Just after a bit of general advice and opinion from you all. Been looking for a half decent camper for a while - brother has a t25 and has had great fun but also a share of problems as you might expect in an old van (like the heating packing up as he drove up for christmas. W ith youngster on the way the prospect of van rather than tent even more appealing but obviously reliability now an issue too. So we were wondering about the newer Brazilian imports. There’s a 2002 type 2 cropped up for sale - originlly bought from Danbury and kitted out inside by bus gutz. Anyone any thoughts about these - anything in particular to look out for when we go to view it that might have started going wrong - it’s only done 8000 miles so we’re hoping there wouldn#t be much - any advice welcome…
Check for rust.
I don’t think the rustproofing is as good as the German ones. If its OK and you do buy it, I would consider getting the rustproofing done again.
What engine is in it? I’m guessing 1600cc air-cooled, fuel injected. That will probably raise a few eyebrows when you go looking for parts, but you will be able to get everything. It may be useful to know some cross references like “I want the ignition module from a 1994 Passat” or whatever.
Good luck.
I looked into buying one of these a couple of years ago. I am kind of glad I didn’t mainly because of the quality of the van. When put one next to a 30 year old van (obviously a well looked after one) you can see a world of difference in the build quality. I don’t know what it’s up for sale at but considering the price of these new I’m guessing £10k +. Why not find a cosmetically good German one and get a VW specialists to go through it and replace the running gear? A stock rebuilt engine with a new carb etc will probably cost between £1000 and £1500. Gearbox should be ok but even then a recon could be had. Long and short of it is that for the same money you could have a nice German one which in the long run will hold it’s value better and sell easily.
If your not in a hurry I have a couple of vans from Oz coming over which might interest you (early May). BTW the advice above wasn’t to set you up for one of my vans. I did seriously look at bringing one over myself but couldn’t get a dealer to do it for me over the phone. I didn’t actually see one until after I tried to do this. I’m glad I failed.
The Brazilian vans are terrible quality, they are not adequately rust propofed at the factory i’ve had a good look around one. Best buying a quality restored Westfalia or gettinga rust free imported van. You will get problems with any van that you buy whether restored or imported just because of the age, its all part of the scene and you should expect some issues. If you want reliability and good heating go for watercooled Type 25 or even a diesel, there are some great late say 1989 1990 models at good prices and you can get a lot for your money compared to a Bay camper which have currentlt hugely inflated prices.
Simon
OK - thanks for all that. Guess they don’t make them like they used to…
Their should be one at Biggar. Compare them yourself. You can make up your own mind then.