The VW bus as a Daily Driver

I took this from another blog years ago, but it is so true. Enjoy.

Forget… forever onward what you consider the definition of transportation.

You are about to journey down the path of enlightenment, and learn the curious nature and language of a mechanical being. The Volkswagen is a peculiar beast, fed a steady diet of oil and gasoline it will move slowly from place to place.

Buses mark their spot. They pee on you when you least expect it. Like a foreign customs agent, it takes time to figure out where they want the grease. They take a little tweak here and there, when something not quite right they tell you if you listen.

When you hop behind the wheel of a bus you’ve got the best seat, as you’ll soon experience she’s a low flying slow air plane. Flying high enough off the ground to do an oil change, swap master cylinders, and cv joints without jack stands. Head and tail winds effect speed over ground, your steering wheel at speed is more for yaw, in the end she goes where she wants, or doesn’t.

Buy her quality parts, or she’ll spit them back at you. Your bus is half truck and half home; sometimes a magic carpet to distant places… other times a squatter. Wandering down the road with a smile on her face, the grins and thumbs up from those on the same path make her day. If you wish to show off your wrenching skills, she’ll humble you. Trust her, lover her… and she’ll be one happy camper.

You’ve got to love her deep down or she’ll leave you stranded, half the battle is the will to keep her on the road. If you don’t think she will, she’ll know it… scratch her rattles, lube her squeaks. Never forget she’s an aging mistress; her joints aren’t what they once were… if its cold it takes a little bit longer to get motivated. One day you will too.

You’ve had your fair warning. Spend your time cuddling and she’ll fire up when you need her, but if you’ve got other projects you’ve got to give an offering. When she humbles you, give a prayer to the gods of speed and give the bus in question a shot of oil. Mostly problems come from not driving her, buses get sad… some more than others, and if you don’t drive them they question your love. Miles are the VW anti-depressant.

Give her a pat on the dash and thank her for the trip at the end of the day.IMG_4473

2 thoughts on “The VW bus as a Daily Driver

  1. That’s funny…at the end of every camping trip, while everyone else is unloading and I have a second alone with Ludwig in the garage, I always pat him on the nose (spare tire) and say “Thanks, buddy”. I thought maybe I was the only one who did that.

    Alright,
    whc03grady.

    • That’s great. Always thank them for a job well done, but never brag on them to a friend. They always choose that moment to break down on you. When someone asks how she runs, we always reply, “She gets us from point A to point B.”

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