Our new Deetle!

[BlueLghtning]

What's a Deetle you ask? It’s our nickname for our Diesel Beetle or better known as a VW TDI Beetle! I posted this on our local Motorcycle forums and I know we've posted some stuff about our new beetle, but figured we'd share the full experience here.

A couple weeks back, Sarah and I were bumming around car lots looking for our next car victim. She missed her Miata which I'll admit was an awesome fun car, but so unpractical in so many ways. Even though I enjoyed driving it, I absolutely did not want to go back to shoving myself in one again. Actually getting in was easy, getting out royally sucked. Plus, we are both done with convertible tops, the wind noise, ice frozen on the inside of your windows, and all the extra stuff that comes along with that. So we started brain storming on what would fit our needs, have some unique character to it that Sarah would like, and could possibly take the place of the jeep in towing our dirt bikes if needed.

One of the cars that we chatted about as we browsed the lots was the VW Beetle. It had been out since '98, hadn't changed much (redesign in '06), & Sarah thinks they are cute. I didn't think they were too bad looking myself, but what I really liked was that I knew they came in a Diesel version that gets awesome fuel mileage. I had been lusting after a TDI since I sold my big ¾ ton Diesel, and this might be the way to get one.

After several car lots one Sat afternoon, and me sitting in several different cars, it was quickly becoming apparent that my 6'4" long lanky torso doesn't fit so well in small cars. Some were better than others, but cocking my head to one side to fit, wasn't what I was going to settle on. After a few hours, we finally found an 09 2.5L 5 cylinder gas model Beetle with the 6spd triptronic transmission to test drive. The color was the hideous light tan color that I would never own, but I wanted to see what it drove like and felt like. I honestly wasn't expecting much from the car. I figured it would probably be noisy, the ride quality would suck, different things I already had in my head about it.

The first thing that surprised me when I plopped down in the seat was OMG, I have head room. I have lots of head room. That curved roof actually comes in handy. The windshield feels like it’s so far away (it actually is), and the front dash is huge giving you the feeling you have all this cabin room, which you do. You could play a board game up on the dash, there’s that much room. The front seats are rather roomy themselves, including shoulder room which I liked. The back seats suck, but that's of no importance to us, so it didn't matter.

We grabbed the keys and off we went. That 2.5L 5cyl is pretty spunky motor and even though I'm a manual transmission fan, that triptronic was quite enjoyable. The sport mode holds the revs longer on up shifts and also down shifts early for you. Then of course there was full manual mode where you control the shifts. Hmm, I could get to like one of those vs the manual maybe? I’d probably get crappy mileage though always playing in the sport mode.

The back road handling was nice, but I really wanted see how it handled the drone of the interstate. I have to say I was pretty amazed and pleased. The beetle was quiet, well behaved, and cruised at 80-90mph like nothing. It was really nice. Needless to say, we both came away extremely impressed and the beetle was immediately at the top of our list.

Back at home, we started scouring the internet to do our research on what models they had, which ones had issues, etc. In the beginning were considering both the 2.0L (non turbo) gas motor and the 1.9L TDI Diesel motor. We had already ruled out the 1.8L Turbo (due to premium fuel requirements) and some other issues they seemed to have, and the 2.5L in the 06+ models were out of our price range. The first thing that became apparent in our research was that the 4spd 01M automatic used from ’98-‘02 was pure junk and to avoid it like the plague, especially when mated to the diesel model. That was fine as we both really preferred the 5spd anyways. As we continued to discuss motors though, I knew deep down I really wasn’t going to be satisfied unless we found the elusive TDI engine. So our search began and we were looking for a ’98 -’03 TDI Beetle with a 5spd transmission. This definitely was not going to be an easy task as TDI’s usually don’t come up that often, especially with 5spd’s, prices were all over the place along with miles and condition. We’d have to give in on a few things to get the price we wanted. We were okay with mileage around the 150k mark, and not perfect interior/exterior, although the nicer the better. The other big issue and expensive thing we had to consider is timing belts & water pumps. All the VW Beetle motors are interference motors and require regular timing belt changes, so finding one with records that proved it had been done would be a plus also or factoring that into the cost to have done right away.

The first TDI that caught our attention popped up on EBay in SC. It was a 2000 TDI Beetle 5spd in silver with 142k miles. I talked to the seller who turned out to just be a small car dealership guy that bought a couple cars a month at auction to re-sell. I wasn’t crazy about that, but the guy had some very positive feedback on eBay and it appeared from the car fax that it was a 1 owner car (that had regularly been serviced) and had just got traded in at a big dealership and then went to auction. It seemed like a good car to go after. Before we could make a deal with the guy though, the eBay auction ended with a "best offer" and appeared the car sold at a pretty low price compared to other models around the same mileage. We were both kind of bummed as we had missed it, but continued with our search. A couple days later, I decided to call the guy back just to make sure the car had sold and low & behold, the buyer backed out on him. We were back in the game. The seller informed us though he would be on vacation that whole week and we’d have to wait till Sunday to come get the car. The car was 4 hours away and normally I know from traveling more than a couple hours to see a bike or car, I get pictures of everything I would check out when I was in person. This usually helps with no surprises. The seller had already put the car back on eBay and I had to make a decision. I knew the price he was willing to accept and I’m sure it would probably sell again for that price. I was going to have to break my rule about the pics as he wouldn’t be able to give me any of the pics I requested until he got back home.

The seller and I spoke sever times on the phone and he verbally described the car to me and so I was feeling pretty comfortable about the deal. I sent him a $250 deposit to hold the car for us and take it off eBay, and we made plans to meet that Sunday in SC. Sarah and I decided instead of driving our Jeep that distance and all the way back, we’d rent a little econo-box that we could drive out there and leave and only have 1 car to drive back.

Since we were leaving on a Sunday and most small local rental car companies are closed, we had to get the rental car from the Atlanta airport and return it to the Augusta airport. We got a ride to Avis and found out for a dollar more we could move up from something like the Toyota Yaris or Nissan Versa and into the compact class and have a choice between Ford Focus and Chevy Cobalt (which included cruise). For the extra dollar, I was willing to splurge for cruise and a bit more comfort! I wanted good fuel mileage and figured these cars would deliver that too. We both agreed the Focus and off we went. It actually turned out to be a very nice rental car and the 4+ hr ride out there was pretty nice. To my amazement, according to the computer, I was getting in the low 40mpg range cruising on the highway.

Even at 70mph, I broke into the 43mpg range.


Back roads saw it go even a bit higher with a max of 43.7mpg


Even at the end of the day, we were still in the 41 mpg range. Not bad!


cont.....

[BlueLghtning]

We get to the Beetle a bit early and are able to check it out while we wait for the seller to show up. As we start checking things out, we realize there are a few more minor odd and end things he didn’t tell us about that were wrong or just showing abnormal signs of wear most people would notice. The body overall was in decent condition, but I felt like the seller underplayed the overall condition of the car. It wasn't bad, but he had made it sound quite a bit nicer. The biggest issue that was jumping out at me was the tires which he first called at 50% and then on a later call said maybe more like 30%, but in reality they were at the wear bars in both the front and rear, and even showing cords on the inside of one front tire. We were supposed to drive 200 miles back to Atlanta on these tires. I figured with him calling them 30% meant they’d be pretty worn and be on our short list, but was sure not having to expect about worrying to actually getting back to Atl on them.

The seller shows up, hands us the keys and we go for a test ride. The car was pulling to one side, and overall not riding very good due to the really crappy condition of the tires. We discovered the driver side mirror control was broken and the passenger side window switch was also broken (neither told to me during our conversation). The cruise control also appears to not be working. Could be something simple, could be something more serious. The diesel engine was running nice and the car shifted very well, transmission and clutch were strong and good, so that was good news. However, I was concerned about the tires. Was there an alignment issue that had worn the tires out or had the previous owners just been like 95% of America and run around on under inflated tires that wore the edges out.

As Sarah and I discuss the car some more though, we both just weren’t having the best feeling about it. I was starting to get that sick feeling in my stomach. Did we really drive all this way to find out this just wasn’t our car? Are we going to have to drive the rental all the way home and start our search all over again? What about our $250 we had already sent to hold the car. I knew it wasn’t worth just getting the car just because we were there, it had to be “worth” it to us and what we wanted.

We return to the seller and I discuss with him that we just aren’t feeling the car. I was prepared for a few of the issues he told me about, but there were obviously more details he left out and he was completely out of line on the tires. He knew we were coming 4 hrs and how did he expect us to get home on tires that crappy. He admitted that he was a bit off on the tires, but he felt he had best described the rest of the car the best he could. He wasn’t willing to refund my $250 deposit as he didn’t feel he had misled me on the car. I wasn’t happy to hear that, but at this point, I would just eat the $250 vs paying him what we had agreed on the car.

We got in the rental car and headed down the road and not even 2 mins later, my cell phone is ringing. It’s the seller saying he feels bad about us coming all that way and not leaving with the car and we need to work something out. I flat out tell him I’m not paying him the amount we agreed on and we have to worry about just getting back to Atl on those tires. We negotiate some more on the price and he finally comes back with a price that I’m willing to check things out a bit more in depth. After some more discussing, and me requesting that I want to look under the car, he asks me to come back and he’ll make things right. So we head back to his place and we get the car up in the air where I can check out underneath it. At this point if I find anything else wrong with it, I’m not taking it. Underneath turns out to be amazingly clean and I didn’t see anything that caught my eye. I tell him I want to rotate the tires, pump them up and go for another test ride. We do that and during the next test ride, it handles much better and no longer pulls to the side, so it must have been a low tire. I’m starting to feel like the tires were just neglected and that’s the main issue we are having here. And strangely enough, the cruise control is now working? So we agree on the new price, do the paperwork and head off with the car. :thumbup:

We return the rental car in Augusta, and together Sarah and I ride home in the Beetle. We did stop at a gas station to make sure the spare tire had air (where I was shocked to discover it actually has a full size spare), and I pumped up the rear tires to like 50+ psi so we’d be off the worn edges. The ride was obviously harsh and sucked due to that, but it would at least get us home. Oh yeah and I figured out the cruise control. It only works when the brights are on. I guess during the test drive, where it worked, the lever was pushed out and didn't realize that. The next day the car got some new tires and the ride quality was 100% better. It really did have some crappy worn tires on it. I'll be keeping an eye on wear issues.

The next day when getting tires, the CEL did come on and when I had the code pulled it came back with "glow plug circuit" which is actually kind of common on these cars. (usually the harness that connects to the glow plugs). As I'm doing the research on the net about this, I realize that when I had the plastic cover off the day before, I had noticed the glow plugs didn't have anything connected to them. I pull the cover back off and sure enough, the harness is just laying there, not connected? Strange, but that means the CEL light most definitely would have been on and the seller must have either cleared the code or unhooked the battery so that I wouldn't see the CEL till I was long down the road. I've re-hooked the harness back up, but still have the CEL, so I'll have to see if there really is an issue or it needs to be reset and needs time to re-calibrate. Shouldn't be too bad, but obviously this seller was less then truthful about many things.

So overall, we have a few minor things to work through, but I think for the price we were able to grab it for, it will be worth it. A bit more of a headache then I was after, but its all doable stuff. I have the name of the previous owner and was hoping to track them down for some service history, but not having much luck with that. So one of the more pressing issues we’ll be doing soon is having the timing belt & water pump replaced so we don’t have to worry about that. Once that is done, things should be smooth sailing!

I’m definitely enjoying driving it and I absolutely love the TDI diesel motor. I don’t know why I waited so long to get one. I could definitely see another TDI in our family soon!







Sporting new tires


Hmm, does that tag mean we can just drive forever on it, since we'll never hit that date?


The top of this door panel is pitting/bubbling


Broken mirror control


Broken passenger side windown switch


Torn drivers seat. This I was told about and actually saw a picture of it. No biggie


Worn shifter boot. Didn't tell me about this although its a cheap fix.


Overall, decent condition


Love that TDI!




In the garage with all the bikes

[dnyed]

Awesome story! Congrats!!!

Welcome to the Org, and Welcome to the New Beetle TDI!!!