# my first beetle



## lgfaver (Dec 26, 2013)

*my first**now second** beetle*

So this is the first car I've ever purchase... I got it actually a few months ago. It is a 2.5L 2012 Beetle. It came with a sunroof, leather seats, wheel bt controls,premium audio system, etc...
I am very happy with the car but I have a few concerns and questions.

First of all, I got this certified preowned at a very good price(especially for all the features) but... it came with the retro wheels. I like them, they're fine but I can't help to think that the car would look much better with some nice rims on it. Nothing fancy, don't want chrome, I'd love the stock tornado ones that come with the R line models. 
In any case, my question is, besides getting new tires, what else would I have to worry about// when getting new rims. I understand the ones my car came with are 17s, I'd like to get 18s, since 19s wouldn't supposedly work with the base model. 

Second, How can I make the ride(suspension related I'm guessing) less rough? ANd how much would I be looking at spending? 

How often do I need to worry about oil change/transmission fluid/etc? 

Is the extreme wind noise the same on all models? Is there are way to go about reducing it? I took it in to the dealer and they told me there was not much they could about it. TBH I don't even know where it's coming from but It's very annoying. 


I appreciate the responses, here's a few pics... 
I consider myself extremely lucky to have been able to get what is my dream car at this point in my life.


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## ridgemanron (Sep 27, 2011)

Welcome aboard! You might want to check the classified thread at the beginning of our Beetle site.
I believe one of the members wanted to sell his 18" Twister wheels and they looked to be in 
excellent condition. Don't know if their still available but check the 'parts section' in the classified
section.


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## Carbon Steel (Sep 6, 2010)

Welcome and good luck with your new ride.


We have the same wheels on our 2.5, retro, nice but I understand your position. Search the classifieds there can be some good deals on wheels.


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## drtechy (Jun 3, 2009)

Welcome, wind noise is unfortunately normal, gotta love Mexican assembly!

posted using tapatalk


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## lgfaver (Dec 26, 2013)

drtechy said:


> Welcome, wind noise is unfortunately normal, gotta love Mexican assembly!
> 
> posted using tapatalk


damn, that kind of sucks... good thing the audio system rocks and I listen to the thing turned up to 11. Well, not quite but still, I like it loud when I'm driving. 

In any case, I appreciate the info. Does anyone know anything about changing the wheels/adding 18'' wheels? 
Would I have to mess with the suspension or would just getting new tires to go accordingly suffice?


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## x-cube (Oct 16, 2006)

Amazing this is my first beetle as well, same color, same options plus tint , certified preowned as well with tints manual trans at a good price. I love it I love but hate the wheels. I too am search no chrome no black like people are suggesting. I want silver with a polished lip. Welcome to the family I am waiting to see what folks are going to say a out the suspension. Do you have the light arou d front speakers and door card? Sould love to make them brighter. Anyway welcome to thr fam.


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## lgfaver (Dec 26, 2013)

x-cube said:


> Amazing this is my first beetle as well, same color, same options plus tint , certified preowned as well with tints manual trans at a good price. I love it I love but hate the wheels. I too am search no chrome no black like people are suggesting. I want silver with a polished lip. Welcome to the family I am waiting to see what folks are going to say a out the suspension. Do you have the light arou d front speakers and door card? Sould love to make them brighter. Anyway welcome to thr fam.


indeed. Mine has the dsg though. I love the sports mode, too bad it consumes so much gasoline. And Yes, I have the keyless entry/push to power button and the speaker lights in 3 colors as well.

Like I said, I really like the car but the wheels don't look that great, at least not in the daytime. At night, the car looks pretty cool.


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## Mr Gee (Jan 30, 2006)

Interestingly, we bought our Beetle because we thought it was quite smooth and quiet. We test drove the base model with the 16" wheels and bought the Fender edition which came with 235/45x18 wheels

It's still very smooth riding though you can discern the rear as slightly harsh. I found that setting the rear tyre pressure to the lower limit helps


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## VWNDAHS (Jun 20, 2002)

lgfaver said:


> indeed. Mine has the dsg though. I love the sports mode, too bad it consumes so much gasoline. And Yes, I have the keyless entry/push to power button and the speaker lights in 3 colors as well.
> 
> Like I said, I really like the car but the wheels don't look that great, at least not in the daytime. At night, the car looks pretty cool.


lol, i average 31+ on the freeway and over 28 combined. It's all in how you drive it, any car will get horrible fuel economy if you're laying into it.










Congratulations on your acquisition!


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## rob6188 (Jun 25, 2012)

Congrats on your first beetle!!!! I've read from many places that buying the lightest wheel you can find along with "H" rated high profile tires will improve the ride. I've never switched wheels, but I can say that switching to "H" rated tires in a slightly higher profile and narrower does help. Check out tirerack and read the reviews. The michelin gets great reviews for ride and noise comfort. 

Stock rims tend to be very heavy, so look for something in 17" and lightweight. Don't go too cheap, as lightweight wheels are not as strong and can break with extreme driving or bend when hitting a pothole.


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## lgfaver (Dec 26, 2013)

rob6188 said:


> Congrats on your first beetle!!!! I've read from many places that buying the lightest wheel you can find along with "H" rated high profile tires will improve the ride. I've never switched wheels, but I can say that switching to "H" rated tires in a slightly higher profile and narrower does help. Check out tirerack and read the reviews. The michelin gets great reviews for ride and noise comfort.
> 
> Stock rims tend to be very heavy, so look for something in 17" and lightweight. Don't go too cheap, as lightweight wheels are not as strong and can break with extreme driving or bend when hitting a pothole.


thanks for the suggestion, I checked out that website and I found this set of 17s that look pretty close to the stock tornado that comes with the Rline ones. http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Mini...012&autoModClar=&wIndex=144&grid=true&sw=1366 not quite the same, I know but for that much, I believe it's a pretty good deal. 



it doesn't look half bad imo plus I wouldn't have to buy new tires. 









Does anyone know of something similar to this?


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## rob6188 (Jun 25, 2012)

Those look great and they're lightweight!

If you can sell your old rims with the tires on them, then buy the new ones with tires mounted by tirerack, the overall cost of changing over maybe low enough for you to want to do it that way. However, it is still cheaper to keep your old tires.


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## patrick99 (Oct 23, 2012)

nice ride dude, i like your retro rim very much, if you willing to sell, pls do pm me. thanks.


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## lgfaver (Dec 26, 2013)

patrick99 said:


> nice ride dude, i like your retro rim very much, if you willing to sell, pls do pm me. thanks.


Definitely. I will let you know. Like I said I do like it but it could look better imo. here's A better picture


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## VWNDAHS (Jun 20, 2002)

Check out VMR's options too


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## lgfaver (Dec 26, 2013)

oops! my bad, here's that picture...









What's VMR?


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## Chris659 (Nov 16, 2012)

drtechy said:


> Welcome, wind noise is unfortunately normal, gotta love Mexican assembly!
> 
> posted using tapatalk



I'd imagine its more about what they're paid to make rather than just "poor Mexican assembly"... kind of like China....they make what we ask and pay for them to make. This Beetle is leaps and bounds better than my '98 Beetle I had and it was made in Mexico as well. They have to keep the car at a certain price point and in order to do that certain corners have to be cut or modified. I dont know just my opinion anyways.


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## ridgemanron (Sep 27, 2011)

Exact replicas of VW wheels can be seen at www.oemwheelsplus.com 
And the prices are really low.

Just found some information that stated where U.S. auto workers average $30 per hour, 
whereas Mexican auto workers get $30 per day. Based on these differences, the profit
margin for VW, with regard to Beetles and Jettas, is off the charts when compared to 
U.S. and Germany built cars.


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## JR Martinez (Feb 25, 2003)

For wind noise vm mechanic glued a weight to flap under cargo mat between spare tire and frame behind rear fender cover, flap release cabin air when closing doors, it help with wind noise at high speeds,


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## lgfaver (Dec 26, 2013)

JR Martinez said:


> For wind noise vm mechanic glued a weight to flap under cargo mat between spare tire and frame behind rear fender cover, flap release cabin air when closing doors, it help with wind noise at high speeds,


Is there any way you could take a picture of it, just so I know exactly what needs to be done? I would greatly appreciate it.


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## JR Martinez (Feb 25, 2003)

Open spare cover,flap is between spare and rear of spare hole, now get under car and search for flap, glue something to the outside of it or it ,wheel balance weight or screwnut.
I got same wheels on denim blue beetle,check out my slideshow


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## antemax (Oct 1, 2013)

I'd buy your wheels with the tyres.
problem is that I'm from Brazil and I guess it'd be a lil expensive to get it delivered down here. =(


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## lgfaver (Dec 26, 2013)

JR Martinez said:


> Open spare cover,flap is between spare and rear of spare hole, now get under car and search for flap, glue something to the outside of it or it ,wheel balance weight or screwnut.
> I got same wheels on denim blue beetle,check out my slideshow


it said the album was private


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## lgfaver (Dec 26, 2013)

So today I decided to pull the trigger and got new set of wheels, they make the car look so much better. major face-lift--as the guy at the tire shop put it.

What do you guys think? btw I will be putting the stock retro wheels for sale on the Beetle parts forum, if anyone is interested.
Local pickup would be idea but I am willing to ship within the U.S.


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## Chris659 (Nov 16, 2012)

Looks nice!

Tell us more about them... What brand and size? What tire did you use? Etc


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## VWNDAHS (Jun 20, 2002)

ridgemanron said:


> Exact replicas of VW wheels can be seen at www.oemwheelsplus.com
> And the prices are really low.
> 
> Just found some information that stated where U.S. auto workers average $30 per hour,
> ...


I wonder if we will still be complaining when the golf r hits next year [4mo production will be in Mexico by then]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## lgfaver (Dec 26, 2013)

Chris659 said:


> Looks nice!
> 
> Tell us more about them... What brand and size? What tire did you use? Etc


well, I did not get new tires so I had to go for 17's which is the size that came with my base beetle.
To be honest, I didn't feel like droppin a grand on wheels/tires. 

THey're MB Alpinas. I really like how they look. I want to buy VW hub caps and try to see if they fit on these rims, not sure if this is possible though. If it is, it wouldn't be too pricey to get them since I've seen them on eBay for around 15 bucks. 

It really makes the car look so much sports-ier. Now, I don't know if I should but I'm considering buying an after market spoiler and have it installed.


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## PeterC4 (Apr 2, 2013)

*Congrats*

As to wind noise, my wife has a 2013 Beetle Convertible and we find it quiet at all speeds - we've both actually left the engine running at times while parked. I would be persistent on the wind noise as sometimes it can be obvious and you overlook it. As to wheels, there are lots of options and I see you've changed them, they look good.


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## lgfaver (Dec 26, 2013)

thanks =D for the record, the wind noise is only prevalent at high speeds/while on the highway.
Of course when I am parked I can barely hear the car. Really don't know what this is due to...


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## lgfaver (Dec 26, 2013)

so just got back from the DLR. Traded in my GTI,(yes I got a GTI last year) and could not resist going for the Dune. it's been almost 4 years since I got my first beetle. Thoughts?


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## ExtremePowerhouse - Mike (Dec 16, 2016)

Congrats!


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## Carbon Steel (Sep 6, 2010)

Nice color and wheels, good luck lgfaver


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## ravendarat (May 24, 2013)

I bought a dune a little less than a month ago, same color as yours except my wheels are color matched. Ive put like 4500 kms on it and couldn't be happier with my purchase, which was a total impulse buy lol


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## lgfaver (Dec 26, 2013)

finally got my plates yesterday... I will be getting custom plates just like I had for my 2012 2.5L 
Anyways, I had posted these on another thread but since someone bumped this one.


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