My Struggles As a VW Owner….

It wasn’t long after I bought my 1974 VW Bus in 2011 that I started having problems with her. The engine was original – nearly 40 years old at the time; but she was running and drivable. I was almost 50, so I kind of knew how she felt.

When she started experiencing real problems, I was schooled by a mechanic friend who worked at the local Firestone. The first thing he noticed was one of the carburetors (the left one of the duals, to be exact) would get stuck open and flood. The cure was simple, he said – “just stick your finger down in it and pop that ‘floppy metal thing’ shut.” Doing so would allow it to run normal for a while, until I’d have to do it again. But for a time, that was easy. As the Bus was my getaway vehicle when I got married for the second time in 2013, she wouldn’t start and this was exactly the fix needed before me and hubby, Charles, could drive away into the sunset.

When we moved West, from Georgia to New Mexico, her problems increased. For starters, the elevation was different. We went from 2,000+ feet above sea level to 8,000+ feet. She was noticeably sluggish running through the mountains, so I sought out a local VW shop and took her in for a tune-up. I found the shop by flagging down a guy driving a VW Bug through the Walmart parking lot and asked him where he got his work done. It’s good to “know somebody who knows somebody.”

She did well for the couple of years we were out there. No major issues, and we ran her just about everywhere. From one corner of the state to the other – “up and down that freeway – and saw a lot of gosh darn things.”

When we moved back to the Southeast, she was trailered for the third time. I never actually drove her across country because I didn’t want to put that much mileage on her or stress her out. I bought her with just over 145K original miles on the engine – and only put 9K miles on her in eight years.

But she soon started tuckering out. I found another local guy who worked on her several times trying to patch her up. But he was more a muscle-car guru, and the dual carbs just wasn’t his thing. For a good while she sat in the driveway and collected what is affectionately known as “black mold” all over the outside.

My last camping trip was in August 2018. Charles had been diagnosed with stage IV cancer two months before, and we just wanted to get away. I remember that was the weekend his hair started coming out in clumps. It was a melancholy trip. Months later, on a sunny December, we attempted a country drive; but we only made it seven miles from home when she stalled, and I coasted her to the side of the road. We towed her to another local guy who tried to patch her up. My husband died about three months later and, again, the Bus sat.

In mid-2019, I was widowed and looking at my life. Going through all my stuff, giving away some things, selling more, clearing out the house and moving; but the one thing of which I couldn’t let go was the Bus.

Honestly, I just felt like I hadn’t done everything in it that I wanted to do. I felt like the mechanical issues were simple and I’d be stupid to get rid of her. As a matter of fact, I was told by several people “you’d be stupid to get rid of her. You’ll regret it forever.” Wow…forever is a long time!

Flash forward…. star-date February 2020. I signed a contract to sell my house…right before the world exploded and everything sucked…. remember that? Good times.

Reflecting on life, I started questioning “what’s it all about, Alfie?” I even had an emotional meltdown at work and asked my 40-something boss the same thing. He looked at me in odd wonder…like he knew the meaning of life was all about working retail and putting up with crazy, grieving semi-old ladies. The truth is, I was bored with work, with life, grieving, and alone. And, oddly, I wanted to be even more alone…. I started thinking about #vanlife.

I knew of a VW mechanic in town. It so happened that back in the mid-1980’s my mom had sold this guy’s dad my family’s 1974 VW Bus. I stopped to introduce myself and talk with him and mentioned that I was interested in going on the road. He drove her and took one look at the engine and said, “If you were my wife, I wouldn’t let you out of town in this thing!” I asked if he was interested in doing a rebuild. Eventual arm twisting and viewing my sad puppy-dog face, he agreed.

In January 2021, the Bus was finally towed to his shop. The long block was delivered, and I worked to procure all the necessary new parts. The build began. And, while he worked, I plotted my US excursion. North in the summer, South in the winter. Stopping from friend to friend, to family to BLM off-road paradise.

I ultimately gave up on this van-life “dream.” I wasn’t 20 and couldn’t figure out how one quits their job, lives off menial savings, totes around two dogs, and pays for health and car insurance. I did, however, take delivery of a brand-new engine in early April 2021. I drove the Bus locally for a year and put less than 2,000 miles on her.

On Easter Sunday 2022 (and just a week shy of new engine anniversary), I left on my first long-haul trip from South Carolina to Gulfport, Mississippi. And then!! The Bus’s engine blew up after 600 miles – I made it as far as Mobile, Alabama and had to tow her…. again.

Back to the drawing board, I traded out the long block. (A story of which is too long to go into here; and one that would probably have me curled up in the fetal position sucking my thumb if I had to seriously recollect it.) I towed it to a new mechanic and waited for him to fit her in for repairs. Six months later, I took delivery in October 2022.

Well, here it is almost February 2023 and I’ve run her less than 1,000 miles; and, well, more engine issues. Timing, carburetor, fuel, completely crappy long block? I don’t know.

But I know it’s just got to be an easy fix!

Shalom!