Are baja reliable as daily drivers, I haver heard a few horor storys and would like to know

I drove mine every day in the summer before I took it to Parker to leave it for off-roading. Never had a single problem with it. Stock dual port 1600, IRS, fully street legal, but still performs great off-road. There's definitely a happy medium



Tyler

I have just heard stories of the motors having problems with daily use

I've never experienced motor problems. As long as you don't bore it out big with a turbo and a bunch of mods you will be ok. a 160 has plenty of power and is very reliable if you treat it right.

Good, what about the heaters

I don't run a heater so it isn't my place to say. I'm sure a couple guys on here do though

What about the heater?? They are like the rest of your VW.. if you take care of it, it'll take care of you. I hear that a lot of older unmaintained cars have leaks and other issues.. but you can replace the heater boxes and exhaust.

The thing to keep in mind about these cars is that a lot of the systems on it seem weird or complex at first.. but when you take the time to read up on it and learn, it is very simple. As long as you keep your engine within temps, change oil, and keep a thoughtful ear on how it sounds you'll be fine for a long time.

Have fun

Thanks, I had just heard the heaters weren't to good

Hey...You're in Oklahoma...not Antarctica. I drove mine here in the California Mojave desert with -6* weather. And it did 390,000 miles as a Baja Bug including lots of hard offroad road and lots of bumper to bumper LA freeways. Few cars ever get near that many total miles on them. Mine is now up above 3/4 million miles. Just don't expect it to be a limousine. A Baja is a Baja. There are a bunch of guys who post on the Samba HBB Offroad forum and on the ShopTalk Offroad Forum who live in your neck of the woods.

I drive mine daily in the warmer months and it does fine

Thanks guys, it's good to here good things

Garsh! That's purty!

Doesn't look as though it gets used offroad tho. The front sway bar would make it push and it lacks 4 things which an offroad used Baja almost certainly will have...
- Skidplates
- Offroad rash (Rock nicks in paint on leading edges)
- offroad pinstriping (scratches and scuff marks along the sides from branches)
- dust/dried mud in all the nooks and crannies

Sweet looking though!!! We don't often see those slot mag wheels anymore. They were a dime a dozen in the 70s. I like 'em. Paint matched too.

thext94 wrote:

I've never experienced motor problems. As long as you don't bore it out big with a turbo and a bunch of mods you will be ok. a 160 has plenty of power and is very reliable if you treat it right.

not entirely true. would i go 2332 with a turbo on a daily no, but a 1915 and a turbo yes. I run one in my car and it does awesome. good gas mileage as long as you're not in the boost all the time, and has plenty of power when you need it. keep the boost low, and you'll be fine. i run 5 psi on mine and it's great. keeps it reliable but its still fun

MojaveRacer208 wrote:

Garsh! That's purty! Doesn't look as though it gets used offroad tho. The front sway bar would make it push and it lacks 4 things which an offroad used Baja almost certainly will have... - Skidplates - Offroad rash (Rock nicks in paint on leading edges) - offroad pinstriping (scratches and scuff marks along the sides from branches) - dust/dried mud in all the nooks and crannies Sweet looking though!!! We don't often see those slot mag wheels anymore. They were a dime a dozen in the 70s. I like 'em. Paint matched too.

Its been muddy a few times lol, I'm just Ocd about cleaning it up afterwards. It has plenty of rock chips as well, but i touch them up every so often to make it look better. Its mostly a show car though. Got a nice collection of trophys with it!

hell i drove from mesa to glendale for a year.. heavy foot and all. with a 1835 motor amd those are the hottest motors on a stock stroke...untill i blew the heads racing a bmw...

yeah the engine was hot as hell when i did it too..

also my dad drove from mesa to down town phoenix with a 1641. had no problem...

just be on the maintaince... you"ll be fine

as for the heaters ... if you took them apart they look like regular j tubes with aluminum fins on them...

as for working they where desighned for the german winters....think about it