Just bought a Beetle Convertible

[addkev]

My wife just bought a '03 VW Beetle Convertible.
This thing is pretty sharp. Dark Galactic Blue and cream interior. It comes with the Tiptronic transmission which is shared between the Porsche, Audi, and VW lines, so you have a Auto and Manual transmission. And it comes with a Electronic Locking Differential...my Ex didn't come with that! I would have preferred to wait for the 1.8 Turbo model, but VW keeps pushing it back, now they are saying August.

Just wanted to share the news.

I will post pics tomorrow.

 

[ExplorerMike]

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

 

[addkev]

Cause she could, I guess.

Something about being a dream of hers...

 

[section525]

What mods does she have planned??

 

[DonM]

My GF 99 is a piece of crap. Two trannies and more problems then my Explorer. She's lucky she extended warranty.

I want her to trade it in for a either a Mazda 6, WRX, new Lancer.

Good luck with that beetle!

 

[addkev]

We made sure and got the 10yr/100,000 warranty, and being Active Duty Military that comes with $0 deductible.

 

[DonM]

That's good

Im not sure what tranny is in my GF beetle? But I hope they fixed the problems with the newer models.

 

[addkev]

I just joined a VW forum simular to this I am trying to find out some dirt on the car.

Thanks for the insight.

 

[Stephen]

My wife has the Turbo and its also been a POS, in the shop all the time, had the whole engine replaced, VW is no help at all. I've heared the newer ones are more reliable, they also have a much better warranty. The real pain in the ass too is servicing it, VW is very particular about dealer service, you can't just have the car serviced at any VW dealership, they have to do intake etc, have records moved, its like a damned doctors office. You also can't have an outside place do the service because the VWs and Audis require a special set of diagnostic equipment, and its VERY expensive so most small time mechanics can't afford it. I'll never buy another Audi VW product just because the company is such a pain.

She loves that car though, you're right, its an "I've always wanted..." lifelone dream deal. She had to drive the family car for a long time (Minivans, the Explorers) and when my son got the Explorer for himself a few years ago and she went out to see what she wanted, thats what it was. I offered to buy her something like a Porsche Boxster (more for me lol) but thats what she wanted...

Hope she enjoys it!

 

[DonM]

Yup i hear ya Stephen.

Two weeks ago, one of the headlight bulbs blew out. So I went to change it out myself. Not gonna happen! I spent 10min just trying to figuare out how I would go about doing so. I couldnt figuare it out, so she wound up taking it to a little shop around the corner. We would have taken it to a VW dealer, but their 45min away. We just dont have time to be making a trip for a bulb.

A month before that, the batt crapped out on her. I wanted to do it myself, but inorder to do so you have to remove a bunch of things first.

Ive never seen such a hassle in my life, I was really pissed because VW makes it so tough to change bulbs and a batt.

 

[addkev]

Hmmm...
On the VW forum, everyone is talking about the batteries dying and the headlights burning out, so it must be a VW thing.
I do know that the dealer wants to do all the service, that is going to be a big change for me. But we got the 10yr 100,000 mile warranty, so other than the inconvenience of something breaking, I am confident in the car. I have also heard the '01+ models are more reliable.

Anything else to look for?

 

[Rick]

I love our Golf. We had a bit of bad luck for awhile first with a busted window regulator and then with an airbag light that kept coming on. It went back several times for the airbag light. They ended up replacing the airbag, harness and computer all while the car was more than 50,000 out of warranty. It did take a bit of pressuring of VW of America to cover the repairs for free, but they came around and did just that.

BTW, the headlights on our Golf are very easy to replace.

 

[DonM]

I all ways thought very highly of VW, that's untill I actually have gotten to know one.

Here are a few more problems we have had...power window buttons breaking(more then once), the keys suck, they fall apart and the power trunk release doesnt allways work when useing the remote key. VW told us it works fine untill I showed them.

Other then that, I the it's a pretty solid car, they are pretty safe. The tranny sucks, and we havnt had engine problems yet, but the engine seems fine after 30K.

Oh, the ride in the 99 sucks, I swear to god, I thought somthing was wrong. It doesnt ride much better then my Ex. The suspension checks out A OK though. It's very stiff, riding over bumps you get a good size jolt.

As far as handling goes, Id say it's very good. Handles the turn nicely.

Btw addkev, can you give me the name of the beetle board you just signed up for? Maybe I can learn how to change a light bulb in these cars.

 

[addkev]

Here you go, Don. I used the same name.

Beetle Buzz

 

[DonM]

Thanks

 

[Exploder99]

Dang, you guys going on about VW's is like me going on about my Explorer! Haha, it's ok, you're right. over priced but strangely a lot of car for the money, window regulators crap, trannys are weak, quirky electrical problems that somehow seem to work themselves out and maintenance is not only expensive, it's an unpleasant experience. BUT when compared to the trouble that i had with my explorer, and my experience of with Ford MoCo, and the bazillion letters I love my VW. I would love to explain what it is that attracts so many people to the VW community but i really can't. They only way to understand it is to be a part of it which is the subject of my current video project, a documentary about the unexplainable VW obsession. Would i get another? nahh, I don’t think so. I'm graduating college in a few weeks and as far as a car, I'm moving on to better. Plus for a few dollars more I could be driving something a little more *cough, cough* substantial.

J

 

[Stephen]

Just wanted to add one more thing I forgot to before. The battery on my wife's Beetle exploded.

Believe it or not, a model year 2000 Beetle has a servicable battery. I never even thought to check the electrolyte levels. When asked the VW dealership says "I dunno, VW just did that". Obviously they never thought to check the electrolyte levels either when it was in for service.

I paid for the battery, but I raised hell until the dealership paid for the tow because they had failed to service the battery.

 

[Stephen]

Exploder99! I remember you, you were the guy who had the bright orange Explorer that you had so many problems with right? Long time no see, glad you finally got it taken care of.

 

[JDraper]

Originally posted by Stephen
Just wanted to add one more thing I forgot to before. The battery on my wife's Beetle exploded.

Believe it or not, a model year 2000 Beetle has a servicable battery. I never even thought to check the electrolyte levels. When asked the VW dealership says "I dunno, VW just did that". Obviously they never thought to check the electrolyte levels either when it was in for service.

I paid for the battery, but I raised hell until the dealership paid for the tow because they had failed to service the battery.

Hmmmm, that's the second time I've heard of a VW Beetle battery exploding. One of the ladies that does inside sales here at work had hers explode about 4 months ago. Went out to start the car and....KABOOM!!!... Battery exploded. Woke up everyone in the house and the neighbors.


Makes you wonder how many others have had the same problem..........




addkev, if you do end up having problems with the beetle, just remember you can use it as a RTI ramp for the X.

 

[addkev]

addkev, if you do end up having problems with the beetle, just remember you can use it as a RTI ramp for the X.

I will keep that in mind.