My Cartoon Car. (VW Beetle 2.0 3dr)

Name: beckstrous

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Product:	VW Beetle 2.0 3dr
Date:	26.07.02 (2424 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cute and curvy, quality build, inside and out, bags of character

Disadvantages: Expensive, Impractical

When I was at university I had a friend called Lucy. As it happened, Lucy was from the same part of the country as me and so we saw each other in the holidays too. She didn't take a car to university, but when she went home she used to drive a white Volkswagen Beetle called Brian. I think I fell in love with Brian.

He was so old that he was tax exempt. He was freezing cold in the winter, and baking hot in the summer. He had a peculiar smell and all manner of sound effects that probably weren't supposed to be there.

Lucy was in love with Brian too. One day we went swimming, and she couldn't find him in the car park afterwards. Then she spotted a forlorn-looking white Beetle that had been broken into, so she called the police. When they arrived, she realised that Brian was around the corner. She had to explain to the police that actually, this wasn't her car at all. A tad embarrassing perhaps, but then she did love Brian.

So after a few years of working properly, I decided I'd like a Beetle too. I'd previously driven an old Polo, a Fiesta and then a Golf - all of them old, and all of them two-a-penny on the roads these days. I wanted something a little different, and I was in love with the New Beetle just as much as I'd been in love with Brian.

I took one for test drive, one thing led to another and soon enough, Brian II was mine. I've had this car - a silver 2.0 litre W-Reg New Beetle - for one and a half years now, and this is my review.


FIRST IMPRESSIONS: INTERIOR
============================

Everyone who steps inside a New Beetle immediately notices the immense amount of space in the front (and, of course, the lack of space in the back). There's a high roof (handy when you're in a car park trying to remember where you left the car!), lots of legroom and a deep dashboard that stretches so far in front that you can't reach then end when you're sitting down
. It's a weird, space-age feel and it takes a while to get used to.

The interior revolves around curves. The speedometer display (which looks great at night illuminated in red and blue) is a large circle, easy to read and rather ... well, cute. Circular air vents, cup holders and the rounded corners of the stereo add to the cartoonish feel, and the adjustable steering wheel looks smart in silver and black with a large VW logo in the centre.

The Beetle comes with "domino" print upholstery as standard, which is subtle and unobtrusive. After a year and a half, it seems to be reasonably hard-wearing too, and the colour hasn't faded yet. Leather upholstery comes as an additional extra, but at a cost (from £1,335 at the time of writing).

An RDS radio/cassette comes as standard with six speakers and the sound quality is good. I opted for a 6-CD autochanger in the boot as well, which was an extra £350 (now £395). This model also has power assisted steering (great for weedy lasses like me), air conditioning, electric windows, heated door mirrors and dust and pollen filters as standard. If you're in heavy traffic you can also opt to recycle the cabin air instead of breathing the fumes from outside.

There are some nice touches inside, such as a little ceiling-mounted sunglasses case, rear reading lights* - and the flower vase, of course (I've got a plastic daisy).

*Er, if you've know anyone small enough to fit in the back, that is!

EXTERIOR
========

My Beetle has silver metallic paint, which has worn very well (I won't mention my various little accidents that have led to scuffs and scratches). Stones thrown up from our gravel road haven't damaged the paintwork at all, and neither have several stints through the local car wash, so it must be quite tough. Where I've damaged it myself, the body underneath is plastic, which means the car isn't susceptible to rust (if,
like me, you have the odd "bump" when you're parking your car then this is a good thing!). Obviously you can buy touch-up paint for scratches, but it's only good for small cosmetic detail because it's quite hard to apply smoothly.

The windscreen is enormous, and looks great as part of the swooping, domed design of the car. Unfortunately it's also vulnerable to those little stones, and in the first three months my windscreen acquired three unwelcome chips in it: grrrr!

The engine is in the front (more about that later) and not the back as with the old Beetle. The petrol cap is electronic, and opens from the inside. I thought this was rather cool until it broke fairly recently - I understand this is quite a common fault, but it is covered by the three-year warranty and will be fixed next week, free of charge.

With the 2.0 litre model alloy wheels come as standard. You have to take care of them because the alloy is quite soft but I'm a self-confessed terrible driver, and I've only scratched one wheel so far (unfortunate interface with kerb). The alloys look absolutely fantastic, but they're quite difficult to clean. They're fitted with high-performance tires, and a word of warning - BE VERY CAREFUL about what you drive over - I drove over a couple of nails and punctured mine, and the repair was expensive (nearly £150 for a new tyre). If you do need a tyre changed, make sure you check the wheels afterwards. I had a tyre changed at KwikFit, and their machinery dug a circular groove around the rim of the alloy. It had to be sent away to be refurbished (naturally, KwikFit had to pay for this).

One of my favourite parts of the exterior is the handle on the boot. It's concealed behind a VW badge and you can open the boot either with this handle or remotely, with the keys. Boot space itself isn't bad - the Beetle isn't a family car but the boot is more than adequate for all my luggage
and shopping needs!

THE ENGINE
==========

Right, I'm a girl. I have therefore had to look this up in the brochure!

A friend of mine jokes that my car is "just a Golf with a bodykit", and essentially this is correct. The engine on the 2.0l model is the same as that of a Golf GTi. Fuel consumption is 23.7mpg in urban areas, 41.5mpg elsewhere and 32.5mpg combined. Engine emissions are 209g/km, and the engine noise is 73.5dB (this means nothing to me of course - but I think it purrs along quite nicely). The maximum speed is 115mph (yes, I did try that once) and the car does 0-60 mph in 10.7secs (the Golf GTi is speedier at 9.0 seconds, if that sort of thing matters to you). The insurance group rating for the car is 11, but if you're a girl and you fancy getting one of these then I recommend you give Diamond a call on 0800 36 24 36 (no, I don't work for them, but my insurance premium is just over £400 for this car, which is the cheapest I've seen anywhere).

I find the car staggeringly easy to drive. It accelerates well (I don't get scared overtaking anymore because I know I can pull away quickly), holds speed well and does not get uncomfortable on long journeys (my longest so far has been six hours). I get a real buzz when I drive this car on an open stretch of straight road. Steering is very light and responsive, but parking is difficult because the rear view is obscured so that you can never really see the end of the car. I find distances quite difficult to judge, and have "crashed" this car while parking two or three times.

SECURITY AND SAFETY
===================

The car comes with ABS brakes, remote central locking, alarm and immobiliser, door side impact protection, driver and passenger airbags, front and rear crumple zones and a 12 year body protection warranty.

The car keys have the added security feature of disabling themselves if pressed several times
outside of range. They then reactivate when you turn the key manually in the lock, which means that if you lose your keys, the likelihood of someone being able to steal your car by walking along trying to unlock random cars is very much reduced.

My model also has ESP, which is supposed to adjust your steering according to weather conditions - but I've never noticed the difference and always have this feature turned off.

PRICE
=====

The Beetle is not cheap! The prices have come down a little since I bought mine, but a new 2.0 litre model will set you back £13,910. The range for a new Beetle (the come in 1.6, 1.8 and v5 models too) is £12395 - £16995 and used ones are around £6290 - £14850. You can pick up the earlier left hand drive models very cheaply these days if you look around.


A CUTE CAR
==========

This car is fun. It's curvy and sexy and it's like driving a cartoon. It turns heads (not the reason I bought it, but a nice side-effect nonetheless). Other Beetle owners flash their lights and wave, too, and this never ceases to amuse me.

It has its flaws (passengers in the back will almost always be uncomfortable, the petrol cap problem seems quite common, and second hand cars will often have parking scars!) and it is perhaps a little impractical, but it's a quality car (the petrol cap problem being the only thing I've found wrong with it so far), well-built and good fun to drive.

Yes, I love Brian II.

Summary: