And then there were two

[BlueLghtning]

So my wife (GypsyAngel) and I became a new Beetle owner at the beginning of the month with the purchase of our Silver 2000 TDI. You can see our threads in Not a New Beetle Owner.....Yet ;-) and Our new Deetle!

We both knew after only a couple days of ownership that we had really found a wonderful car and we both absolutely love the Diesel engine. I figured we'd be fine with just one Beetle and I'd just keep my '97 Grand am I've owned for 13 years going for a bit longer, but after finally getting the Grand Am to pass emissions and only to have the CEL come right back on and the stumbling return, I'm ready to just give up on that car. Diesel are exempt from any emissions or inspections here in GA, so that's a plus over a gas car.

I still had all my RSS feeds scouring CL around the country and ebay, so I had been keeping a tab on what was out there. Last Wednesday, we were actually bidding on another identical 2000 Silver TDI in NY, but thankfully we got outbid because our beetle that was meant for us was going to show up on CL the very next day in Asheville, NC which is only a couple hours away.

So I spent all day Friday e-mailing and chatting with a nice lady about her 2001 Navy Blue TDI 5spd with 149k miles on it. She loved the car, but was expecting her first child in 1 month and wanted to move over to a 4 door Subaru. This beetle had originally been a fleet vehicle (according to the carfax) with regular maintenance records all the way back to the beginning. She purchased it at 120k miles back in 07 and had kept all maintenance records since she owned it. She had only put 30k miles on it over that time period and had had the timing belt/water pump done at 130k miles back in 09 which was a huge plus since we just went through that on the silver one. Plus this one had brand new tires, another expense we had right away with the silver one. So although the initial cost of this one was going to be a bit higher initially, in the end, it actually ended up quite a bit cheaper since we had to put about $1300 into the silver one right after we bought it.

Sarah was supposed to be out of town all weekend with our silver Beetle visiting friends, so I made plans with my Dad to drive with me to Asheville. I was dreading having to pay for the gas for Dad's 15mpg Titan gas hog, but luck was on our side and my wife came home sick from her weekend get away about 10mins before we were supposed to leave. I hated to see her sick, but I was thrilled to have the beetle available to use. So, my Dad and I headed out in the Silver Beetle bound for Asheville.

We got to Asheville right on schedule and the 2001 Navy Blue Beetle actually looked better then I expected. She really did a great job of pointing out any flaws I might find so my expectations were set right and many of them ended up not being that bad. This NB has leather seats vs cloth seats (although not heated) & alloy rims, fog lamps & sunroof. Other than that, they are identical. The black plastic around the dash/radio is a bit more scratched up and scuffed, but overall not bad. In other ways, its in better condition. The painted section on the doors is very nice, all the switches are there and work and there is no CEL light on. The test drive went well and the car drove and shifted like it should. I may be weird, but I actually wish it didn't have the sun roof. It takes about 3" of head room away and I have to keep the seat all the way down. I may just end up driving the silver one because of this, but I do like the Navy Blue color. The seller had filled up the car ahead of time for me, had pre-arranged for us to meet a notary (NC title rule), and pretty much made it a very painless process. Things went much better this time compared to some of the surprises we had on the Silver one. I was much better prepared this time on what to ask and what to check out, plus lots of pictures for sure!

Dad drove the silver beetle home and I drove the blue one. I had been running a pretty solid 80mph up there with the A/C on. On the way home, we were more around 70-75mph. We filled up both beetles once we got home and had avg 45mpg on both.

So here's the 2001 Navy Blue Beetle.









So the Silver one is at about 144k and this one at 149k.


I took this with my phone, but it didn't come out very good. I'll get some good pics of both Beetle's together.

[dnyed]

Double Dubness? Awesome!

[kcfoxie]

DOUBLE DUBNESS!!! Told ya it's addicting!

Congrats on a great find! I agree about the headroom, I think in 01 they modified the headliner a little... I've sat in a 99 and 2000 and it felt as roomy as the non-sunroof but the 02 and 06 I sat in did feel smaller, and I'm no small guy @ 225 and 6'3"...

Many happy miles await you!

[BlueLghtning]

Originally Posted by kcfoxie

DOUBLE DUBNESS!!! Told ya it's addicting!

Congrats on a great find! I agree about the headroom, I think in 01 they modified the headliner a little... I've sat in a 99 and 2000 and it felt as roomy as the non-sunroof but the 02 and 06 I sat in did feel smaller, and I'm no small guy @ 225 and 6'3"...

Many happy miles await you!

Interesting about the headroom variances. I hadn't been in enough Bugs to compare, but it is very possible they changed them. The 01 roof line definitely appears to be cut lower, but I just attributed it to the sun roof.

I'm 6'4" 235lbs myself and most of my height is in my torso, so head room is very important to me. One thing I love about the bugs is that telescoping steering wheel that not only goes up and down, but goes in and out too. I can pull it all the way out and sit pretty far back from the dash and still be comfy.

[kcfoxie]

It's funny how such a "compact" car can be such a good fit for a tall guy, isn't it?

That telescoping wheel is an amazing thing, it's nice to be able to set the seat at a comfortable position, the added width on the driver door card also allows me to rest my elbow on it easily (can't do this in pretty much any other VW I've owned) with the window up and hold the single spoke of the wheel for many hundreds of miles.

I think I am a little more legs than torso, but I feel for the tall torso guys... you have to find the extra long shirts to fit you so they don't ride up when you move. My supervisor was 6'5" I think and he always complained about shirts. I'm lucky that I'm just long legs... I'm down to a medium now, and I don't have any problems with 'normal' length stuff (but finding 34 length pants is another story).

[BlueLghtning]

Originally Posted by kcfoxie

It's funny how such a "compact" car can be such a good fit for a tall guy, isn't it?

That telescoping wheel is an amazing thing, it's nice to be able to set the seat at a comfortable position, the added width on the driver door card also allows me to rest my elbow on it easily (can't do this in pretty much any other VW I've owned) with the window up and hold the single spoke of the wheel for many hundreds of miles.

I think I am a little more legs than torso, but I feel for the tall torso guys... you have to find the extra long shirts to fit you so they don't ride up when you move. My supervisor was 6'5" I think and he always complained about shirts. I'm lucky that I'm just long legs... I'm down to a medium now, and I don't have any problems with 'normal' length stuff (but finding 34 length pants is another story).

It is funny how some small cars have so much more room. Even the Mini Coopers are pretty roomy in the front seats and have ample leg room. Of course don't try to sit in the back seat when someone that tall is up front.

I do love resting my arm up on the window of the Beetle. It fits perfect for me.

I've always been XL shirts mostly for the length, but tall shirts definitely work. I've got so many shirts that shrunk and look funny on me, so I do try to stick to the extra long ones. My biggest issue on jackets and long sleeve shirts is arm length though. I do wear 34" inseam jeans, but like I said, I do have the long torso to go along with that.

[kcfoxie]

Yes, arm length is always a concern for me too.... I've just resolved to tattoo my forearms so that no one notices the difference and color coordinate the too short long sleeved shirts around them

[Gypsyangel]

What, no "pool" going on how long this would take to happen??
LOL looks like we caught the "bug" bug.

[BlueLghtning]

Originally Posted by Gypsyangel

What, no "pool" going on how long this would take to happen??
LOL looks like we caught the "bug" bug.

You got that right baby and literally too. Both of us, who usually never get sick, both got the Flu. Gypsy's been worse off than me, but thankfully it looks like we are both on the mend of feeling better too.

[katiex10204]

Awesome!! I can't wait to be an owner of 2 beetles.. but that probably won't be until around 2014ishhh!

[BlueLghtning]

Here's both Beetles sitting in the driveway today. You can just barely see my Orange Suzuki Vstrom in the garage, plus there are 4 more bike in there behind that one!

[iluvmyVersa08]

Congrats on the 2nd beetle They both look great !!!!!!!

[raymondlee]

nice!