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Hello everyone.  I bought a 2017  speedster with only 3 thousand miles but is been in the shop more time than my garage.  From the starter,brakes,oil lines leaks,and coolant leaks.  Ive spent over $3,000 so far in repair work. I thought these VW engine were supposed to be reliable . Has anyone experienced issues like this?

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I think a big part of a 60 year old VW air cooled Speedster Madness hobby is self-maintaining them.  Unlike a real Porsche it uses simple, inexpensive parts - the labor can be a killer as is finding a competent shop. There are several good DIY books and it doesn't take many tools -- if you have time and desire.

Old VW joke is "if it isn't leaking oil and marking its trail, it must be out of oil". 

Ouality of parts is a big issue - and is driving many to more modern engines like the Subaru water cooled engines which are water cooled, computer managed, EFI and low maintenance/high longevity. 

See related image detail

While the quality of parts is declining, the prices are continuing to climb. I do my best to avoid mainland Chinese sourced parts and most anything by EMPI.

I no longer just order parts online without calling the vendor and asking them to identify the maker and the country of origin if it isn't made clear in the listing.

I use the internet just to identify a source and price. then I call.

The other killer is shipping costs. Often as much or more than small parts.

The hobby is not exactly cheap.

No it is not cheap. A plain Jane single carb Vw type 1 engine that is a stock 1600cc engine and built correctly with craftmanship and quality parts will cost over $5k ,$6-7k for lightly modified engines and the sky is the limit for highly modified and don't even ask about type 4 engines. This is why it is now a sane option to have our Speedsters converted over to  Subaru engines. I have owned them both ways I have even owned a Mazda rotary powered Speedster and the Suby engine is the best by leaps and bounds if you are going to really drive your Speedster or want something that is turnkey and almost completely dependable. Please note this IMHO based on my own experience.

Beautiful car there, Carlos!   I'm sorry that you're experiencing issues with it.

There's a lot more to it than just dropping a Subaru engine into a Speedster.  The largest issue with the Subaru conversion is cooling the engine.  These cars were not designed to locate and effectively manage a water-based cooling system so whomever does the conversion has to know what they're doing.  Beck (Special Edition) in Indiana have it figured out.  From what we've seen/read on here, JPS (John Steele) seems to have it figured out, too, to some degree.  

By the time you're done doing a Subaru conversion on a Speedster it will cost somewhere between $8K and $10K+ and the build leadtime right now looks to be around two to three years.

Alternatively, you might ask around in your area for another experienced VW shop so you'll have two quote/data points from people who could work on your car.  Find a local aircooled VW club, attend one of their events and ask around for competent shops.  

Most of the shops around me (central Massachusetts ) have technicians who not only have never seen an aircooled VW, they weren't even born when the last of the VW Beetles hit the streets!  I just recently discovered another shop nearby that is a bunch of kids who adore VW Buses and learned on those and have made a business out of fixing them, along with Beetles.  I've also lost two shops last year to guys just retiring.  The knowledge base is shrinking by the month.  

Last edited by Gordon Nichols

Thanks guys. The car was made by vintage beautiful car, just didn't expect all these issues. I was contemplating putting a new engine. I know that the Subaru water cool engines might be a good choice.

If your car was, indeed, built by Vintage Motorcars (vintagemotorcarsinc.com) located in Hawaiian Gardens, CA, and they're only 90 miles from your listed home in Victorville, CA.

Check out their website and give them a call. I assure you the owner (Greg Leach) will treat you very professionally and address whatever concerns you've got about his product.

All of this is contingent, though, upon one thing: Your Speedster was built by Vintage Motorcars.

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