1968 Wartburg Tourist 1.0 from UK and Ireland
Faults:
Head gasket went at 110,000; that was easy to fix.
The crankshaft packed up at 123,000, but I had a spare in boot, so that was easy to fix; engine out in 20 minutes, and all you do is turn the engine upside down, and undo 8 bolts in the middle and 6 on the side, and lift the crank case bottom off, out with the crank and piston, and change the crank and put the piston back on, and lift the crank and piston back into the engine block, and bolt it up. All done and dusted in an hour and a half.
So what's your problem, it's easy to do? It's an easy car to repair. On some cars you have unbolt so many things before you can get to the spark plug, and some cars are dealer only to get a spark plug? You are all been ripped off by the big motor companies.
General Comments:
Yes my one handles well round corners. There's a good feel to the steering, a bit like a racing car.
The seats are very comfortable, like an arm chair. My mother likes it as it's high up, and she gets her legs in and has lots of room.
In the snow this will keep going where other cars will not. Even 4x4s cannot compare.
Yes, give me a Wartburg every time. It's a very good work horse.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 14th July, 2008
27th Apr 2009, 12:37
An excellent comment! I own a Wartburg Knight saloon and would endorse your remarks, although I have not had cause to remove any engine parts yet! Mine's done 60,000 miles perfectly!
The handling sometimes feels a bit strange, but I love the car's ability to freewheel over huge distances once rolling along; although this ought to save fuel, I still get only 32-33 mpg from the car, but I am advised this is about right for these cars anyway.