Faults:

Engine would throw a rod after you put a lot of miles on it. The rod always went after you hit the 130,000 to 180,000 mark.

General Comments:

I traded in my durable 1963 Volkswagen Beetle when my family outgrew it, and needed more space in 1967. Little did I know at the time when I purchased my 1965 Volkswagen Van, it would remain in my family for 29 years.

My 1965 ran on an air cooled 1500 engine that was very durable and reliable. The van had little power however, and did not move as fast as other vehicles on the road.

A tune up used to cost me anywhere from $49.00 to $69.00. The cars of today you can spend $500.00 or more on a tune up, and service. The Volkswagen never did cost this much, and was very cheap to run and operate. When I would go for service, the mechanics always told me the 1965 Volkswagen van was the best year they ever made.

I paid $1,700.00 for the van in 1967, and sold it for $1,500.00 in 1996. Very little depreciation here also with my high mileage. During my ownership period, I wore out three Chevrolet's, two Ford's, Two Toyota's, and one Nissan. The 1965 Volkswagen just kept on going, and required very little service. At one time, all of my cars I owned were in the shop for service issues except for my 1965 Volkswagen.

My Volkswagen always started on the first time I turned on the ignition. Some of my other cars would require you to turn the key twice before the car would start.

The gas mileage was always 22 miles per gallon, and at the time, everyone else who had vans made by other manufacturers always told me they only got 14 to 16 miles per gallon. Volkswagen was king for fuel economy on vans at the time too.

When I purchased the van, it had 37,250 miles on it, and I ran it to 487,250 miles. When I sold my 1965 Volkswagen, I was on my third engine, and second transmission. The engine could be removed from the van within 30 minutes, and you did not have to spend hours getting the other crap removed from the engine compartment in order to remove the engine. The last time I saw my old VW van was in 2005 on the highway still running.

During my ownership of this Volkswagen, I always had people approaching me in parking lots and asking me if I wanted to sell it. I never did sell it to them, even though they were offering me at times more money than I paid for the van in 1967.

Faults:

Starter.

Clutch (it was my mistake)

Brakes (again, my mistake)

Door locks.

Nothing wrong in the design, just typical old car things.

General Comments:

It serviced me for 4 years after being abandoned for 1 year.

I just changed the oil, rebuilt the carburetor, new battery and that was it, it started like nothing.

The Volkswagen boxer engine is the most reliable thing I drove in my life.

The torsion bar suspension is excellent. It just needs frequent greasing in the front end joints.

The sensation of riding in the front seat can be frightening, but after a couple of rides it's great. Slow down for speed bumps!!

Don't try to make more than 100km/h, the aerodynamics are poor. Beware of cross and front winds.

The luggage space is excellent. Mine was converted to something like a Westfalia and I traveled a lot.

Mechanical service is very easy and accessible. The engine can be taken out of the frame in 25 minutes.

Fuel mileage is poor, about 18mpg or 7 km/l on the city, 26 mpg or 11km/l on the city. It runs great with regular.