Sold MoTd/usable yellow 2002 New Beetle 1.6 with sunroof, £350

[RichardK]

RAFFLE UPDATE! Read the thread for the info, but 113,000 mile, MoTd New Beetle 1.6 manual. Could there be a more desirable car? It's even got a sunroof. And yellow genuine footwell mats. IT EVEN DRIVES!

 

...

 

Being spontaneous. That's a thing, right? So the "no more faily driver, let's get a daily driver" plan was suddenly galvanised because I saw a yellow new Beetle in a carpark and went "yes. I am ready".

 

Backstory: When I were a lad (the operation went well, thanks), I had a real Beetle. Called Chicken. A red 1200L with webasto-like ragtop, the damn thing nearly killed me once, but I loved it and stayed with VWs for a while - Jetta Syncro, Audi 90 Quattro, more Beetles (LHD 1200, Karmann ragtop 1302), two Bays (when they were £400 bangers in road-legal condition *sigh*) and so on. When I had that Beetle, I did Beetle-things, like going to Bug Jam, and collecting toy Beetles, and knowing about 181s and all the variants and why tombstones and parson's noses were actual things and not people talking gibberish.

I still do the No Worries wave at aircooled VWs, which looks pretty stupid when you're driving a Picasso.

 

One such Beetle-fest yielded models of the exciting new Concept 1. Bear in mind I drove Mk II Jetta and Golf GTi around this time, so FWD VW platforms were a GOOD thing, not a thing to be reviled. They joined the 300+ collection of VW things and are of course now lost in history's great carboot sale.

 

But I've always had a soft spot for the New Beetle despite the utter inherent naffness of the idea. And I had a Cabriolet, new - a black 1.6 with winter pack in 2004. It leaked, but I loved driving it and it was the one car I've owned that genuinely would get you positive attention from people of either sex, frankly. Second to a puppy. It was universally loved by anyone who didn't know about cars.

 

Lessons learned since then, are that the instinct for yellow cars means I get a lot less angry when they go wrong, and am more determined to repair/keep them since they're relatively hard to find. And I must have a sunroof. No sunroof = hatred of the car in short order. Had I had a sunroof, I'd probably have kept my C6 longer. Had it been yellow (or black like I wanted), then I'd still have it now.

 

Beetle hunting commenced. I set a budget of £650 to 1200, and wanted yellow, sunroof and manual (don't trust VW autos, plus I want the small engine). Most ones I bid on unseen, got cancelled before the end. Many were so far away and ratty in detail pics that I CBA. I notice that some I bid on/enquired about have been relisted - eBay really is shit. Unless I'm doing it.

 

Bid on one in Tadley. I don't know why I think Tadley is nearby, it's the wrong side of the M4. Sod it. Described as "tidy with condensation" The pics showed mank on the sill but not much else. Fuck it, I'd just been outbid on the Halesowen one (also a 2002, but they wanted £1650 BIN!). Won the listing at £801.45 the day before my birthday.

 

Thanks to Neil's rapid buying of my two Mercedes "projects" - well, one ex-daily and one project - I had the funds to go collect quickly, so housemate Jen's Saab was pressed into service and we drove down. The seller seemed nice enough, but the car - some condensation is best described as "utterly fucking saturated and growing 40 new kinds of mould", tidy = "roof paint fucked, one horrible sill repair, one bent bit of sill on the other side, smashed lower grille and wheelarch liners, not one bit of trim inside in undamaged condition. FSH = a handful of receipts. Half a proper key and a cut key. 11 owners".

He did say "it's okay, you can just walk away". Yeah, I bet. Waste five hours of my time and get no Beetle? Fuck that. Took it for a test drive.

108K on the clock - bar slight wandering (that front end damage probably suggests a bent tie rod or lower arm on the offside, and the tyres are shit), I can believe it. Gearchange is as good (yes, good, compared to FWD PSA shite) as my Cabriolet was new, the seats - whilst damp and revolting - are supportive and untorn. Radio doesn't work - I think the antenna stalk has been snapped as it works when parked then goes choppy, and there's a bit where it moves and I don't think it should. Interior... It is just gross. And why the fuck do people superglue shit to the dashboard?

 

Drives very well, actually. I'm wondering what's about to go wrong.

 

I go back. Of course, I try to get something off, but it's eBay, I bid, I'll pay. Plus - vile interior aside - I think I did alright on it. I'd probably have bid the same if it were honestly described, I just don't think anyone else would have bid!

 

It drove back very well. Reminded me that yes, I can still make a 1.6 Beetle move at a pace that confuses other road users, though perhaps not at the limits I'd push on the Cabriolet because the tyres are crap. The logbook suggests that this bloated heap only weighs 1210Kg - bad for the space and engine, but not bad for the era.

 

First tasks - onto the battery conditioner, off with the fucking Betty Boop stickers (no, not "fucking Betty Boop stickers", I think that's a different market), and get to work on de-manking and working out why it got manked in the first place. Everything is caulked. Window rubbers, the entirety of the back in the tailgate aperture including blocking the sunroof drains, which are - instead of I orientation - a hint? The headlining is soaked, there's no pull-across blind, and I see scrapyard pen on the sunroof cassette.

 

He'd said "it might need drain holes clearing?"

 

Connecting, more like. Pulled the drain hoses out of the back, they're folded over. They've never been connected. That part can be fixed in five minutes - they returned to their original shape on the Aga, but I'll order a pair of new ones. Unfortunately in an attempt to find leaks (and probably replace one pretensioned seatbelt after whatever caused the damaged front arch liner) almost every part of the interior has got broken clips, missing screws and so forth. Correcting that will NOT take five minutes.

 

Plus side, though - the Beetle interior is not too complicated to strip out, despite the many cute touches and body colour bits. Stripping the entire back end and headlining could be done in a determined hour. Looks like plenty of breakers about, too. In fact, I'm coming around to the idea that actually, the Beetle's simplicity and endearing looks, combined with easy supply, a variety of things powering them from 1.4 to tuneable 1.8T and quirky VR5, and bash proof, easily replaced wings, make it an excellent starter classic.

And the clincher? The earliest RHD models are 16 years old+ now. The same age my first Beetle was when I got it.

Overall though - think I chose well. Lowish miles and a damn good reason for it having had many changes of owner and been off the road for almost 15 months - a frustrating issue being attacked by people with more fingers than braincells. I have two advantages over the Beetle's past owners. Three, in fact. One, it cost very little, so I don't care too much. Two, my hands don't drag on the ground when I walk and I can communicate in more than grunts, and three - I have a carport and a garage, so the Beetle won't sit out in the rain uncovered very often anyway.

 

Pictures to follow!

[garbaldy]

Haveing owned old school beetles I too would like to try the new fangled one,

Question arnt dung beetles brown so does that meen mat brown dulux is in the pipeline.

[RichardK]

Dung because it smells marginally less healthy than my septic tank on a hot summer day right now. It'll get a new name when I've bonded with it

 

(Serenity (proper) Firefly (inevitable) for the SLK, Lemongrab for the 406).

 

At the moment Sweetie is in the front running, as a Doctor Who theme (my old one was called Missy, though named after Missy Elliot for politically incorrect reasons. These days it'd be called Nicki for similar reasons). But I'm not sure. It's also been called Pretzel because the number plate is KN02 PZL. I believe KN02 in "twatplate" speak is KNOT.

(It'll probably be M2 REW soon enough anyway).

[Dave_Q]

Sorry mate, its the law that private plates on a beetle MUST be along the lines of S765 BUG, nothing else is allowed.

 

Interested in how this goes as a tdi flavour one is a strong possibility for the wife's next car.

[dollywobbler]

Gosh. I can find even myself being tempted by one of these. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?

[RichardK]

Picture Time!

 

As seen on eBay listing...

 

Looks okay, no?

 

 

 

Oh, look, it's clean, not-mouldy and has the button on the handbrake still...

 

 

Okay, how old are these pictures. The centre armrest is broken now.

 

 

Those stickers HAVE to go.

 

 

And here it is when we get there!

 

 

Thing is, it drives well. Gah. THINK, MCFLY, THINK.

 

 

Do like that sunroof though...

 

 

Okay. Having it. Off we go.

 

 

No pez shot, but "Left or Right" for your bloated retro cynicism needs?

 

 

And now we get home.

 

Arrive in the Garage of Yellow

 

 

Let's see...

 

Footwell... Ew.

 

 

Headlining? Ew.

 

 

Peer in the roof...

 

 

What's under the SEAt?

 

 

Still. One thing improved. Bedtime now...

 

 

[Vince70]

I love the new beetles and bought one myself a couple of years back which was a bit neglected due to the fact it had been owned mostly by young girls in the past who had never as much looked under the bonnet but it was quite a sound motor and had only done 60000 miles and I thought I couldnt lose at £750 with a bit of tax and test.

 

It had the old 2 litre petrol lump which was a fantastic engine I preferred driving it to the 1.8 Audi A3 which kind of replaced it as it felt like driving a sporty mario kart and I was regularly driving a 150 mile commute in the old girl and it would never miss a beat.

 

I found the only real downside with the car was the rear suspension was never brilliant when hitting a pothole, but it seems to be the same with others that share the same VAG platform and the electrics did contain gremlins from time to time but I would have another tomorrow if I could.

 

One bugbear for me was all that horrid rubber stuff that's coated over the interior plastics which I couldn't live with so I managed to peel it all off and polish it up and it made the car look a lot better inside

 

It's mandatory to have dented sills on a beetle though as I'm yet to see one which hadn't been grounded out on a kerb as mine were covered in dents when I first bought it but I managed to achieve an invisible repair on mine using self tappers to pull the dents out and a small amount of filler and some pound shop black aerosol cans.

 

You can buy a decent armrest for under £8 on eBay new which has a grey PVC fabric on it and the quality is really good I bought one for my old beetle and mine also had the missing handbrake button and had been like that for years according to the mot but I did find it again under the seat when I cleaned it out amongst the old Mcdonalds and KFC cartons.

 

Also when buying parts try and cross reference the numbers to see if any of the parts come from something else VAG group when secondhand eBay shopping as I found using the word Beetle instead of golf seemed to give parts about a 30% price hike for some reason.

 

I've got a door yellow handle still in the shed if you need it.

 

The excuse I used for buying mine was the girlfriend at the time kept pestering me to get one to match her silver one.

[Dave_Q]

I bet many people have a bit of a closet want on for these.

[mercrocker]

I did till I drove one.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

With its somewhat brazen and unselfconsciously phallic centre armrest I'm no coleopterist, but your Beetle is definitely a male! 

[Pillock]

WOULD.

 

Probably will at some point, I like the idea about carving people up on the M1 in the cheeriest looking car ever and they just can't get angry.

[RichardK]

I did some proper "GET OUT OF THE MIDDLE LANE YOU TWATS" weaver-bird driving on the M4 and I think they're still wondering WTF happened. It still had those bloody stickers on, too.

[RichardK]

So, day two:

First of all, it's sunny, so we'll drag the Beetle out.

 

 

 

That wire is a pigtail for the Battery Fighter I use on all the cars. Should get the neglected battery up to speed again. All my cars have them - I think the 300CE might still have one, can't remember removing it!

 

Start stripping. Rear bench out and jetwashed.

 

 

Investigate body. Both rear windows, despite having good seals, have been caulked. Lots.

 

 

The sill...

 

 

It's a little flaky underneath that repair.

 

 

Door protectors worked out well, then...

 

 

Just, EW.

 

 

Let's check those drains. The tailgate aperture was black and slimy. Turns out this wasn't algae or mould, but dirty caulk... Check the angle of the drain hose...

 

 

So, out with the hoses. They were folded over. Sealed in, but never attached to the sunroof, hence (no doubt) the immense amount of water in the car given the weather over the last few months. Who knows how long it has been like this.

 

 

 

Strip everything to get the sound-insulation foam dried. There's a LOT of it.

 

 

Drain hoses return to shape after gentle heating. Reinstall.

 

 

 

 

Close all the doors, lock a dehumidifier in there. Going to pop the oil heater in today, it's so cold and windy

 

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I lived in Tadley Upon Thames November/December 1987, and know it well. Lots of Gypos. It has changed very. very little but still have some affection for the place.

 

I like NuBeetlez but am not brave enough to own one. Cue OMGUSCREAMINGGAYLORDBENDER' jibes etc. Mrs BJ likes 'em so may have an excuse to shout back 'IT'STHEWIFESCARUCUNT' if req'd.

 

They are a terrific design and VW hit the nail right on the bonce with it. The usual Autocar/EGO oversteer design stubble wankers slagged it and the dynamics without stopping to think that a) it's not lethal like the old one and they've tuned it for it's main market - Birds.

 

The new new Beetle is a bit wank and my VAG sales contact says they don't sell like they used to. The new one looks like a Golf with Beetle wings grafted on and the wonderful proportions of the original have gone. Really, the moment has passed. Buyers 'got it' the first time round. Now it looks tired.

 

 

Top Buyage.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Forgot to add - U Pull It in York have a few of these so if thou requires parts, we can cruise up there and look like a right pair of executives. 

[Pillock]

The new New Beetle is to the New Beetle what the 1303 was to the Beetle.

Looks like someone couldn't resist having a fiddle with the styling for no good reason, where the 70s one went belmy to cover struts, the new one went all swoopy and aggressive because people apparently don't buy cute cars. 

I've hardly seen any NNBs around, I know there's 16 years of NBs on the road already but I see 15-plate Golfs, Audis, Kias, Focuses, Astras - hardly any Beetles of the same age. Must have really bombed.

[320touring]

Is it bad that I'm looking at the fun* you're having with it, and I'm grateful I have the CX to work on?

 

looks like a decent car crying to get out underneath all the water!

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

I like these Beetles as well and always have, even if I have generally liked them fairly quietly. There is something delightfully frivolous about them. They shun the angry faced look making them very different to the distilled sameness of most modern Teutono-chod. Yellow is perfect for it.

 

There have been some crazy leak 'solutions' put into it though!

[Asimo]

Re that caulk on the side windows: I had a Golf of the same era, a 2 door, and it's rear windows were glued in place with a very soft stuff that wore away a bit with every wash.

 

If I had had a pressure washer then I might have un-gooped the glass very quickly....

[dollywobbler]

Don't complain about the bloody weather. It's pissing it down here!

[HMC]

Great progress! What is it with VAG profucts and leaks? I had a war on with my old c5 a6 and water leaks ( which I eventualy won) thanks to the pollen filter being well placed to scoop up water from the windscreen, and it's dodgy seals allowing water into all kinds of wrong places. With The beetle it seems more by careless previous owners ( and misdiagnosis) rather than by design. Great colour for it IMO.

[RichardK]

I always thought my Cabriolet leaked because like everyone (but unlike me, as a rule) I clouted the sill 3 days after getting it, and the dealer "repaired" it - I figured they'd filled/bodged a drain somewhere. OTOH, my gut feeling was that the leak was nowhere they could have disturbed and it was probably a hose off in the quarter panel, except many return visits failed to rectify it.

They gave zero fucks, so when the lease ended, I didn't get a 1.6 Luna in yellow, I got an RX8 instead and discovered what GOOD dealer service was like

[RichardK]

And I can't stand the New New Beetle, there are a lot around here and I like the hubcaps. You're doing well if all I like are the hubcaps. The flattened roof, angry lights setup just ruins the effect, it's like a crappy Scirocco. There's no whimsy, which is what makes the original New Beetle so nice - it's just silly, like a Be-1 or Pao.

[purplebargeken]

Ace. Just ace.

 

I'd love another one at some point.

[spartacus]

What Essexman said, I've got a mk3 Golf and its got a couple of those annoying hard to trace leaks.

Like a couple have said already, I wasn't brave enough to buy one but they look to be a sound purchase, easy to repair,a good drive, easy to find parts for etc. I'm so impressed, I'll even buy a ticket if you roffle it!

[twosmoke300]

Vag stuff has always pissed water in . All that quality makes em porus see

[RichardK]

Maybe it's because you need litres of water to be healthy.

[djimbob]

These are coming in at the right price nowadays, fancy a two litre auto for shiggles, top purchase Richard, hopefully you can educate all who follow

[andrew e]

Richard it's obvious no? It's a WATER cooled Beetle!

 

I much prefer the nu-nu-beetle, I think the proportions are far better. Yes I know I'm the only one! I do own a tattered "concept one" motor show paper bag though, so in not all bad.

[Jim Bell]

Nice Yellow mound is nice. Will a gentlemans pipe stem fit in the flower holder?