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Anyone downsized to a smaller car? (Also ?? for VW Beetle owners)


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So we drive a massive Suburban whenever we do family outings. Realistically we don't do a whole lot of driving throughout the week in it though so we are not actually spending a ton of money filling it. But my husband has been driving our old (1997) mini-van around town as his primary car. Compared to a lot of other people he doesn't do a ton of driving either since he offices at home. Still he has to go out at least four or five times a week, thankfully not in rush hour very often (if ever) and he has out of town trips a couple of times a year so he still needs his own car, otherwise we thought of just going down to one car, period, and having him take public transit. All this to say, we want him to be driving a more fuel efficient vehicle since gas is approximately $5.20 a gallon and still rising. He will still take public transit or ride his bike whenever possible but we just don't feel we are ready to be down to just one car again.

 

We have offered our mini-van to a family in our church who needs one. If they can't afford the added insurance cost we will sell it.

 

So we are looking at getting an older, yet more fuel efficient vehicle for my husband and have found a reasonably priced 2000 VW Beetle (it's yellow! It's actually MY dream car! But it would be his! LOL) with 100,000 miles on it. So, if you are a new VW Beetle owner can you tell me how your car has handled life? As I say, this car will not be driven mercilessly. We are not in the market for a new car... our limit is about $7,000 and this one is listed at just below that (OBO). We will have it inspected by our own mechanic before making a final offer (it would be a conditional offer). I just want to hear from some first hand owners if there are any here what you love and what you don't so much love about your Beetle.

 

:auto: TIA!!

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Friends bought a new VW beetle several years ago. They had a lot of problems with it in terms of repair work. They had bought a Prius (sp?) before that, and the Prius has been completely problem-free. They really regretted the beetle because of the cost of the repairs and the ongoing inconvenience of it being in the shop so often. Apparently quite a few beetle owners are unhappy with them. Here is a website with consumer complaints about it that should give you an idea of the types of problems encountered.

 

My nephew got a good deal on a used Prius by looking online every day, but that was over a year ago. Not sure what's available now.

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I have a 2000 VW Golf TDI (diesel) that was bought new. I wish we never purchased it. It's been a repair hassle - VW dealerships are horrible. Recently, the transmission went out (a common problem with these years) and there is no way to rebuild. You have to purchase a new transmission from the dealer ($4,000). The MPG is also not what it's cracked up to be (for an automatic).

 

Everyone that I know who has purchased a VW in the years '00 to '03 has regretted it.

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This is my understanding as well. I had a 1969 and 1970 VW bug in high school - now *those* were gems! But the newer version - not so good a reputation....

 

Should we decide to snag a small car to tool around town in, we'll aim for a Honda or Toyota, fwiw.....

 

Friends bought a new VW beetle several years ago. They had a lot of problems with it in terms of repair work. They had bought a Prius (sp?) before that, and the Prius has been completely problem-free. They really regretted the beetle because of the cost of the repairs and the ongoing inconvenience of it being in the shop so often. Apparently quite a few beetle owners are unhappy with them. Here is a website with consumer complaints about it that should give you an idea of the types of problems encountered.

 

My nephew got a good deal on a used Prius by looking online every day, but that was over a year ago. Not sure what's available now.

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As far as downsizing. It might not make sense if you calculate how much a new car would cost with ins. vs a paid off or almost paid off bigger car. i.e. we have a paid off truck not to much of a gas hogvery inexpensive on ins.. We can buy a lot of gas for the cost of a new/used vehicle +ins. so it doesn't make sense to downsize. kwim

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I loved my 2002 Jetta - i had the 1.8 engine which is a better one than the stock 2.0 at that time. I also had an incredible dealership (the sales manager was my 8th grade crush :tongue_smilie:). I never had anything go wrong with it - the lady that bought it let her son drive it and he'd never driven a 5speed. He destroyed the clutch first, then the transmission.

 

I'd go check for feedback at the vwvortex.come forums. There were some years with issues - but i don't know which ones.

 

Man, i miss my car (sold it when we were moving and expecting child #3).... Blue Lagoon 5-speed...... sigh...... mommy's hot rod......

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Yes, you definitely have to factor in not only the cost of the car but the taxes and insurance and gas to run it before knowing for certain that it will behoove you financially. I know, though, that there are folks like us interested in an older car known for great gas mileage to just run the weekly errands with since our gas bill is $500+ each month right now and that's before prices increase! However, it's still possible that even that used car with less tax/ins would mean that it would take a lot of time to make up the cost differential. Again, you're right - you have to weigh all the costs....

 

As far as downsizing. It might not make sense if you calculate how much a new car would cost with ins. vs a paid off or almost paid off bigger car. i.e. we have a paid off truck not to much of a gas hogvery inexpensive on ins.. We can buy a lot of gas for the cost of a new/used vehicle +ins. so it doesn't make sense to downsize. kwim
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Thank you all for your advice! Very helpful!

 

We are still weighing our options. At this point we pay very low insurance and we own our van out right. Part of the reason we are really considering this is because we really would like to give this other family a family car as they are pretty cramped in the one they've got. Also, the husband works 10-12 hours a day so his wife cannot go much of anywhere during the week at all without asking her parents to come and get her and the kids...

 

We know we are not looking at a completely equal trade off for a while even with insurance, etc. But monthly it will still likely run us less to run a tiny car than it does for the van, kwim?

 

(((sigh))) We are so torn. We will probably be down to one car for a while anyways. If we have a few months where he has to take the Suburban around or take public transit we will be still saving money on insurance while we wait to decide which car to get.

 

Again... (I'm just talking out loud here now! LOL) Thanks so much for your helpful advice!

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