May buy 2003 Beetle

[joewherefast]

Hello everyone. I'm not here very often and haven't been in about a year. Sold my Beetle last year (2000 2.0 GLS, 5 speed). I have regretted it ever since.

I am going to look at an 03, automatic, 102k, 2.0 this week. I was wondering if there was anything particular to this model I should be looking out for or concerned about? Thanks.

Joe

Hope to be a Beetle owner again soon!

[Skoobahead]

Make sure timing belt/water pump/thermostat have been replaced otherwise you will need to do that asap on your dime.

[geniushanbiao]

There are 2 aspects you have to obtain: One is from the owner and the other is from the car.

The aspect from the owner is the side you can't see it directly from the car. This is mainly the maintenance record. Pay special attention to the timing belt, water pump, spark plug, spark plug wires, ignition coil. And see how new is the battery, and did the previous owner flush the coolant, and did he replace transmission fluid and filter, differential fluid.

The aspect from the car is that you can see from the car. Mainly this is to tell you how the previous owner takes care of the car. For example the engine cover missing might indicate a careless maintenance and a bent rim might indicate a careless driver or a street racer... This includes the tire treads, rims, body(see if there is any sign of collision), interior, and engine compartment. For the interior you have to test all the electronic devices function, including the window switch, door lock switch(They will all cost you not a little if any of them are bad), etc. For the engine compartment you need to pay attention to whether it's missing any parts, for example engine cover, timing belt cover, and the lower splash cover. Take a look for any sign of oil/coolant leakage. After that you can try to start the engine for a test drive. Before you start the engine, switch the key to ON but don't start, see if all of the
malfunction lights come on(check engine, oil pressure, charging, airbag, ABS, Brake, seat belt, ...). This is to avoid some "smart" people pulling off the light bulb(on beetle it's the LEDs) of the malfunction lights to make it "no problem". After that you can start the engine and then judge it by listening to the noise.

Originally Posted by joewherefast

Hello everyone. I'm not here very often and haven't been in about a year. Sold my Beetle last year (2000 2.0 GLS, 5 speed). I have regretted it ever since.

I am going to look at an 03, automatic, 102k, 2.0 this week. I was wondering if there was anything particular to this model I should be looking out for or concerned about? Thanks.

Joe

Hope to be a Beetle owner again soon!

[Opelmania]

x2 on the TB/WP being taken care of and also pay close attention to the autotragic transmission. They were troublesome.

[cjohnsontech]

My 03 and I had a rough start with our relationship (dealership lemon).

After I got the things the dealership messed up taken care of, everything got much better.

Do the Water Pump and Timing swap. That's the one thing you're going to hear from everyone. Set me back about $600 from my local mechanic.

Beyond that, it's been a great little car with no real issues that are any different from normal wear and tear on any other car.

Have fun and enjoy

[geniushanbiao]

Well I have to say, this car has something more than normal wear and tear, and the things belong to "normal" wear and tear is way too fast...

For example, on VWs the coolant temp sensor(ECT) always fails but on other cars this part is most likely lifetime. Also the ignition coil is too crappy that American and Japanese coils can last for more than 200k miles still working but this piece only 100k or less...Also the ABS module always fails because of a bad soldering...

Originally Posted by cjohnsontech

My 03 and I had a rough start with our relationship (dealership lemon).

After I got the things the dealership messed up taken care of, everything got much better.

Do the Water Pump and Timing swap. That's the one thing you're going to hear from everyone. Set me back about $600 from my local mechanic.

Beyond that, it's been a great little car with no real issues that are any different from normal wear and tear on any other car.

Have fun and enjoy

[jwups0887]

Man I would never buy another VW product. With my daughter's car I am constantly working on it. My daughters car had 83K when we bought it for her and at 86K it needed a new auto trans put in because it had the ole 'no reverse'.

We bought the car for 5K and in 13 months of ownership we have spent about 7K in repairs and I am also do all the work on it. If I had used all the time working on her beetle on a different project like building a cafe racer, I would probably be riding that thing around here now.

Sure wish we spent more more money in the beginning on a more reliable car like a a Toyota camery.

Good luck in your search.

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

Originally Posted by jwups0887

Man I would never buy another VW product. With my daughter's car I am constantly working on it. My daughters car had 83K when we bought it for her and at 86K it needed a new auto trans put in because it had the ole 'no reverse'.

We bought the car for 5K and in 13 months of ownership we have spent about 7K in repairs and I am also do all the work on it. If I had used all the time working on her beetle on a different project like building a cafe racer, I would probably be riding that thing around here now.

Sure wish we spent more more money in the beginning on a more reliable car like a a Toyota camery.

Good luck in your search.

Buying ANY car with 83k on the clock is a crap shoot. Especially a novelty car, that for many, unsuspecting new car buyers required much more maintenance than they had any idea of. Then they found out about the high dollar things required after 50k-60k miles and dumped them, already neglected, and now without major required servicing. It would take little researching around the web, with the benefit of Google, to have gone into what you did with out your "eyes wide open". Sorry you had a bad experience. Good lesson for you and your Daughter that you can drive transportation or you can drive style and novelty at a cost. Seldom will you find both.

A little more on the thought process and mindset, courtesy “billymade”
Anyone ever experienced this?

MORAV

[IndyTom]

Originally Posted by Opelmania

x2 on the TB/WP being taken care of and also pay close attention to the autotragic transmission. They were troublesome.

X2 on the Automatic transmission. The o9G Tranny is one of the worst transmissions in history. The valve bodies don't keep up the line pressure and have a high failure rate.
Just FYI. A new valve body installed by the dealer is $1500 buckaroos. So make sure you check the tranny very carefully.

[esse10]

Run as fast as you can in the other direction buddy unless you like working on cars all the time. LOL jk,jk these beetle cars are fun to drive just need lot's of tlc.

[Smileybug]

Originally Posted by IndyTom

X2 on the Automatic transmission. The o9G Tranny is one of the worst transmissions in history. The valve bodies don't keep up the line pressure and have a high failure rate.
Just FYI. A new valve body installed by the dealer is $1500 buckaroos. So make sure you check the tranny very carefully.

The O1Ms are even worse IMO. Not really much you can do with those when they start to fail. And it really is when, not if. On a 2.0 you may get them to go 200k, but even that's rare. I've seen O1Ms fail at 100k, or even before sometimes. At least with the newer autos, you can usually service them and fix the issues.

But when talking about autos, you can't forget about the awful autos in the '98-'02 gen Hondas. When coupled with the V6, I've heard of some people on their 3rd or 4th trans at 90k!!