Hello

Hello all, just joined and looking to buy my 1st kombi. I am living in Australia and looking at importing one from Brazil, as a lot cheaper than what i can find over here. be a splitty. what can people tell me about the brazil kombis? most people i speak too, advise me not to, cheaper steel used, rust, and parts are hard to come by and not true VW;s? but for me f i can get a very good one for half the price then i dont see a problem?

Many thanks. Robin

Cheaper steel - yes indeed, not surprisingly manufacturing processes have actually improved in the last 40-50 years so it would be hard to understand if the steel used is not cheaper, but also better too for the same reasons.

Rust - a genuine concern for any vehicle manufactured outside of Europe and therefore without all the corrosion protection we now enjoy on new modern vehicles. This also applies to older vehicles that were produced in Europe before these standards were introduced. An amount of care and attention will be required to keep you kombi rust free, including some specific rust prevention treatment. I would do the same with any kombi whether old, new, Brazilian or otherwise.

Parts - where do you think most of the parts for 'classic' kombis come from? Brazil! Some are harder to come by than others, but most of the engine parts (for the watercooled anyway) are standard parts available from any VW workshop.

Not true VWs - made by VW Brazil using VW manufactured parts by VW employees? There are very few fully original 'classic' kombis, the vast majority have had parts and panels replaced by non original parts/panels and/or by non VW employees. Which would you consider to be a 'true' VW?

With all that said, while relatively cheap in Brazil, you will need to find one that has been week looked after and not abused - they use them for pretty much everything over there - and the process for exporting them is apparently difficult and expensive.