VW Beetle.... Are they reall that sh1t to drive?

[Father Ted]

As the title says. Im giving one some thought as there is an orange one near me coming up for sale for not a lot of readies (heater dont work due to some silly wanky aftermarket exhaust being fitted apparently).

But are they a bag of shite to drive, or are they OK? How are they with the no PAS situation, is the turning circle OK or is it like 3 point turning the Queen Mary?

For Beetle heads Im told its a 1300S, so low tax bracket then, not sure what spec S is, but it has a plastic dash.

[autofive]

IMO

slow, noisy, shite

[warren t claim]

Plastic dash makes it the 1302/3 which are a bit wanky.

[Rusty Pelican]

Drove a MK3 fastback thing which is simular to drive . For the love of god I couldnt drive the thing , WTF is that pedal arrangment all about coming out the floor , stalled it twice and generally not happy .As autofive said

Slow , noisy , shite , also rusty , ugly and cold and plastic and shit with crap seats , did i say im not a lover of these.

[Torsten2001]

A good one is a joy to drive...

[seth]

How are they with the no PAS situation,

I've never driven one but smaller old cars don't need power steering like moderns apparently do. They have skinnier tyres for a start. I can't imagine the front end of a Beetle is very heavy either Steering lock tends to be naturally better on RWD cars too.

[warren t claim]

Buy cheap and flog to scene monkey and make ££££££ to spend on a Y reg Datsun Micra with a recessed rear number plate.

[fiatdaft]

only driven one,and i couldn't get on with the pedals and gearchange,and make sure the lack of heater is due to the aftermarket exhaust!

[bigstraight6]

A good one is a joy to drive...

I'll second that! the examples I owned ('74 1300, '71 1200) 20+ years ago were nice to drive, and fun. Ignore the wanky VW scene thing and enjoy an automotive legend......

[Mike D]

I like Beetles, i've had loads. I'm pretty sure they didn't make a 1300S though, it might be a 1302 or 3 S mind. You'll be able to tell by the curved screen if it's an 03, and the macpherson strut front suspension.

 

They actually drive really well, the pedals arent tha hard to get used to, very similar to the ones in the blok across my roads Porsche 964 when I drove that too.

 

On motorways at stock height front they suck, you get blown about terribly in cross winds, dropping the front for a bit of rake improves the drive and looks no end.

 

1300 ones go ok, they'll keep up in traffic fine, drop a 1600 in with a 28/30 weber off a 1.4cvh ford and they'll keep up with a Golf GTi down the quarter mile too.

 

How much is it? Check the heater channels, inside and out, around where the wings bolt one and where the suspension is on the rear inner arches, and along the bottom edge of the chassis / inner wing at the front. Spare wheel wells rot out, but arent a major job to replace. Bumper mounts do too but are the same.

 

Bottom of the A pillars are prone to going, and lift the rear seat and look for any welding in the corners

 

[ashmicro]

A good one is a joy to drive...

But did VW ever make a good one?

 

Just my opinion, but I have never liked them. Noisy, slow, noisy, engine stuffed up it's arse, noisy. Slow. And noisy.

[Des]

They're fun, ooze character and all that, but if you want to use motorways then not so good, probably undrivable by anyone used to modern dross. PAS not needed, blip the throttle on a wet bend and they have the turning circle of a spinning top.

[Mike D]

Actually, i'm pretty sure I read in an old Volksworld some GT beetles were badged 1300S... it'll be a 1600 if it is, and has the mega desireable gearbox.. would be more reddy orange though if it is...

[Polystratus]

A good one is a joy to drive...

I'll second that! the examples I owned ('74 1300, '71 1200) 20+ years ago were nice to drive, and fun. Ignore the wanky VW scene thing and enjoy an automotive legend......

and I'll third that - if it's not been scene twatted, which seems to affect 99% of Beetles, or they are asking a billion pounds for it then go have a test drive to see if you like it, as said before you need to check for rot especially if you're welding skills are not brill. As for exhaust you can rip that off and put a nice stainless steel one on.

[Pete-M]

I had a 1.6 but don't remember much about it other than it wasn't my cup of tea.

 

Pedals didn't annoy me, don't remember the steering being that heavy, gearchange was crap and it was LHD.

 

It was slow and noisy, that much is for certain.

[reallyloud]

Mike D has pretty much covered what you need to know. I wouldn't dismiss it completely. I had a few in my youth and you have to accept that these cars can't be compared to anything else. It's certainly a driving experience to remember, but not in a conventional sense - depends on your personality, like putting up and living with a 2CV (which I have to say I prefered), Land Rover or a Caterham. Their driving tolerance depends on how shit you're willing to put up with.

 

If its a 1300S then it might well be like a Beetle GT - early 70's 1300 type front, elephant type rear lights, flat screen and a twin port 1600cc. Might be worth buying and then worth passing on after you made up your mind about what is essentially a great summer car that chicks love.

[warren t claim]

a great summer car that chicks love.

I used to think that if I bought a Beetle then all sort of hot surfing bitches would want to sex me but after watching Beetle Crisis on Disc Turbo I have seen the type of munterage that owning a Beetle can attract. Therefore I don't own one.

[Pillock]

There was never a 1300S - that model was rebadged as GT Beetle when it hit UK shores, incidentally the only "classic" Beetle to ever officially carry the Beetle name. So if it is a 1300S, you're on a winner - they're sought after and command a price premium, assuming it's RHD and therefore GT spec. Look for a wooden gearknob, front discs and it should be bright green, orange or red. It'll be also a traditional front end with a beam, and the spare tyre angled under the front lid. If the wheel is flat and it has struts at the front, it's a 1302 (flat screen) or 1303 (curved screen)

 

A decent beetle is lovely to drive - the front is light so PAS isn't needed even if you're on 6J wheels with wider tyres. Enough poke for the weight of it, yeah the pedals take some getting used to but I cut my driving teeth on aircooled VW and have never had problems swapping to other cars. As soon as they start to be lowered to stupid levels the ride goes to pot and the handling borders on dangerous.

 

They rust like mad but panels are filthy cheap. Common rust spots to look for are anything metal on the lower 12" of car.

[Formula Autos]

Go against the accepted wisdom of the VW scene. The later models really are better to drive, and the earlier ones a lot poorer (much like MGBs - I don't mind the rubber bumper ones, and I think the ride height increase suits the car well - a much better, less crashy ride, with little appreciable detriment to the handling). Then again, I've never owned a Beetle (or an MGB), just had test drives and lends, so maybe over time the newer ones grate on you.

 

So if it's a later Beetle, with MacPherson struts etc. in my (probably half-informed) view they drive OK. There's sod all chrome though, big tail lights and a plastic dash. But if that doesn't bother you, go for it. Providing the thing's solid, of course.

[Polystratus]

 

As soon as they start to be lowered to stupid levels the ride goes to pot and the handling borders on dangerous.

 

Seen a Beetle in the Ikea car park a few months back with the rear wheels at some silly angle - I thought they had a problem with it until someone told me it's a 'scene' thing - how on earth they can drive with wheels set up like that

[Mike D]

It isnt a scene thing, just the result of lowering torsion bar rear suspension

[seth]

It isnt a scene thing, just the result of lowering swing axle rear suspension

[GJR 11L]

Adolf was also a vegetarian and vehemently against fox hunting, those were far and away the better of his ideas.... OK, so Porsche was the actual (borrow it from Tatra) design engineer, not the strange little Austrian bloke with the 'tache, but I just think that the 2cv and the Mini were far and away the superior cars. Can't deny that the KDF Wagen mobilised lots of folk who wouldn't otherwise have been able to buy a car though.

 

I've had a couple through my hands and spent some time working at a VW aircooled restoration specialists during a Uni summer break, strut-equipped cars (02 and 03) have the odd characteristic of having their front suspension load borne by the shell rather than by the chassis, as would be the case with beam front ends.

The "pregnant" bugs have all manner of rust spots that didn't affect the earlier design, such as rotten strut mounts, collapsed steering box mounting tubes in the front chassis legs (though very late '03s had rack & pinion) and rotten windscreen surrounds. That said, my experience of bugs generally was gained during the height of the price boom, when even the most utterly rank examples would be restored and sold to gullible, giggling young sloanes for stupidly high prices. (Bog-stock, '67 early 12-volt 1500 in two-tone beige and fresh air @ £8,000, anyone?)

 

IRS cars drive pretty predictably, swing axle cars aren't as dangerous as Ralph Nader said they were, they're a bit of a clitoris among cla$$ics though.....

[Quintus]

My parents had a Beetle many years ago. I've no idea what it was like to drive but they both said it was bloody good and I think they remember it more fondly than any other car.

[Des]

Hitler liked his hard boiled eggs, one morning at breakfast he carefully shelled one, sliced it top to bottom and placed one half in the centre of his plate, quartered the other half, dropped the quarters around his plate. After shuffling the pieces for a few minutes, he picked up his phone and started texting, "R8 porsh M8, u old cnt, that new car desn u hav bn lookn 4? get ur ars rnd here pronto"

[GJR 11L]

Hitler liked his hard boiled eggs, one morning at breakfast he carefully shelled one, sliced it top to bottom and placed one half in the centre of his plate, quartered the other half, dropped the quarters around his plate. After shuffling the pieces for a few minutes, he picked up his phone and started texting, "R8 porsh M8, u old cnt, that new car desn u hav bn lookn 4? get ur ars rnd here pronto"

:lol:

[Tayne]

.

[GJR 11L]

Only if someone's bodged the job! I think it more likely that the exhaust is one of those fancy ones that doesn't use heat exchangers.

[Mike D]

It isnt a scene thing, just the result of lowering swing axle rear suspension

 

I meant that what a buffoon

[garethj]

There was never a 1300S - that model was rebadged as GT Beetle when it hit UK shores, incidentally the only "classic" Beetle to ever officially carry the Beetle name. So if it is a 1300S, you're on a winner - they're sought after and command a price premium, assuming it's RHD and therefore GT spec. Look for a wooden gearknob, front discs and it should be bright green, orange or red. It'll be also a traditional front end with a beam, and the spare tyre angled under the front lid. If the wheel is flat and it has struts at the front, it's a 1302 (flat screen) or 1303 (curved screen)

 

A decent beetle is lovely to drive - the front is light so PAS isn't needed even if you're on 6J wheels with wider tyres. Enough poke for the weight of it, yeah the pedals take some getting used to but I cut my driving teeth on aircooled VW and have never had problems swapping to other cars. As soon as they start to be lowered to stupid levels the ride goes to pot and the handling borders on dangerous.

 

They rust like mad but panels are filthy cheap. Common rust spots to look for are anything metal on the lower 12" of car.

What he said.

 

With the engine off, push and pull the crank pulley to check for endfloat, there should be so little you can barely feel or hear it.

 

If the heater doesn't work, make sure all the tinware and tubes are fitted to the engine. Leaving these off, or the thermostat off makes the engine run badly, and is the long-term kiss of death.

 

When driving, lift off the throttle in every gear to see if it jumps out, gearboxes don't tend to have oil changes done often.

 

Rust on the floorpans is straightforward to fix, the heater channels (sills) is much more complicated. Look under the rear seat where the back of the heater channels end to see how badly it's been bodged.

 

An un-messed with car is fantastic. Sadly, these are very rare and the "scene" often attracts people with zero mechanical know how.