Question for VW Beetle owners

[Crankyshank]

DH and I are thinking of buying one within the next 6mos when we trade in my car.

I've wanted one since I was 7, so it would be a childhood dream fulfilled.
My question for current owners, how does it handle? Particularly in icy conditions

I live in New England and have a 35min commute to work. The highway I travel isn't the safest in rain or snow, and I want something that I'm not going to be white knuckled driving in bad weather.

 

[CBRorBust]

I bet if you sent a PM to slimpaw she could tell you a LOT about beetles. Her husband and son are beetle Lovers!

I have one, but I have never had to drive it in those kinds of conditions! I love my car, but I will tell you that it will cost you a pretty penny to get it worked on if it needs repairs.

I have diesel, so my oil changes cost me $75! So just be warned if you go the TDI route!

 

[cats mom]

Wow - I thought I'd found a post where I could help someone.

We have a beetle - also a TDI

It's mainly for our 16 year old to use to get to work. But even my DH, who did not want to get a bug - but was overruled, admits now that it's a lot of fun to drive. (he DOES take the flowers out of the vase when he has it)

I can't help at all with the snow and ice though since we are in hot, sunny Arizona

 

[Crankyshank]

Thanks for the info

Is it comparable with other VW's as far as gas mileage?

 

[cats mom]

Well, ours is a TDI and runs on diesel fuel so the gas mileage is great.

We get about 48 mpg highway driving - less for around town, which is what we mostly use it for - I think DH said it was about 44 or 45 mpg last time.

 

[JohnTBap]

:9

 

[Laura]

I feel quite safe driving in snowy/icy conditions with my Beetle, and we've had some snowstorms dumped on us in past years. I've had my car since 1999. The one thing is that if I try to go over the ruts in the road from the snow, it doesn't seem to plow through the snow very well because the tires are kinda wide. But it is very stable in turns, being so squat and everything--the wheels are practically at the corners of the car. It's really very safe. I have had only one accident with my Beetle, and that was in August and it wasn't my fault! I worry more about the other drivers in bad weather running into me, not me into them!

Go take one for a test drive. It's a great car.

 

[slimplaw]

We have 2 Beetles in our family. DS's is Turbo gas, mine is diesel. I get anywhere from 40-48 miles per gallon with an automatic. I did have to drive during our ice storm one year ago and had no trouble. Check newbeetle.org or dfwnbclub.org for a lot of info.

 

[GeorgeG]

My wife is on her second Beetle and she loves it. She claims it's like a tank in the snow and the handling is great. Gas mileage is good, too.

 

[DawnCt]

My Dad had one of the first beetles in the country. They only came in a couple of colors. We had a gray one. The price brand new? $1250. Remember the old beetle ad in National Lapoon?
Beetles were considered so air and water tight that they floated. They had a picture of a beetle floating that said, "If Ted Kennedy drove a beetle, he'd be president now".

 

[Crankyshank]

Thanks so much for the info I feel much better about my decision. Now I just have to hurry up and pay off my current car

 

[SueM in MN]

We have 2 of them.
My oldest DD has a light green one and DD has a bright blue one.
We have lots of snow here and neither of them have had any trouble driving in it. When DD got hers, she was a new driver and really felt safe and in control in it. I don't know if they still have a 5 star rating for safety, but they did when we bought the first one.
I don't know what mileage is, but I know it's pretty good (regular engines, not diesel).
I'd have one too, but someone has to have the wheelchair van. Nice as Beetles are, wheelchairs just do not fit in them very well

 

[msdznyduck]

Don't have one now, but I had one in the early 70's.....a 1972 yellow one to be exact......and have never had better control over a car since. I loved that car, and am thinking of getting one again. I'm sure they are more than the $1,900 they cost new then!! (complete with 8 track player)

 

[nativetxn]

I had a 1971 VW beetle, moved it to MI from Texas in 1975. I had no trouble with the ice/snow and driving here.

 

[browneyes]

Originally posted by JohnTBap

Nice ride, JTB.

 

[tc]

I have a 2000 Beetle and love it. Here in Colorado we get a ton of snow and ice, and I've never had a problem. Stephen fits very comfortably in it, driving or as a passenger. Of course, he really doesn't like to drive it because it's such a "girl" car. Could be the baby blue color, mickey antennae topper and flowers in my vase, but who knows. Mine is a turbo gas. The only problem I've had with it is airbag related. The airbag light has come on four different times, and they've had to replace the whole bag. However, they've paid for it every time, even once it was no longer under warranty.

Great car, fun to drive!

 

[nhrenee]

We recently bought a used vw, 1998. My dh loves driving the car but said he probably wouldn't buy another one because of the poor customer service from VW (the company itself, not the local dealer).

 

[lucky_bunni]

I have a 1999 Beetle GLS with the 2.0 liter gas engine. I now have about 83,000 miles on it, and it gets around 18 City/28 Highway milage. I haven't been completely happy with the Beetle. I have experiences numerous problems including: airbag system failure, catalytic converter failure, 2 engine sensors have gone bad, the driver's side window won't go up w/o pushing on it, and I constantly have to change various exterior light bulbs. Engine wise - it's a great car. I've ran Mobile 1 in it ever sense owning it, and the engine runs like new. Electronics wise - it's a POS. Please keep in mind also that my car has never been in any accident and I've taken excellent care of it.

As for your handling question. It does handle pretty well in snowy/icy weather. We get enough here in Ohio to be able to test it in those conditions. As long as you keep a decent set of tires on it, it's fine with the front wheel drive. Back to my critique however, I would agree that VW Service has sucked big time both on the corporate level and the dealer level. The dealers are too busy to deal with your problems, don't listen, and I've found them all generally rude for the price you pay for these cars and what they are. I think you should research a little more before buying the Beetle; You could find better alternatives.

 

[Laura]

Wow, lucky_bunni, I've only had the heated oxygen sensor on my Beetle go kaput; I think I remember they had a recall for it some time after that.

Everything else has been just fine, and I have the exact same car--even the same model year! Maybe we even got them from the same dealership?

 

[lucky_bunni]

Oh, I almost forgot... another problem. I had the shift lock sensor go bad. It's this little sensor under the brake pedal that allows you to take the car out of park. Well, it failed and I couldn't get my car out of park. Opps. I got it fixed for about $80, and it was later recalled. I contacted both the dealership and corporate to try to get a refund. They just gave me the run around and said I would get a letter in the mail about it shortly. That was about 9 months ago and I haven't heard a thing.

I wanted to provide you with a link to a really great New Beetle website:

http://www.newbeetle.org/

It's a very nice site with lots of info on the NB, and there's a MESSAGE BOARD. WOW! There are a lot of examples of people with NB problems like me, so you can get a good feel of what you'll be getting yourself into.