Buying a Beetle by ANTHONYT

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Buying a Beetle

POSTED BY: ANTHONYT
UPDATED: Saturday, July 14, 2012 17:38
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Thursday, July 12, 2012 3:33 PM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

My wife recently spent seven weeks working in St. Louis on a job assignment, and rented a VW Beetle during part of her stay there. She has become so enamoured with the car that she wants to trade in our Camry for a new Beetle when she returns. Since she is the primary breadwinner in the family, and also the person who does the most driving, I told her we would get whatever vehicle she prefers. (We are a 1 vehicle family, and I am within walking distance of work.)

I heard that a Diesel version is coming out next year, which should get great mileage, but she's anxious to proceed immediately. Given how much more comfortable she says the beetle is, and how much of her day she spends driving, I can't blame her for not wanting to wait.

Has anyone out there owned or maintained a modern beetle? Any experiences or cautions you'd like to share?

--Anthony

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Thursday, July 12, 2012 5:15 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

I've heard nothing but horror stories. Sorry. They are a reliability nightmare, it seems. I have several friends who used to be big-time VW enthusiasts - we used to have VW-vs-Honda "wars" at the autocross events. Not a single one of them own a VW now, and all cite the horrible reliability and expensive maintenance as their reasons.

If I were shopping for a Beetle, I'd be shopping for an original one! :)

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I've not watched the video either, or am incapable of intellectually dealing with the substance of this thread, so I'll instead act like a juvenile and claim victory..." - Rappy

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Thursday, July 12, 2012 5:36 PM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

This is dismaying. I guess I'll have to pay extra attention to preventative maintenance in the hopes of keeping away serious trouble.

There's no accounting for taste. ;-)

--Anthony

Note to Self:
Raptor - woman testifying about birth control is a slut (the term fits.)
Six - Wow, isn't Niki quite the CUNT? And, yes, I spell that in all caps....
Wulf - Niki is a stupid fucking bitch who should hurry up and die.

“The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.” -Thomas Szasz

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Friday, July 13, 2012 12:01 AM

KWICKO

Oh, I hear ya - I actually liked the New Beetle, because it has HEADROOM! I can sit upright in it and not have my noggin smashed into the headliner!

If it's any consolation, my love of the Mini was dashed by it horrific reliability as well.

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I've not watched the video either, or am incapable of intellectually dealing with the substance of this thread, so I'll instead act like a juvenile and claim victory..." - Rappy

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Friday, July 13, 2012 2:13 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK

Quote:
Originally posted by ANTHONYT:
Hello,

This is dismaying. I guess I'll have to pay extra attention to preventative maintenance in the hopes of keeping away serious trouble.

There's no accounting for taste. ;-)

--Anthony

Ohhhh.... yeah.... ummmmmm.....

I've never owned one either, but I have had some cars I really loved in the past that were WAY more trouble than they were worth.

On the flip side, I have a 16 year old Camry with 132k miles that will probably give me nearly maintenance free performance for another 70k-100k as long as I regularly change my oil and air filter. It also happens to be my 2'nd least favorite car to drive I've ever owned, but since money and piece of mind are about the top two things on my list these days, it fits me perfectly.

I would definitely do some research on this topic Anthony. There are car forums out there everywhere with a Google search where you can get first hand experinces from others who have owned and ended up loving or hating their rides. Like any other product, I would throw out the top 2 or 3 BEST and WORST ratings, and see where the median lies with the rest of the responses or voting.

I haven't felt the urge to be flashy, or even sacrifice frugality/convenience for comfort for that matter..... and I don't have a wife to try to convince

. I'd just hate to hear that you both traded in a very reliable car that will give you many more years of reliable service for a spur of the moment decision that might cost thousands of unexpected costs and limitless regret in the long run.

Good luck, either way.....

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Saturday, July 14, 2012 5:38 PM

CAVETROLL

Own one currently and I've owned another in the past. Two problems that caused reliability gripes. First, the early automatic transmissions were not very good. They were 100,000 miles and done. The second thing is their electricals, which were horrible on early units and improved radically after 2001. The last fly in the ointment is that if you bring your car to jiffy lube for service, expect it to break down with a really expensive repair bill. None of the fluids, with the exception of oil are of the same type used in the US on common vehicles. If you have a good, private European car mechanic, you can use them. Otherwise you will be going to the stealership.

VW dealerships are wildly divergent in terms of quality of service and customer care. A good one is a Godsend. A bad one will have you cursing a blue streak.

If you buy, join Beetle.org. The knowledge there is fantastic.

If I were to buy new I would buy a diesel with a manual transmission. Even if I had to wait. My second choice would be a turbo with a manual transmission. I would not buy a naturally aspirated engine. Compared to either of the other engines they are under powered.

Good luck!

Kwindbago, hot air and angry electrons

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