I would love to have 2 Beetles , BUT.......

[Pushing Fifty]

Ever since some of us went to Roswell last June, I have realized just how unique the New Beetle community is. Oddly enough, I didn't switch from air-cooled Beetles to water-cooled Beetles until 2009, but I look at the NB's of 98-10 and the 12+ Beetles as the perfect alternative for middle-aged mechanically-challenged people that love the Bug's iconic history.

First, you have a legendary car with modern conveniences all rolled into one. Moreover, those who are like-minded are a family of sorts, because they don't fall into either of the two typical groups you see at VW shows; the "air-heads" stuck in 1967 or the twentysomethings with Jettas, GTIs, Golfs, etc. loaded with $10,000 (or more) of modifications.

While some in the water-cooled Beetle crowd have some very niced tricked-out NBs and others prefer to keep them stock, we are clearly a separate entity in the VW realm, and this is why I'd love to have 2 Beetles so I can alternate them between shows and daily driving. However, there are two obstacles:

I'd have to trade my 2007 Passat, (a perfectly good car) to pull this off, and many family members think I'm nuts to even consider this.

Also, I don't know about the rest of you, but when looking at used NB's, I'm having a hell of a time trying to find one that isn't adorned with scratches and scuffs! I don't know how many times I've seen what appears to be the perfect Beetle on the Internet (Autotrader) only to be disappointed when I see it in person. Obviously, people like us would address these issues as soon as they occured, but it seems that the "average" Joes and Josephines let their cosmetics go down the toilet. Has anyone else seeking a used NB run into this problem? To me, a great price is pretty much negated if the car requires $3000 worth of paint to look good..........

Of course, I could buy a brand new 2012 to avoid this problem, but the late-model used NBs are thousands less and coming in for trade every day now. In October alone, 1516 all-new Beetles were sold in the US, and this is just the beginning. I wouldn't be surprised to see this number reach 10,000 by New Years.

[Smileybug]

That's part of the reason I went with my GTI when looking at a new car. NBs aren't well taken care of in the big picture. Especially the 2.0L cars. Finding one in good enough shape to compare to my NB that I lost was completely impossible, especially in my budget. My car was a '99 with less than 102k on her. I never waxed her but the paint was still in amazing shape. Little dings and such around from parking lots, but nothing large for sure. Really good shape. Very hard to find that.

My GTI is a special edition so that helps, but I was finding that a lot of the Jettas and GTIs were in much better shape than the NBs I was finding online.

[Palafox]

Originally Posted by Smileybug

My GTI is a special edition so that helps, but I was finding that a lot of the Jettas and GTIs were in much better shape than the NBs I was finding online.

Mmmky, I dont wanna open up the hornet's nest... so here I go

Used NBs are in bad shape because they are mostly own by girls and ladies, and in general they don't take care of cars. Disclaimer, this observation DOES NOT applied to NB org members because we are the exception The fact that we're here puts us in the 'car caring' community so this precludes us from the general car owning public.

When it comes to cars, generally women and especially young girls don't care. I can't tell you how many girl's cars I've been in where the interior is trashed, too many, whatever u do don't look in the back seat . Then there are the dents and dings all over the outside.

[Pushing Fifty]

There could be some truth to that, but rather that singling out females, I would guess that it's more of people in general who look at cars as basic appliances to get them from point A to point B regardless of gender.

This is just a theory, but New Beetles didn't get much love from Consumer Reports and so the secondhand ones back in the 2000s could probably be purchased for a relatively cheap price by the types of people who don't care what their cars look like. Then they just let them go to hell.

Just a couple of months ago, I myself did something really stupid with my 2000 NB. I wasn't watching where I was going and drove into a firewood pit at a campground. Needless to say, the front bumper looked awful. But....to right this error, I didn't hesitate to spend about $600 for a complete refinishing. You gotta do what you gotta do.

This also reinforces the fact that we need to recruit more Beetle-lovers into the fold who understand this concept!

I should also point out that I'm extremely picky. So far, the best NB I've seen with the least cosmetic flaws was a 2010 Candy White auto, 31K miles, $14,275. The only things wrong (appearance-wise) were a scuffed running board on the driver's side and one "curbed" hubcap. The running board could probably be shot with fresh paint for around $75-$100, and a new hubcap would probably run 50 bucks or so.

Despite my Passat being a very nice VW, I can't help myself when it comes to Beetles. The sad reality is that I'll have to bide my time until my wife stops racking up our credit card debt or at least retards her spending habits so it's manageable!

[Blugg]

Unless i win the lotto I will always buy a 98-10 New Beetle.

Driving around London yesterday i saw a similarity between all the other cars on the roads. They all look like bricks. The Beetle is so different in shape it's

Honestly you can't compare a GTi to a Bug as in terms of how they are looked after, as they are produced 100/1 to the Bug. There's so many more made. Guess i'm lucky in that every Bug i have looked at has been cared for. The only time i have seen jaw droppingly non cared for Bug's is when i have read threads on here and i've seen quite a few over here

Their not economical, built for economy or cheap, but i Love them

[SMG]

I'm living the dream I guess. 2001 TDI for a daily, 2000 1.8T for shows and fine weather.

[Blugg]

Originally Posted by SMG

I'm living the dream I guess. 2001 TDI for a daily, 2000 1.8T for shows and fine weather.

[kcfoxie]

Economical is in the eye of the beholder. My Beetle earns me $5000 a year in fuel mileage reimbursements.

[SMG]

Compared to what?

[kcfoxie]

Anything else you drive 10,000 miles per year with a 55-cent mileage reimbursement.

And I mean anything.

[TechnoTrix'd]

Originally Posted by SMG

Compared to what?

A Hummer?


Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app

[SMG]

Originally Posted by kcfoxie

Anything else you drive 10,000 miles per year with a 55-cent mileage reimbursement.

And I mean anything.

You might want to re-check your math. I drive 25,000kms a year and when I crunched some numbers the other day I found my TDI barely saved me enough money to pay its own insurance bill ($737). It almost makes sense to sell it and drive my 4-cyl Nissan truck daily.

[kcfoxie]

Actually it all depends. If you don't drive you car (I have 30,000 miles on my 5 year old car) then it's not.

If you actually clock 20k+ a year, it's cheaper than a Hybrid (because Hybrids, ie Prius, consume their tiny tires faster than our normal tires) in operational costs (wear items, brakes, tires) and the return to fuel investment is really low. really, really low.

So, again, if you're clocking 5-10k miles/year as reimbursable by company or taxes, the TDI (of any VW model really, except the passat I suppose) is going to be the most economical and cheapest thing to own and operate.

My 06 Jetta is the case example: 10,000 work miles, 33,000 total miles put on car in first year of use. B100 was 3.50 pump avg was 2.86; 23% premium paid for fuel. Assume 650 avg miles/tank (thats mid-40s), 51 tanks of fuel for the year. 1 tnk = 15 gallon, at 3.50 that's $52.50 a tank (vs 42.90 on pump) so $2677.50 spend in fuel.

Federal reimbursement rate is 55 cents per mile. .55 times 10,000 = $5,500 reimbursed.

Do I need to subtract the two and point out the cost savings? I also got to take 3.3% of my interest and service costs on the vehicle off as well (that was another few grand).

For cost of purchase, versus a hyrbid, and fuel economy, not to mention the cheap cost of fluids that engine can use... it's the cheapest car you can run in a business.

Numbers don't lie. There's a reason Palin drove a Jetta TDI...in Alaska.

If you just drive a lot, period, it's really stupid cheap to operate too. I was getting low 50s in my 98 Beetle. With the 2003, now that the manual is swapped over and my clean intake manifold and EGR delete kit goes on this weekend, I should see high-50s fuel economy. Last price paid for fuel was 3.77; if I get 710 miles out of 15.4 gallons that's 46mpg; or 0.08 cents a mile fuel cost. Oil change is about $50 and lasts 10,000 miles. It doesn't even add a half-cent into the op cost.

The average gas car is about 22-cents a mile to operate. AVERAGE. Think about it.

[Blugg]

Originally Posted by kcfoxie

AVERAGE. Think about it.

Type 3 Squareback - YouTube

[SMG]

Putting in a mileage claim for work has nothing to do with the amount of money your TDI saves you.

[beetlebuglove]

Check out a dealership, you might get lucky. I bought my 2010 NB last week. It was used, but in great condition. A couple of minor scratches, but you can barely see them. I think it's perfect, it's in much better condition than the 2001 I had before. So check out a dealership

[Pushing Fifty]

Believe me, I have, and most all were VW dealerships to boot. The first Beetle was a Gray 2002 with 60,000 miles for $7975. It looked like it was driven through a field of barbed wire.

The second was a Blue 2006 with 30,000 miles for $11,995. Somebody painted the driver's running board with a spray bomb and it was peeling away (and mismatched). The passenger door looked like somebody slid a dinner fork across the bottom.

The third was a 2008 Harvest Moon, also with 30,000 miles for $11995. An entire corner of the rear bumper had black scuff marks and deep scratches.

I did see one that was in perfect cosmetic shape, a 2010 Yellow with 11,000 miles, but it was priced about $4000 too high for my budget.

I will keep looking.

I seek one at $13,000 or less. Transmission type doesn't matter. Gas engine. Used turbos are usually abused, and diesel fuel is too expensive here and not worth the 10 mpg differential. Hardtop, not a convertible. I don't want Red or Silver (too common) or Black (too hard to keep looking good), or Green (I already have that color). It must be a dealership that will take my Passat on trade for at least $10,000, too.

[bug_dude]

We spent about 2 months looking for a second Beetle, but finally gave up and bought a Ranger because the Beetles that we looked at were in such terrible shape. Our budget was only about $4k, so some cosmetic flaws were to be expected, but they were all in very poor shape. Most of them would have needed about $1000 worth of mechanical repairs right away just so that they would be safe to drive. Also most of the cars that we looked at had body rust, dented up rocker panels, scratches from being "keyed", numerous paint chips, ratty interiors, etc.

[Pushing Fifty]

One thing I haven't seen on a New Beetle is body rust. I'm sure they're out there, especially since 1998 was 14 years ago, but amazingly, I have yet to see one like that. And I live in the road salt belt (Wisconsin).

[kcfoxie]

Originally Posted by SMG

Putting in a mileage claim for work has nothing to do with the amount of money your TDI saves you.

It has everything to do with the amount of money it saves me, did you not look at ANY of the math? I was paid to drive my 2006 Jetta every year that I owned it by doing 3 contract jobs per year and deducting the mileage.

Originally Posted by Pushing Fifty

One thing I haven't seen on a New Beetle is body rust. I'm sure they're out there, especially since 1998 was 14 years ago, but amazingly, I have yet to see one like that. And I live in the road salt belt (Wisconsin).

I have -- along the metal strips between the roof and the curve structure, it's rare but it happens. Also other likely sports for northern/salted road driven cars would be the rocker panels -- the stuff builds up behind the fender liner and mud flaps and has time to eat at the paint. Once cancer starts... that's it.