TheSamba.com :: View topic - Thinking about buying used BUG 1999 to 2001

Tue Jul 10, 2007 4:11 pm

Well I have a 1969 bug. My kid is 16 and my wife don't want her to drive it ! ...... SO are the new VW bugs good cars, do they last, safe, good powertrain ?
BAD THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN A USED BUG !
Any thoughts for a teen driver and a newer bug are most welcome !

Thanks

Tue Jul 10, 2007 4:15 pm

Try the link below. This is an aircooled forum. I remember reading in Consumer Reports any of the newer (late 90's to present) VW's don't have the best electrical systems. I know my brother's 2001 Jetta fell into that category when the alternator, seat heaters, and sunroof all quit working within 2 months of eachother.

It's also been reported that between new Japanese, American, and European cars, the European cars spend the most time in the shop per capita.

http://www.volkswagenforum.com/

The ACVW's are great for the fact that they're easy to maintain and simple to fix.

Tue Jul 10, 2007 4:15 pm

bugbee69 wrote: Well I have a 1969 bug. My kid is 16 and my wife don't want her to drive it ! ...... SO are the new VW bugs good cars, do they last, safe, good powertrain ?
Any thoughts for a teen driver and a newer bug are most welcome !

Thanks

Not to be a jerk, but I don't think this question belongs on this forum - a 1999 watercooled bug is not what we would consider a "late model".

Tue Jul 10, 2007 4:26 pm

They made air cooled bugs in 99-01, in Mexico.

If you're talking about that other VW, labeled the "New Beetle", don't get me started. Its no more a Beetle than one of those VW based MG TD kit cars is an MG. I think it looks rediculous, has a mini van dash, and should have bubbles emitting from the tailpipe as it goes down the road. The original Beetle was known for reliablitly and durability, the New Beetle is known for being neither. Road and Track's long term test car left them stranded on two occasions. Any man that drives one should not. I may be offending some of you on here, but you look silly going down the road.

On a positive side, I guess its not a bad car for a 16 year old girl. I believe that VW has been working on getting the problem areas ironed out. I think they extended the warranties on the two most common items-the coil packs and the window regulators. It was a very safe car when it came out, at the top of its class, but has been surpassed as that's been nearly ten years. They drive pretty well, have a fair amount of room in them (more than it looks like), and even I'll admit that the current convertible seems to be a very well finished product. I still wouldn't drive one, but, for a girl, maybe.

Tue Jul 10, 2007 4:33 pm

Out of curiosity, I looked up the 2001 New Beetle on JD Powers and Associates website. To my surprise, it did very well. The mechanical, body and interior quality ratings are about average, but it was ranked above average in all other catagories. Still won't drive one.

Tue Jul 10, 2007 6:32 pm

chicagovw wrote: They made air cooled bugs in 99-01, in Mexico.
.

I assumed he was talking about the new watercooled beetle because he was concerned about safety issues. Are the newer aircooled significantly safer than the older ones?

Tue Jul 10, 2007 8:36 pm

New Beetle excellent air bags, Automatic trans NO NEVER, Power windows NO, $29.95 oil change DON'T even think of it. You will change head light bulbs faster than T-1 valve cover gaskets. DO NOT use coolant other than genuine VW. example: Had a customer put Mazda coolant for thier Miata in a New Beetle within a week every plastic rubber part in the cooling system failed. Yes radiator, heater core, coolant pump, hoses, plastic flanges. Do not buy one that does not have impeccable records from a VW shop, even at 20 cents on the dollar it still WILL be a bad deal, a new one could/would be cheaper. Even with proper service all the emission control parts and others seem to fail every 18 months. Correct later model VW service makes correct air cooled service seem mundane. VW has engineered extreme financial punishment for improper service into all their late model cars. 90% of the used New Beetle owners chewed their arms off almost as fast as the first Tourag owners did to get away from them. The new owners who knew that the one free oil change during the warranty period was not enough, had previous experience or knowledge of correct coolant, and realized it is a Volkswagon and there are a lot of repetitive service repairs, were happy with them.

Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:00 pm

WOW ! i'm shocked

I shure beat the crap out of my 69 bug but it keeps going fixing it cheep and fast ( most of the time), but it sounds like a new ones are wimps ! IS it the same case for the Jetta ? Or maybe i'll look for a Acura Interga :)

thanks

Wed Jul 11, 2007 8:23 am

Jetta, same incorrect maintainece issues, only power items should be steering and air. Acura/Honda have much less initial issues but they go down hill fast after 130k. One of my friends had a VW shop and a Honda/Acura shop. He closed the VW shop he said the Honda shop made 4 times the amount of money per car fixing Hondas compared to VWs. Acuras are much more expensive to fix than Hondas. I would only buy a one or two year old used car. I wwould by a warranty that states we will pay to fix anything that goes wrong with your car EXCEPT:. This way you know what is covered up front. All rental car insurance is mostly usless because It ony gives you x amount of money per day per so many labor hours. Ask what they pay for diagnostics, some will only pay one hour many pay nothing. A standard old school Beetle with ac and a full roll cage is sounding better by the minute.

Thu Jul 12, 2007 10:53 am

Unless of coarse you are a masochist then enjoy. I was actually a VW tech in VA and I have seen every ridiculous problem with the New Beetles and changing the headlight bulb pay over a half hour as I remember. Pain in the rear. Other various problems included piston rings in wrong order from the factory. brake master cylinder bad in less then 3,000 miles. Yes that was 3,000 not 30,000.

Thu Jul 12, 2007 11:03 am

Phoenix dealers were getting al least an hour to change headlight bulbs.

Sat Jul 14, 2007 12:07 pm

no, newer Mexican bugs are not significantly safer than the older German ones. And are certainly less safe in a head on crash than the 71-up Super Beetle. From the mid 90s they do have disc brakes up front though, which the US never got from the factory. And the front seats are a safer design internally. but as I have said before, the ADAC tested an early 70s standard Beetle against a second gen Golf in a 40mph barrier crash, and the Beetle did fare slightly better. You cannot compare either car to current cars in safety though. As Top Gear mag said recently "there is no such thing as the good old days in terms of crashworthiness". Vw has long been concerned with safety, and their cars have been good for thier class in their respective time periods.

You cannot compare the durability of the Real Beetle to the new Beetle. The old one was built like a vault. It was designed in a time when roads were not nearly as good as they are today and had to withstand a lot more abuse. They are also far more simple and there is less to go wrong. The Real Bug loves to be flogged. Its mission was to be economical, inexpensive, reliable. The new one's mission was to try to get VW back on the map of car buyers. Vw of America's combined sales for all models in the USA the year before the New Beetle came onto the drawing board was less than 50,000 cars-they had to do SOMETHING and fast. And for that, the New Bug was a success.

Wed Jul 25, 2007 10:25 am

NO VW i guess....I bought a 2001 VOLVO S40 1.9 turbo for my kid !
50,000 mi.. with a 4 year warranty. I hope it takes good care of her.