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Itching for a Bug

Elfin

Elfin

Active member
Joined
Sep 4, 2024
Location
San Jose, CA
Moto(s)
Kawi Z400, Hon CRF125F, Lightning Spark
Name
Brona
Looking for VW Bug for my granddaughter. Comments? Suggestions?
 
Frankly, I wouldn’t buy her such an old car. They do not hold up well in a crash. Get her a recent Honda Civic.
 
I used to have a 1973 VW bus. Given that I built a highly modified and race prepared Porsche engine for it, it’s a miracle I still have my legs.
 
Yes, it has. One hell of a lot. You certainly want to get her the best.
 
Only if you are going to do 100% of the maintenance on an old crate. The notion is full of cute but the reality is granddaughters are not competent with wrenches and old cars. That would fall to a shop at $125/hr (often) or a boyfriend. Or she borrows your daily again while you do the work.

Honda or Toyota and a pack of vinyl flower stickers out to do the trick.
 
The brand new vw vans look great, not sure how they’re rated. VW has had it’s problems, now made in Chattanooga. My parents had a beloved ‘68 van back in the day. Blown engine more than once. In the ‘90’s I had a used pop top ‘71 van, pristine, loved that thing for years. We both wish we had kept it but we are not mechanics, and couldn’t find one who could work on it here in the boony center of the universe. Has your granddaughter actually driven one? The old one’s are kinda like goin’ to a 3rd world country. It is a beautiful goal however it works out.
 
After I totaled my first car, an Opel, my next 3 cars were VW Bugs. I had a `69, a `71, and a `73 Super Beetle. Drove them all over the western states by myself. Muddy rutted roads to pot farms in Humboldt forests, snowy backroads going skiing in Idaho, sandy beaches in NorCal…those bugs were unstoppable!

Good luck finding a fun car!
 
easy wind said:
The brand new vw vans look great, not sure how they’re rated. VW has had it’s problems, now made in Chattanooga. My parents had a beloved ‘68 van back in the day. Blown engine more than once. In the ‘90’s I had a used pop top ‘71 van, pristine, loved that thing for years. We both wish we had kept it but we are not mechanics, and couldn’t find one who could work on it here in the boony center of the universe. Has your granddaughter actually driven one? The old one’s are kinda like goin’ to a 3rd world country. It is a beautiful goal however it works out.
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You would have loved my bus. I fixed up the interior by painting the headliner black. Adding paisley patterned curtains. I had an amplifier to run the four large speakers. A Sony tape deck under the driver’s seat. A queen size mattress in the back with storage underneath.

I also installed trackpads for the front disk brakes. And I ran Koni adjustable shocks, Michilen steel reinforced radials, and a rear anti sway bar.

The engine was the best part. Dual 44 Weber carbs, 11.5:1 compression on a custom cam designed by the famous John DeLong. It used 2 liter Porsche crank, rods and heads. 009 distributer, Melling racing oil pump. I was also clearanced and balanced. Displacement was 2054 CC’s. I did many other trick things to the engine.

The engine was powerful enough that I could break the rear end loose with just a tap on the throttle. I did that once, late at night and the cop who approached me as I was sitting in a 7/11 parking lot said he’d write me a ticket but no one would believe him.

It would do 80+ mph with 5 people plus our ski gear, going up Hwy 80 in the Sierra’s. And I would chase Porsches in the Santa Cruz mountains. They could never lose me and always eventually pulled over to let me pass.

Most fun vehicle I ever owned.
 
as mentioned classic cars make terrible daily drivers but everyone saying this learned first hand and probably didn't listen to the naysayers either.
a friend of mine just got a '63 ragtop bug. i don't know what was spent on the initial purchase but i'd guess in the $10k range. it's in really nice shape though and took a while to find. i believe it was on facebook market place and they were the first ones to get to it. having a wad of cash ready to go and a flexible schedule is helpful.

i would want to see the car start from overnight parked stone cold engine. ideally you have a mechanic give it a once over before finalizing things

as bad ideas go, air-cooled bugs are fairly smart. they're pretty simple to work on, have large enthusiast support and aftermarket parts support and are fun to drive. they can even be reliable, relatively speaking. if your granddaughter pursues this, get the best one she can afford. don't let the cosmetics distract from mechanical issues because you can't tell what it looks like when you're driving it, but you can see it flipping you the bird broke down in the driveway because you spent money on a pretty one that doesn't run. mechanically sound beaters are the way to start.

Pushrod said:
Only if you are going to do 100% of the maintenance on an old crate. The notion is full of cute but the reality is granddaughters are not competent with wrenches and old cars. That would fall to a shop at $125/hr (often) or a boyfriend. Or she borrows your daily again while you do the work.

Honda or Toyota and a pack of vinyl flower stickers out to do the trick.
Click to expand...
this attitude stinks. the only thing one needs to spin wrenches is the desire to learn, and brain willing to.
 
How 'bout a new(er) beetle? Once upon a time (2002) my wife decided she wanted a new beetle. I was dead set against it, as I'm a honda/toyota guy and I felt they were unreliable. I put my foot down and I tell her "Absolutely No Way!". So, a few days later we buy one, and yada, yada, yada... turned out to be one of the most reliable cars we've ever had. :laughing
 
I think the new beetle is just a golf with a different body.
 
berth said:
What about a modern bug?

How do those rate?
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I bought my wife a 2000 New Beetle back when it was new. She loved that car, but little things kept breaking on it. Various plastic pieces didn't hold up, but we didn't lose a great deal of functionality, so we just left them broken. It leaked just enough to fill up the spare tire spot in the back, but not enough to otherwise notice. All of the major stuff kept working, like engine, transmission, brakes, and air conditioning, so we kept driving it until 2015. It had somewhere around 120K miles. I bought my wife a 2014 Escape to replace the bug, but it took her a year to be able to give it up. I make it a point to never sell cars to friends, but I sold that one to a friend for $2000 (1/10 of the cost new) and explained to him the exact state that it was in and no guarantees. It met his needs for another year or two, then the AC went out and he sold it to some kid for even less.

That ownership experience as made me place VW on the "don't ever buy" again list.
 
One thing I learned in the car business, there an exception to every rule. Somewhere there's a guy out there, that had a bad experience, saying he'll never buy another honda... and another guy saying that a ford was the most reliable car he ever had. Too many variables. It's literally YMMV.
 
Rtmac said:
How 'bout a new(er) beetle? Once upon a time (2002) my wife decided she wanted a new beetle. I was dead set against it, as I'm a honda/toyota guy and I felt they were unreliable. I put my foot down and I tell her "Absolutely No Way!". So, a few days later we buy one, and yada, yada, yada... turned out to be one of the most reliable cars we've ever had. :laughing
Click to expand...

This. Wholesale on Bugs is pretty darn good, and the turbos are where it's at. Well better than most give credit for.
 
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