Aircooled VW South Africa

Blitzkrieg wrote:Another problem is that a lot of the local VW enthusiasts are cheapskates and don't want to spend a lot.......

That, I think, is the heart of it. While there's lots of "demand" for parts, the "demand" disappears when it's time to show the money. It's partly because many ACVW enthusiasts ARE cheapskates, and partly because we are just not as wealthy, on average, as the poms. However, very few of us on this site drive our ACVWs every day, which means most olf us are happy to overpay for a new or modern car, while complaining about the costs of buying ACVWs, parts and restoration services.

The other issue is competent and affordable restorers, especially bodyworkers. If there were more people offering these services, more vehicles would be restored here.

I do see things changing though. I'm seeing more people entering the hobby and prepared to spend the money to restore cars that a few years ago would have been stripped and scrapped. While there's ongoing resistance to higher prices, in the long run it's the only way this hobby will grow and we will keep the cars in SA.

The idea that british people earn more is a strange. if you take an average salary, 35k sterling and convert it, you end up with 400 000 grand a year. The killer is the cost of living over there. Tax is high, you have national insurance at 10 odd percent, rent and mortgages that are nothing like we have here and overall costs associated with food/transport etc.

Petrol is 1.05 a liter, R12.28

So whilst they might seem to earn more, I can tell you from 1st hand experience, the monthly amount left over for your average person isn't as high as you think.

dsan wrote:Hang on a minute mate, you are in the UK and I bet you have a capitalised on that market.

You mean I earn a salary for working here? Or what do you mean?

What im saying is that you capitalise on the fact there is a market for spares there. the lack of spares, exporting of cars etc doesn't effect you as it does someone here.

not having a go, don't take it that way :p

I've never bought any ACVW parts in the UK. Point is you shouldn't be calling South Africans lazy for using the only realistic parts source that most of them can afford. These cheapskates and lazy people, more often than not, do all the work on their cars themselves as opposed to paying electricians, restorers, customizers etc. to do the work for them.... How many of the vehicles that enter the UK are MOT'ed already so the buyers need to do as little as possible? What is the most common excuse for getting vehicles from abroad in the UK? UK buses are rotten. Who is lazy?

PS: Not having a go... Just trying to get my point across

dsan wrote:The idea that british people earn more is a strange. if you take an average salary, 35k sterling and convert it, you end up with 400 000 grand a year. The killer is the cost of living over there. Tax is high, you have national insurance at 10 odd percent, rent and mortgages that are nothing like we have here and overall costs associated with food/transport etc.

Petrol is 1.05 a liter, R12.28

So whilst they might seem to earn more, I can tell you from 1st hand experience, the monthly amount left over for your average person isn't as high as you think.

and interest on a house is around 3%p.a.
Food is cheap if you want it to be. Transport isnt too expensive.....

and the average SA salary is a lot less than the UK. If you can save 10% of your total salary per year, in UK you will have (according to your post) 3500 quid to spend, while in SA you'll be lucky to have 1200 quid.

Below is an average pay scale per city found here http://www.payscale.com/research/ZA/Cou ... ry/by_City

I beg to disagree. There are people on this forum with bus & other projects way worse than that one that they are busy with right now. I just think that the scene is bigger over there and therefore there are naturally more wrecks being restored. Here there are less enthusiasts and therefore less wrecks being restored.

To an extent the "availability of parts" & lack of straight busses over there force them into bigger projects. I do not think the reason is that we are cheapskates & I also think that its also a case of supply vs demand here. I spoke to the guy is Australia that owns "the bus stop" and he said it took many years for him to make profit & there seem to be alot more bus enthusiasts in Aussie.

Look not calling anyone lazy, I regret doing this thread now...

Trying to generalise the world is always a silly idea and arguments for both camps can be made....Politicians live on this which is why they always think they are right.

You can't generalise, as everyone is different and living is about personal choices which are maintained in order by rules...."The Law".

People have different abilities so some can work on there own projects, others can't. Some people have the money to order parts not availble locally others don't, Some want original, others want personal, etc .....nothing wrong with any of the above and all have benefits which I'm not going to go into here.

For me, it's not about your standing, how much you earn, how much you have, how much you take, how much you moan, etc. It's about how you live! Are you honest, open, willing to help others and be helped, do you care (and not take all the time), do things without wanting something in return!

Daniel, On you initial idea for this thread.....just look at the following a little to ChrisG's point and I have seen his bus and (no offense Chris) it's more of a challenge that the UK one first posted!

http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopi ... 23&t=12307
http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopi ... 23&t=13372
http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopi ... =23&t=6607
http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopi ... 23&t=13150
http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopi ... 23&t=12405
And I can go on!!!!

Please can we leave people to there own decisions, approach, views & stop mouning, throwing stones, etc. This forum is about sharing our joys and advice PLEASE! I do my projects my way....I want people to help me with advice and maybe mention things they would do next or differently so that I can see if I want to change. Mainly I post here to share my vehicles so that you enjoy.

We have a rant section that I don't enter so if you insist on mentioning this please put it there. After the challenge the forum had a few weeks ago and also lost a great friend and advocate of ACVW's (he donated a free engine to all of us! and loads of other stuff), I'm going to raise my standards, which I what I loved about this forum.

DSAN, this is not focused at you, I'm just saying I'm no longer going to post on any of these type topics...I love your project thread and that's what I think this forum is all about!

point taken, topic closed!

Blitzkrieg wrote:Another problem is that a lot of the local VW enthusiasts are cheapskates and don't want to spend a lot.......

On the nail Blitz, on the nail.

You want to restore a car, you got to pull out the money.

If you dont, most will try convince you they wanted a rat.

If someone is going to do the work for you, you need to pull out even more.

We can still buy new here, much of the air-cooled VW glass, including electrically heated front windscreens, for several models, including the "split-screen" & "bay-window" Kombis.

To properly restore some of the badly rusted cars, would actually cost more than buying some new luxury cars, so unless it is a labour of love, few would employ someone else to do it, at the labour rates which are common here and one needs a large, dry, well-lit and well-ventilated garage or barn, in order to do it properly; considering the rust-inducing nature of the British climate.