also look underneath at the sills and especiaqlly right underneath at the rectangular chassis.

Take a little magnet and place on these area s for filler instead of metal.

just cause it looks great it can be a bodge job under neath

ask for aS MUCH HISTORY AS YOUY CAN IF ITS HAD A REBUILD, LIKE PHOTOS AND RECIEPTS FOR PANELS AND PARTS.

Failing that, get a qualified mechanic or vw enthusiast (about 50 quid) to come and do the once over.

Maybe the r.a.c does the same as the uk with spot checks.

good luck


al

scottyboy

I've owned air cooled Beetles and Campers since I first passed my test which ads up to about five bugs and three vans.
I have a '68 beetle at the moment.
I'm totally bias but think they're fantastic!

You can still get all the parts for them which are dirt cheep by todays standards and they're about the easiest vehicle to work on that there is.

We ended up selling a nice modern car to get the beetle as we were fed up with paying through the nose for garage bills and parts.

Vans are getting expensive in the UK but I still think Aus is to catch up with people importing them to the UK from Aus.
Other air cooled VW owners wave at you on the road and plenty of none owners for that matter.

A few years ago me and the OH drove around Australia in our Kombi through rain forrest and desert with very little trouble. We took it to some places that
you'd think twice about going in a 4x4 although getting it stuck up to the axel's in sand was no fun.

If we ever get our visa and make it over to Aus then I'd be sure to buy another.

Here is a pic of me and 'Cilla' having a paddle somewhere in NSW.

TheCrone

Long ago (Nov.,1977 to be exact!) I drove a 1961 Beetle from Perth to Darwin on my own and at a time when most of the road was still unsealed.
There were two problems; the first was the 12v. lighting system, which made it difficult to see the road after sunset (just pulled over and camped by the side of the road). The second was a puncture, halfway between Sandfire Flats and the Broome/Derby T-junction. Being a competent woman (? ) I changed the tyre, then tried to release the jack, which had to be hit to release the pressure. But the darned thing WOULDN'T go down!
It's about 1pm, stinking hot, I'm sweating like a pig, covered in red dust and frustrated beyond belief when over a rise about a couple of miles in front of me comes a Main Roads ute. Apart from the driver, there are 3 Aboriginal guys riding on the back, another in the passenger seat. The driver pulls up; "G'day, love, what's the problem then?" I explain that I can't get the car off the jack. He tries and can't do it either. But "No worries, mate", he says - and his four workmates pick the car up, lift it off the jack and put it back down. "There you go, love", he says, " - but I'd have that jack checked when you get to Darwin."

ozzieeagle

Pretty close to the perfect vehicle for touring Australia, as they are easy to move around in the Cities. Now if there is such a thing as a very easy roof tent (yes I know they exist but how easy are they to erect ?) with say standing room and a spare area plus an annex, for those longer stays somewhere remote, Then that would be the way to go.

So can anyone recommend the perfect less than 1 minute popup non trailer accommodation to go with these legendary vehicles, then I would be sold. The proviso being that it must fit in, inner-city hotel carparks, when the need to stop roughing it took hold.