Do you leave your bug unattended?

[pyrOman]

Right off the paint shop, I dinged my own door with the floor jack even BEFORE it was road ready!
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Some people are so busy being clever they don't have time enough to be wise.

[Cusser]

I also use "The Club", don't want someone slicing through the convertible top, so any deterrent helps in my opinion. I've also been know to disable the engine if leaving it more than a few hours.

[EverettB]

[scottyrocks]

[EverettB]

[mark tucker]

I tend to sleep in my bed with my wife.so....my bug is un a tended quite often....do I need to get it a stuffed animal or something?it hasent complained about it or put up a fuss.

[ach60]

I had driven my GF to the Hospital Emergency Room.
One I got here settled, I knew I needed more than the 2 hours of sleep that I had.
So I went back out to the car, and I was laying in the driver's seat fully reclined, sleeping under a blanket.
When a Little Old Lady got out of her Chevy Tahoe smacking my door in the process.
I woke up/jumped up with quite a startled expression of WTF!
This scared the crap out of the little old lady when I jumped up saying WTF!
I waved her off, and checked for a dent later. For such a loud thunk there was no dent that I could see.
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Good Luck
Al

[gt1953]

Sure am so glad that we do not live in a metro large city with all of the people whom just do not give a crap, theifs, shooting, you all know all of the stuff that the large city metro areas have on the news daily. Like yesterday went into a store parked the VW out in front unlocked keys in the ignition no fear of robbery. It sure is nice having clean air and clean water.
Yes I do leave it unattended. Once and a while in the driveway over night!
Besides we all know that if someone wants something locks are not gonna stop them.
_________________
Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[Clara]

I rarely lock my bug, but it looks like a POS. It has a steering lock, FWIW.
I drove it to the airport a few months ago and left it at the parknjet for the weekend.
Oddly enough, the parking guy there *could not open the drivers door. * You just press the button and pull the handle. (generally they bring the cars up front when you fly back in) Seriously, I left them the key and they could not open the unlocked drivers door.


But a nice shiny car... ya I worry. And anyway I do tend to park farther away in parking lots, at a protected on two sides end spot.

Last year my Dad came out from a store to find that someone had put a big dent in the nose of his 63 SC and drove off.
_________________
The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/

[Cusser]

[marklaken]

I don't worry too much about professional thieves because there are plenty of other cars that are easier/safer for them to flip/strip. For joyride thieves, a classic vw is a ballsy choice - they are slow, dangerous, hard to drive, unreliable, and highly noticeable. So that just leaves professional car thieves that are into classic cars. That is a pretty small niche of thieves to worry about.

I know thefts happen and I always try and secure my vehicles, but it's really a joke - any seventh grader could easily figure out how to get into an old VW, watch a quick youtube video on how to hotwire and your vw is gone.
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Wish List:
1967 Wesfalia SO-42 Parts Needed: Kitchenette, Cot Poles

'65 rear left beetle fender

15" Bus Wheels in fair condition

Mark Laken
Fort Collins, CO

[iowegian]

[Patty B.]

It may be irrational but I worry more about souvenir hunters taking stuff off the car then stealing the whole thing outright.
Something new happened this past summer where I left my driver side window open when I ran into the drug store and came back out to find my interior light clicked on--grrrrrrr!

[gt1953]

Patty B you are correct, like the center caps on Marathon wheels. Have you priced them lately.
_________________
Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[Cusser]

I just watched on Investigative Discovery channel the case of Jamie Bowie, who was driving her 1978 VW Convertible home to Los Angeles from Phoenix in 1990. She had some kind of trouble near Indio (suspect broken fan belt), a couple in a red VW sedan stopped to help, got her going. She bought them dinner at Sizzler in Banning to thank them, then they killed her with a shotgun, sold her VW in Fresno the next day for $1100, had her keys and address and started burglarizing her apartment as well.

http://articles.latimes.com/1992-01-23/local/me-854_1_van-nuys

So her car and her possessions were why she was murdered, by couple posing as "good samaritans". What a tragedy.

It was the "novelty" of the VW convertible (and the gal was very attractive) that got so many observers and responses to police inqueries on billboards.
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1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[e&m_ghia]

[Bobnotch]

[BeetleBrain]

I only leave it unattended when I'm sleeping, but then it's in the garage with motion sensor lights outside

[cyclehobby]

This is an interesting thread. I like the fact that many people do actually drive their VWs. Most of the enthusiasts I know drive theirs as much as they can, but here in northern NJ, the number of ACVWs driven year round now is very low.

That said, in all but the worst winter weather, I have no problem driving my Bug to run errands, visit friends and family or go to the store or a restaurant. I'll admit that I try to be able to see the car or get sight of it every now and the, but I don't go nuts. If the location is questionable at all, I simply won't leave the car. No sense losing the car to a jerk.

I do have a battery disconnect switch that I use and that I don't leave my Bug in a mall parking lot or anyplace where it will be unattended for hours.

Additionally, I do try to park in a safe area where potential damage from uncaring drivers is minimized. I don't do that with only my 67 Bug, but with every car I've ever owned including my current 2011 GTI or any POS I've had. My attitude is even if my car is a giant POS, it's still mine and I don't want others to damage it. Simple.
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1967 Beetle
Northern NJ

[scottyrocks]