I want your opinion...

[kpf]

Good luck with the test!
_________________
1971 Super Beetle

[iowegian]

In regard to my "befuddled" comment, it was meant in good fun. And, by the way, I have held a driver's license for nearly 62 years.
Google gave me some friendly reminders that are all to often forgotten such as turning your head while backing (not relying on mirrors alone) and how to park on a hill---with and without a curb.

What Will Be Tested on the Illinois Road Test?
The driving exam tests multiple aspects of a driver’s capability to perform standard maneuvers, such as checking all the instruments and making any necessary adjustments before driving.

You will also be expected to complete the following maneuvers:

Back the vehicle straight and slow for at least 50 feet. Turn your head to look behind you. Don’t use the mirrors alone!
Perform a turnabout. Make sure you signal and stay on your side of the road.
Merge with traffic
Park uphill and downhill on the side of the road.
Start uphill and downhill from a parked position.
Control the vehicle and obey all signals, signs, and markings.

[Joe 20]

I don't really see a problem Goober...
_________________
"Someday the world is gonna be populated by nothing but Volkswagens'" Corporal Klairvoy

[goober]

[oprn]

It totally depends on the examiner's comfort zone. My son took his driving test in a right hand drive with a stick and passed no problem. The examiner said after that he had never driven with either but he had an open mind. If it's legal to drive it should not be a problem. If it is a problem then the problem is with the examiner not the car.
_________________
We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[67rustavenger]

[TDCTDI]

Take your car & know that it might receive extra scrutiny & ultimately may be rejected.


Or, rent a car for the day.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[Ceckert64]

TAKE IT! Just make sure all lights and safety system are properly working, make sure the engine is in good tune so it doesn’t die. Maybe go to Lowe’s and buy some indoor/outdoor carpet that’s cheap. Go to the Secretary of State or where ever you register vehicles ect and ask for a drivers test booklet, it tells you what examiners are looking for and look through the book.

Here’s my story:
Last year when I turned 16 I took my drivers test in my Squareback. Everyone thought I was crazy to take my manual, 50 year old VW for my drivers test. The guy running the test was just blown away and amazed that I fixed it up myself. He just thought it was so awesome and he said he’s done 5,000 driving test and I was the third person with a manual transmission taking the test. He didn’t even do half the safety checks and he said he was impressed all the lights worked on it He was excited to ride in it and really enjoyed it. I hit a cone parallel parking but it was fine and he said I was okay (you can lose 6 points in parallel parking and that was only one) it went fine other than that and he was in awe most of the time and just asking about me and the car. I think it just depends on the instructor too though; but the one I had was just thinking it was awesome to see a kid that fixed up his own car and had the guts to drive a manual on his drivers test.

I also did not feel comfortable driving one of my parents’ cars either as the controls on a VW are so basic and I have mainly only driven ACVWs I figured I would do just as good in that. I would definitely take the beetle. Just make sure it’s clean and all systems work. Just having all the lights working my also be enough to impress the instructor
_________________
1964 sunroof Beetle Restoration "Herbie"
“Joann” 1970 Elm Green Squareback
1972 Sierra Yellow Tin Top Westfalia Camper
“Fitz” 1971 Westfalia Poptop

[goober]

Thanks everyone for the opinions. I'm still investigating.

There's two main issues. I'll have to pass a written test to show I know the Rules of the Road. I'll have to pass a road test to demonstrate I can safely drive a car. Pretty clear.

The question is, do I want my vehicle to become another issue? I have no way of knowing the reaction of the tester to my Bug. When I try to get down to particulars, things seem to get fuzzy and vague.

If it's a guy tester and he didn't get laid and comes in with a hard-on, I may be in for some trouble. I don't want to fail the test simply because of my vehicle.

Other the hand, it's what I'm comfortable in, it's what I drive and it's legal. I've been trying to figure out how much discretion the tester has in Illinois regarding the testing vehicle.

I'll keep you posted.

[Zundfolge1432]

[wheel607]

[ach60]

You can't handle the Truth? The truth is very few people hate Bugs.
It doesn't matter what car you take, if the DMV guy is in a snit, then you lose.
Don't let appearances or smells put the DMV Guy into a snit.
Clean the trash out of the Bug, if it smell, than deal with it with frabreeze or some BS.
Read the DMV Manual.
Take a shower, brush your teeth, put on clean cloths, easy does it on the aftershave.
Warm up the Bug, so It runs good during the test.
A young DMV person has likely never been in a Air Cooled Beetle, it will be a nice experience he will tell people about.
A Old DMV Person will bring up whatever food memories from the 80's when these cars were still daily drivers.
Relax, pay attention to what you're doing while driving, and you'll pass the test just fine.
_________________
Good Luck
Al

[ach60]

[goober]

Well, I've renewed my driver's license. I'm good for 4 more years until 79. I took my granddaughter's Toyota. No one around me can drive stick and I like her car and I figured my Bug would become an issue.

If they knocked me out of a driver's license I wasn't going to touch, work on or fix anything on my Bug's. They could just rot there until I died. The family would probably dump them quickly or just have them crushed. There are no Bug-lovers in the crowd. They see dangerous 50 year old out of date junk not unlike old things made with lead and asbestos. Pitty.

The last year I've been dreading the renewal process. The last 2 months I've been following the Rules of the Road to a tee. I won't tell you what happened at the SOS office. Unbelievable. But I will say one thing I've discovered, if you really want to piss people off just follow the Rules of the Road.

I'm now making a gas powered bicycle that requires no title, plates, insurance, driver's license and has right of way on the roads and trails just like any bicycle. I'm 13 years old again. Old age is getting tricky. I'm going out the way I came in, dancing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb_f9DHbgG8

[oprn]

Congratulations on passing the test! Keep the Bugs and get a different family that appreciates the better things in life! I taught my wife and all our kids to drive a stick. Our youngest taught his wife to drive a stick too. She didn’t like it but she did it because that is what he drives. Our oldest girl is now teaching her boys to drive a stick.

Getting harder to find a real car with a stick in North America. People here have totally lost the joy of driving.
_________________
We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[calvinater]

please post pics of the bicycle.
_________________
"Albatross"!

[scottyrocks]

[goober]

[mark tucker]

[Joe 20]

Goober, there was a reason we rode those when we were 13...you could take the spill much easier.
_________________
"Someday the world is gonna be populated by nothing but Volkswagens'" Corporal Klairvoy