*New* 2000 1.8T GLX For The Girlfriend

[Zodiac]

Hi everyone! I'd like to introduce myself, and the girlfriend to the forums. We have been dating for 3 years, and we just got her first car! The 2000 New Beetle 1.8T GLX. It's red with tan leather interior and all the works! Mechanically it is perfectly sound, we got it from the VW Dealership in town. And from the Carfax report there was 1 owner for all 9 years. They got the car serviced nearly every 4200 miles which is amazing!

The downside, is it was an elderly couple. Though the mechanics of the car are in perfect working order, tight steering, responsive breaks, and buttery smooth clutch it seems that it was an outside car. The paint has faded differently from the metal / plastic pieces. Also since it was never tinted, it appears the interior pieces all had some type of rubberized coating that *melted* and you can pretty much scrape it off the panels with your nails.

I actually drive a 2006 Mazda 3 Sedan, and most of the guys locally here own a Mazda, and our partners in crime own the VW. But I am very pleased with how these VW hold up. My car is paid off in March of '10 and Im looking at a VW already! So hopefully I'll be joining the VW family soon with something

If anyone has any recommendations on where to start I definitely don't mind ideas!

I'll also try and getting some more pictures up of the car tomorrow. We we're just so excited to start posting!

Zodiac/Acesofie

[Evanrude]

Howdy!

Congrats on the 1.8 man! (or Congrats to the missus anyway!)

The turbo's are the WAY to go if you get a Beetle, I say. You might consider one of the various limited editions that VW created, such as the color concept line, or the 180HP Turbo S, with the 6 speed.

You can see some of the limited editions here, Index of /bug/CC

Check it out! Got questions? Let us know!

[scarabY2k]

Welcome to the org. Like the avatar pic of you two- you all are a good looking couple

Cool for you that you all got a good deal on the new addition. One woe that you all are facing, the rubbery stuff, is the cross we all bear. Sounds like most of the mods are cosemetic. There's a crapton of threads around here on how to remove the rubbery stuff- that's what I would start off with. Here's one of the most prominent thread concerning the process, with many schools of thought on how it was done. CLICK HERE

Keep us posted on your progress, with plenty of pics of course

And don't be a stranger.

Oh, one more thing. You and your little lady ought to meet up with us in May of '09 for the Tail of the Dragon Cruise and give that beetle a workout. See my signature at the bottom of my post and give it a click.

[Zodiac]

Thanks for the welcome!

Well looks like tomorrow I'll begin stripping her interior down of the rubber crap. She really wants to do her headliner in "burberry" material. So I have sourced some "burberry" material to redo her headliner, and the vinyl from the door cards. I even shot the idea of making a shift boot out of it.

I'd like to find some MKIV seats to place in her beetle, but reupholster in tan w/ "burberry" material. She is pretty stoked to start messing with her car. I'll be sure to start posting pictures of everything we do in a separate Gallery Thread. I'll link into this when I hopefully start it up tomorrow night.

[scarabY2k]

Sounds like you've got some skills my man. I did Cup's headliner a while back and had a blast doing it. That burberry should look pretty sick man. Can't wait to see the pics. And yes, please, post plenty of pics. You'll find that others will be inspired as well as informed to do the work you're doing. You two have fun as will we watching your progress.

[dnyed]

Yay! Red New Beetle! Congratulations and Welcome to the New Beetle!

[raff]

Welcome to both you and the girlfriend. Any questions you have, just ask or do a "search". There's a ton of info on this site.
You didn't mention the mileage - but timing belt/water pump replacement should occur at approx. 60,000 miles.

For your sticky plastic interior pieces - see the link for some tips:

NewBeetle.org Forums - Search Results

[Zodiac]

It's at 129,900 atm. It's had every recommended service / maintenance described in the manual, and also stamped by the VW dealership. So I am pretty sure it had the timing belt / water pump already replaced. I'm going to double check it all tomorrow.

The biggest thing today was that we took the bra off the car. I figure it has probably been on there and never removed since 2000. But since it has been warm out, and the engine bay keeping a lot of heat also helped in the removal of the velcro tape that held up the lower bra. Goo Gone then a nice cleaning of Ice Detailer, and a wax and it was looking brand new again.

I think this week I'm going to work on freshening up the interior a bit.

Keep you all updated!

[scarabY2k]

Originally Posted by Zodiac

It's at 129,900 atm. It's had every recommended service / maintenance described in the manual, and also stamped by the VW dealership. So I am pretty sure it had the timing belt / water pump already replaced. I'm going to double check it all tomorrow.

The biggest thing today was that we took the bra off the car. I figure it has probably been on there and never removed since 2000. But since it has been warm out, and the engine bay keeping a lot of heat also helped in the removal of the velcro tape that held up the lower bra. Goo Gone then a nice cleaning of Ice Detailer, and a wax and it was looking brand new again.

I think this week I'm going to work on freshening up the interior a bit.

Keep you all updated!

Don't forget the pics

[dnyed]

Pics X2!!