Daily Drive ?

[chrisflak]

Evening all, new member here currently driving around with a T6.1 conversion from new, as much as I love it my heart is drawn to a T2 early bay, but just wondered how it would be as a daily drive, I would prob go for a well sorted one with pretty much everything done body and engine wise, my daily commute is around 7 miles and would be used for a few weekends away as well, am I being stupid or is it possible, fuel economy etc not an issue, do they really break down that often !! Thanks for any comments I receive, it’s s genuine question that is seriously bugging me at the moment

 

[Velgreeno]

Hey @chrisflak . Well firstly welcome to the club dude . I drove mine as my daily for many years with no probs untill i decided she was going to have a full restoration inside out etc ha and that took over 6 years to date to to. What i would say is firstly get to know the ins and outs of a bus if you are new to early bays. How they work, what the maintenance is i.e fluids etc and the up keep of them because they are obviously not like a modern car and well they do need a bit of care in their old age ha. I dont see any worries with dailying them and they can keep up with modern. What i would say on one thats already done is dont be fooled by shiny paint etc because you just never know whats under that paint. Unless there is a record of what has been done and photos of the restoration etc be careful. I always prefer to restore rather than buy one done because you know whats done. I mean i know my bus inside and out top to bottom now but then again i have had her over 20 years ha. I would join some kind of rescue service too with them just in case. Join a local VW club too if there is one around you. Of course if you got any questions ask on here. We are always happy to help with anything. Not electrics with me though ha. Not um my forte uhhum

 

[chrisflak]

Thank you, appreciate it Llts to think about

 

[Clem]

I wouldn’t. Probably cheaper in the long run to get a cheap daily car

 

[ozziedog]

Hiya and big welcome to you. Realistics is a hard one to describe. There’s a lot of nice Bays about at the moment that don’t seem to be selling so it does appear to be a buyers market right now. If you’ve only ever had modern vehicles I’m not sure if you’re ready for the culture shock with these old beasties especially in the winter. In the summer most things are working and it’s really cool driving around with your arm out the window but in the winter, things ‘ can ‘get a little temperamental and not just cool but bloody freezing as the heating on these is minimal and nothing like a modern car. The reliability is all about maintenance but can still have issues with crap repro parts which can be a hard one to get around. This is the reasoning that some have for popping in a modern lump like a Subaru etc . The service intervals on modern vehicles is somewhere in the region of ten to twenty thousand miles and on these old boys it’s about three thousand miles , it used to be three to five thousand but they’re getting on a bit now and all are well over fifty years old and needing a tad more cosseting. M.P.G. Will be somewhere between fifteen and twenty five miles per gallon depending on motor condition and motor mods and how hard your right foot is keeping up with modern traffic, very few moderns are less than forty to the gallon .. As for cosseting, it’s be a great idea to keep them garaged as well at their age because time and tide wait for no man and very few women and definitely don’t wait for them rust termites. On one hand, the only way to convince yourself if it’s feasible is to try it or at least rent one for a couple of weeks. On the other hand , it’s a great buyers market right now and it if it didn’t pan out, you aren’t gonna lose too much if you sold it after a year or so.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,, I’d try it , nothings irreversible

 

[kathryn_eb]

If you're driving to work and not just for leisure, the insurance could get pricey. Maybe get a couple of quotes now so you don't get a big shock down the line?

 

[fallingoffalot]

I've had one as a daily, back in 1993, it was a T reg late-bay Devon, standard 1.6. it was the winter driving that eventually made me sell it and get something more modern. Also I got fed up with the lack of performance esp on just about any hill, oh and did someone mention fuel consumption!. Having said that I loved it and wished I could have kept it, but I was skint, living in rented and parking on the street so not really feasible. If possible get one and just use it on nice days maybe?
Here it is, the only pic I seem to have.

 

[Bundy]

I commuted 90 miles a day for nearly 18 months in mine...but it had heating and a Subaru engine! Whilst the commute was fine and more fun at times, it was the driving in winter that really took its toll on the bodywork...despite underseal etc, that salt really doesn't get on with old buses!
I now have a T6.1 instead and can't see me going back again now....but never say never!

 

[Velgreeno]

Thank you, appreciate it Llts to think about

No probs at all. There certainly is but most of all and i forgot to mention is, have fun when you get yours .

 

[Velgreeno]

If you're driving to work and not just for leisure, the insurance could get pricey. Maybe get a couple of quotes now so you don't get a big shock down the line?

Ooh how much you paying for yours @kathryn_eb ? For fully comp and 4k miles per year im paying £126 and thats with Sterling.

 

[ozziedog]

I've had one as a daily, back in 1993, it was a T reg late-bay Devon, standard 1.6. it was the winter driving that eventually made me sell it and get something more modern. Also I got fed up with the lack of performance esp on just about any hill, oh and did someone mention fuel consumption!. Having said that I loved it and wished I could have kept it, but I was skint, living in rented and parking on the street so not really feasible. If possible get one and just use it on nice days maybe?
Here it is, the only pic I seem to have.
View attachment 5955

Just noticed with this one Andy, it Dosent seem to have a cab roof It’s not until you blow it up that you suss what’s going on. Does look like it’s been photoshopped somewhere along the line

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,looks in good shape too

 

[fallingoffalot]

Just noticed with this one Andy, it Dosent seem to have a cab roof It’s not until you blow it up that you suss what’s going on. Does look like it’s been photoshopped somewhere along the line

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,looks in good shape too

Haha, I vaguely remember opening the door into a tree branch or something, but yeah that would be cool, restored rear, with a barn-find cab. Yeah that was 1993 I think, so bus was 15 years old and had already been restored by the PO. He put it back to its original colour, which was actually all green, me and my dad sprayed the top white with rattle-cans. Here's the only other pic I've got.

 

[The God Bus]

I drive my bus everyday in the summer I wouldn't do it in the winter and I'm running a subaru engine and box

 

[milfredo]

Whenever I drive, which isn't often, I drive the bus. Apart from in miging winter.

 

[ozziedog]

Haha, I vaguely remember opening the door into a tree branch or something, but yeah that would be cool, restored rear, with a barn-find cab. Yeah that was 1993 I think, so bus was 15 years old and had already been restored by the PO. He put it back to its original colour, which was actually all green, me and my dad sprayed the top white with rattle-cans. Here's the only other pic I've got.View attachment 5958

Same Devon roof as I have, mine came off a scrapped Latey of similar vintage to your old one.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,bet you wouldn’t mind it back now

 

[fallingoffalot]

Same Devon roof as I have, mine came off a scrapped Latey of similar vintage to your old one.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,bet you wouldn’t mind it back now

It may be my old roof!!
I sometimes wonder how much I would have had to spend on it to keep it on the road, I think I paid £1700 for it, but when buying I looked at similar age ones that were rust buckets for £800-£1200. Mine had an original interior, but body had been completely restored, new panels etc. You don't see many UK busses around, so I guess most were scrapped. I seem to remember looking on the MOT website and it was last MOTd in 1996, they seem to have changed it so can't confirm that.

 

[AircooledKate]

Evening all, new member here currently driving around with a T6.1 conversion from new, as much as I love it my heart is drawn to a T2 early bay, but just wondered how it would be as a daily drive, I would prob go for a well sorted one with pretty much everything done body and engine wise, my daily commute is around 7 miles and would be used for a few weekends away as well, am I being stupid or is it possible, fuel economy etc not an issue, do they really break down that often !! Thanks for any comments I receive, it’s s genuine question that is seriously bugging me at the moment

My ‘68 beetle is my daily and has been for a year and a half, used to use my last beetle as my daily too. I do know at least a couple of people that have their early bays as dailies. They prefer to be driven so I’d say do it