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Topic: Mexican VW s ,  (Read 2371 times)

Offline GarryRicketson

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Mexican VW s ,

« on: January 04, 2014, 08:23:09 AM »
Hello all, I am pretty new here, in my introduction post, it was commented,
http://www.volksfolks.org/forums/welcome-newcomers/just-joined-the-forum/msg66895/#msg66895
Quote
ASBug: said,
«    Reply #1 on: January 01, 2014, 06:09:54 PM »
Welcome! Drive one of those beetles here you will not leave with it! Someone will buy it! 
The only thing is, well for one, the one I have I probably do not want to sell, but also I have heard that the U.S. does not allow changing the title over to a US title, maybe that depends on the state,
 There are a lot of used VW s around here, or at least in the near by city, many are older ones,that have been nicely restored, others are newer, 95,96,..
 Depending on many things, I could be interested or open to bringing one to somewhere in the U.S, and re-selling it, but I do not know if that is possible, how complicated it would be, etc,... so that is the purpose of this thread, to find out more,.. Also I have no clue as to what they (VW bettles) are worth, in the U.S., of course that too would depend on the condition, etc.
 I do know, mine is a 1995, it is in pretty good condition, and I payed about $3,000 dollar, (28,000 pesos), There was another real nice one, but older 1978, but it looked like new, the seller wanted a little more, $3,500,..aprox,..then on the other end, I looked at one, it was not in very good shape, the interior needed a lot of work, and the paint was all worn away, but the motor was recently rebuilt,it did sound good,  he only wanted $500, (6000 peso), I do not remember the year.
 I did notice, when I went to Oklahoma with mine, I had a lot of people ask me if I wanted to sell it, and comment on it, no one ever made any real offer, but that probably was because I had said I was not interested in selling it.
 Well any way, for now that is about it,... I have to go to work now, by trade, I am a stone carver, so I have to "break stones" in the quarry!,..I am not a car dealer,nor much of a mechanic, but I like VW, they are easy to maintain, usually reliable,and economic,...and at least here in Mexico, relatively inexpensive.

Offline Zen

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Re: Mexican VW s ,

« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2014, 09:19:00 AM »
For a while before production in Mexico ended, there were a few companies that would buy junk Beetles here in the US, strip them down to the center tunnel, install new pans then bolt everything else from a new Mexican Beetle on that pan.  They would then get a "salvage vehicle" title using the old VIN stamped on the center tunnel.  If I remember correctly, the price of the new Mexican Beetle was somewhere around $7000 and they were selling the restored "Mexi-Beetles" for around $12,000 in the US.

There must be other ways around the import laws because one of our members used to own a 1998 Mexican Beetle that was titled in Tennessee as a 1998 Beetle.  He drove it for several years, but ended up having to sell it when the county he lived in started emmision testing. Since it was a 1998, it was required to have a OBD-II port for the emmissions test . . . which it didn't have.  Even though it passed the "sniffer test" and actually met the exhaust requirments, they wouldn't certify it because of the lack of the port.

Older cars are exempt from the emmision laws, so getting it titled as a pre-1980 Beetle cuts out a lot of headaches, but getting that done leagly is also a headache.  In my opinion, there would probably be a better bussiness opportunity importing parts like engines.

Offline volksnick

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Re: Mexican VW s ,

« Reply #2 on: January 04, 2014, 10:21:24 AM »
I would love to get my hands on a front grill for a water cooled bus! That would be ideal.

Yeah, I'd like a good parts source more than a mexibeetle, but it would be cool to have one as well! If one makes it up here, I'd love to see it!!

Offline GarryRicketson

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Re: Mexican VW s ,

« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2014, 03:11:59 PM »
Quote
there would probably be a better bussiness opportunity importing parts like engines.
Ok, well I am not really thinking about going into the business of selling cars, nor parts, but I will remember that, and if and when at some time I go up that way, I will let everyone know.
 On the grill, with more details, like the year and model, it would be possible to check around, and if I find one, let you know how much it costs, including shipping ? I don't think the shipping would be real bad, How heavy is the grill ?

Offline Zen

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Re: Mexican VW s ,

« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2014, 05:43:28 PM »
I would love to get my hands on a front grill for a water cooled bus! That would be ideal.

Nick, if you are considering putting a water-cooled engine in a bay window bus . . . did yoiu know that if you get the bell housing and engine support (and maybe the starter and clutch) off of a Mexican water-cooled bus, you can bolt in just about any water-cooled VW engine.  Kyle used stuff off of a Mexican bus to put a 91 Jetta diesle engine in his Vanagonagon.

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