# Driving a New Beetle as a man



## newbeetleses (May 25, 2015)

Hello Volkswagen people,

A couple days ago my sister picked up her 2000 Beetle and I drove home with her in it and fell in love with the thing. My family has NEVER had cars that weren't American, and even I personally have a Cadillac that's giving me problems (Ok, ok, it's a 1968, I can't blame it). We have esepcially never had a car this luxurious. Its got leather, heated seats, a sunroof and I could go on forever. Anyways, I know these are thought of as a chick car but I REALLY want to get one and modify it a little bit. I also like it because it seems relatively simple to work on especially for someone with my knowledge of cars at my age. I want to get one to pop around my city and get reasonable fuel economy. Do some guys here drive them? Do you get funny looks from other people? Keep in mind I'm going to be driving this in high school and keeping it parked at the school lot. Honestly even if people did think I was gay because of my darn car, I don't really care because my city is very accepting. 

What do you guys think? I know it'll need more attention than my dads Chevrolet needs but I am happy to do it on a nice little car. I would ideally like it to look like this: http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0016/37/83/16347338_large.jpg


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## billymade (Jan 29, 2008)

Well, as a male driver of a new beetle, since 2000; I have had my share of positive, negative reactions to my car.... I will say the positive reactions have outweighed the negative.. The new beetle can be a polarizing car and it has a reputation, as a "chicks car". Having said that; if you like the New Beetle, I wouldn't let other people's ignorant judgement of you, based on your choice of car, you choose to drive/own.... bother you or cause you, to not buy the car you want. Life is too short; to live your life for others and give your personal decision making power over to others. Choose things, that you enjoy, and pick a car that makes you happy..The things that seem so important or influential to you in high school, quickly fade away when you graduate and move on with your life. 
Discuss further; what you want the car to do for you and what your budget is. Meanwhile, research the new beetle turbo s, produced from 2002-2004; it was the best performing and most fun to drive New Beetle produced . If you are performance oriented; it is a great foundation from which to tune and at 180 hp, performs well, in its stock form. The Turbos S has many upgraded features; that would cost you, many thousands of dollars to upgrade, if you bought a normal new beetle to begin with. If you find a affordable turbo s; you are ahead of the game and they sure are a blast to drive.


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## jnormandin63 (May 26, 2015)

Ahhh. I have a fully loaded tdi

Its not feminine.


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## newbeetleses (May 25, 2015)

billymade said:


> Well, as a male driver of a new beetle, since 2000; I have had my share of positive, negative reactions to my car.... I will say the positive reactions have outweighed the negative.. The new beetle can be a polarizing car and it has a reputation, as a "chicks car". Having said that; if you like the New Beetle, I wouldn't let other people's ignorant judgement of you, based on your choice of car, you choose to drive/own.... bother you or cause you, to not buy the car you want. Life is too short; to live your life for others and give your personal decision making power over to others. Choose things, that you enjoy, and pick a car that makes you happy..The things that seem so important or influential to you in high school, quickly fade away when you graduate and move on with your life.
> Discuss further; what you want the car to do for you and what your budget is. Meanwhile, research the new beetle turbo s, produced from 2002-2004; it was the best performing and most fun to drive New Beetle produced . If you are performance oriented; it is a great foundation from which to tune and at 180 hp, performs well, in its stock form. The Turbos S has many upgraded features; that would cost you, many thousands of dollars to upgrade, if you bought a normal new beetle to begin with. If you find a affordable turbo s; you are ahead of the game and they sure are a blast to drive.


Man you are so right. Life is too short to care what others think of you (Well, within reason). Turbo sounds nice but also sounds like another part bound to break. I think I would go with a TDI because of fuel economy and it theoretically should be more reliable than the 2.0 in my sisters or the 1.8 T.


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## newbeetleses (May 25, 2015)

jnormandin63 said:


> Ahhh. I have a fully loaded tdi
> 
> Its not feminine.


.That one is too new for me!!


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## jnormandin63 (May 26, 2015)

Got it at a great price. Its a 2014 leftover so $7k below sticker. My sons told me the TDI turbo sounds cool. My wife teased me at first for trading in my wrangler but after the ride to the Cape she can see why. Fast car and 44mpg... My commute to work is going from 18 miles to 53 miles each way. A diesel made more sense than a plug in hybrid since electricity is going to be much more expensive after the two large generation plants go offline in my region. Next year we might be paying 32 cents per kilowatt. Up from 12 cents.


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## ShoelessJoe1917 (Apr 12, 2015)

Why not get a gti?


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## talon223 (Mar 28, 2008)

Or an 07ish Rabbit for that matter. I see them on Craigslist for $4-7k all the time.


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## st4rki11er (Apr 9, 2015)

I had a 2000 1.8t beetle (engine from a passat), it was the highest model available (with leather, spoiler coming out at 90km/h, etc)

Was nice to drive, great handling.


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## ShoelessJoe1917 (Apr 12, 2015)

I wish they would make a true sports/track rear engine beetle. If they did at a reasonable price they would sell unbelievably fast. Now you have the buy a $$$ porsche.


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## eiriksmil (May 9, 2006)

They did. Or, forget the low price but the RSi was kinda hardcore. Not a sales success lol.. 

Go for it.. The first gen NBs are Golf MkIVs underneath which means pretty reliable beyond window switches etc and easy and cheap to work on.. The 2.slow will be bulletproof but slow.. The 1.8T may eat coil packs but the K03 and K04 upgrade turbos are reliable and easily available, make sure PO has done the belt and water pump.. 

Oh and get a manual.. Stay away from the autos, all auto VWs from this age were Tiptronics and had 'lifelong ATF' with no oil changes ever needed. 15 years later that was a giant mistake lol. Manual, 1.8T, coilovers and wide wheels.. A fun, fast (enough for HS) car that not too many other people have..


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## jnormandin63 (May 26, 2015)

Not a GTI because I wanted a diesel since my commute is going to be 58 miles. Found this Beetle with a 2.0tdi, 400watt fender stereo.... And it was at a great price. Got 50mpg today cruising at 75mph


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## jnormandin63 (May 26, 2015)

AWD Diesel would be cool.


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## newbeetleses (May 25, 2015)

I don't really like the look of GTI's. I've never liked aggressive looking cars.


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## Rockerchick (May 10, 2005)

You should look for a Turbo S. Its got a higher hp 1.8T (180hp compared to 150hp in the other 1.8T Beetles) and a a 6-speed manual. Super fun to drive. My GTI has the same setup and its a blast. My GTI has 142k on it and running like a champ. Its even been Stage 2 tuned (+50hp) for the last 13k. The Turbo S also has different bumpers and such which really set it apart from the other NBs. 

That said, I had a 2.0 5-speed for 6 1/2 years and it was a great little car. Got me all through college, both undergrad and grad school. No real money was put into it and it was super cheap and easy to maintain. It wasn't fast by any means, but it was certainly peppy enough. My husband really enjoyed driving it too (though at the time he had an automatic Honda Accord so most anything is more fun than that :laugh: [he's a VW nut too...the Honda was out of necessity at the time!]). The 2.0 5-speed combo really is about as bulletproof as you'll get on the NBs. The only issue is that it was the base combination so a lot of them are pretty beat now. When my Beetle was totaled and I started looking for a new car, the 2.0s across the board (NB, Jetta, Golf) were all pretty beat up. Or high mileage. 

If you're looking for one, take your time and look for one with a good maintenance history. No matter the engine, the timing belt is the most critical thing. It should be done every 5-6 years/60-80k. And on a TDI, it really needs to be done by someone who knows those engines, as they have very tight tolerances so there isn't much room for error on those.


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## OneFiftyThree (Aug 26, 2009)

I get snickers rolling through tech, but after I pass them on track it's all good.


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## bigblueboing (May 29, 2015)

*turbo s ftw*

as afar as New Beetles go the turbo S is the most manliest 
Ive had 2 they are awesome. 



Rockerchick said:


> You should look for a Turbo S. Its got a higher hp 1.8T (180hp compared to 150hp in the other 1.8T Beetles) and a a 6-speed manual. Super fun to drive. My GTI has the same setup and its a blast. My GTI has 142k on it and running like a champ. Its even been Stage 2 tuned (+50hp) for the last 13k. The Turbo S also has different bumpers and such which really set it apart from the other NBs.
> 
> That said, I had a 2.0 5-speed for 6 1/2 years and it was a great little car. Got me all through college, both undergrad and grad school. No real money was put into it and it was super cheap and easy to maintain. It wasn't fast by any means, but it was certainly peppy enough. My husband really enjoyed driving it too (though at the time he had an automatic Honda Accord so most anything is more fun than that :laugh: [he's a VW nut too...the Honda was out of necessity at the time!]). The 2.0 5-speed combo really is about as bulletproof as you'll get on the NBs. The only issue is that it was the base combination so a lot of them are pretty beat now. When my Beetle was totaled and I started looking for a new car, the 2.0s across the board (NB, Jetta, Golf) were all pretty beat up. Or high mileage.
> 
> If you're looking for one, take your time and look for one with a good maintenance history. No matter the engine, the timing belt is the most critical thing. It should be done every 5-6 years/60-80k. And on a TDI, it really needs to be done by someone who knows those engines, as they have very tight tolerances so there isn't much room for error on those.


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## petethepug (May 25, 2001)

The wifey wanted a NB or NB vert for graduation. I looked for a creampuff Turbo S and none showed up until I stopped looking. An orig owner in AZ was selling his for fair market value with all ppwk but missed it. Found our '07 NB vert at a local dealership in 8/10 condition. Couldn't figure what made the car better looking than all the others. A few more walks around the car and saw it was the factory 17" 5 spoke exposed lug rims. 

The car is either black or white all over. We later discovered this was a triple white edition for the 07 vert and 08 hardtop. Had the car delivered to her at work in the front drive with the top down last year. Swapped the keys with her at work that day and I told her to beep the alarm to find where I parked it. She drove our allroad to work that day. She didn't notice the VW on the identical key fob. I drove the allroad home and waited for her to walk out with her friends and freak. It gets complimented all the time. Typically she gets asked what's different about yours, it doesn't look as Barbie like the rest of them.


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## Forcedfedbug (May 22, 2013)

*driving a bug*

I have 2 one a 2000 1.8t and a 13 tdi. I like them both. thw 2000 has 202,000 miles on it and is very easy to work on considering everything on it people on the internet have already figured out what the issue was and a cheap way to fix it. It has been chipped and the turbo just got replaced. for a cheap car(20,000) 15 years ago its fast and fun.
the 13 gets 44 mpg and its also fun to drive. Get what you want and if you want it fast to beat your friends that can happen to.

Ron


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