Volkswagen Beetles: The Mysterious Attraction

You may or may not know what I'm talking about here. When I first met my now husband, he was driving around in a derelict '68 Beetle. I thought it was cute - for an old rusty car. He swore that he would convert me and make me love them too, to which I scoffed. I am now the proud (and slightly obsessed) owner of a '71 Super Beetle and a '98 New Beetle. I see them everywhere I look. I'm pretty sure that my husband and I are the only people who play slug bug while driving a beetle. So what is it that attracts us fans? Is it the unique curve of the body? The sput-put-sput of their engines? Is it the hold-your-breath-while-driving-in-the-winter-because-if-you-breathe-you'll-frost-up-the-window charm? I don't think I can really pin point exactly why I love them. My old beetle is rusty, ugly and makes me stink like gasoline when I drive, but I would never sell it. I'm pretty sure I have a white knight fantasy about my car. You'd probably look at it and think I should do the world a favor and put the car down, but when I look at it and see it shiny and brand new. I can't help it, it's an addiction. There's something about sitting in the drivers seat, with my face about way to close to the windshield for safety, peace signing other old beetle drivers. I get about 33 miles per gallon and sometimes the lights don't work, but I think that comes from a really bad DIY wiring job. The rear apron is all crunched up and theres a hole in the pan behind the passenger seat.  There's a whole passel of other VW owners here in the same boat. So why are we so loyal?

The Volkswagen Beetles have been popular since the beginning. If it wasn't the unique body design or air cooled engine that caught your eye, it was definitely the price tag. $1999.95, plus tax and title, and you could have your very own Beetle, fresh off the show room floor.  They seat 4-5 people, have ample storage space (in the hood) and get around surprisingly well, even in the snow.  The heating/defrost system has always been a bit iffy, but that's easily over looked when the weather is nice.  The gas tank sits in the front, under the hood, and conveniently placed to make sure you don't walk away in case of a wreck.  When you toot the horn, it sounds like you stepped on a weak goose, and sometimes its tricky getting into reverse gear.  It doesn't matter what condition the engine is in or what kind of muffler you have, you can always tell the sound of a VW vehicle coming your way.  It is unmistakable! 

Owning an old beetle not only saves you money on gas costs, but also for repairs. Even though they are a bit out of date, you can still easily get parts thanks to production in Mexico. They won't be the original VW parts, but they work just as good for a lot less mulah. Another thing that's great about them is you can repair (or rather, patch) anything that may go wrong no matter what your experience is. The wiring in my beetle was very obviously done by a novice. There is no grounding point, just a spot on the body frame that the paint was scraped off of, and the wire was pressed against. My husband drove his poor old beetle for months with a cracked head and didn't even know it. The car ran like a top. Our mechanic was mystified.

The New Beetle is not so easy/cheap. With the new technology, you have to worry about the cars' computer, the different fluids and heaven forbid it ever break down! Just taking my New Beetle in for a timing belt (another thing the old beetles don't have), a tune-up, and an overall check-up, cost me $750! If you compare the mileage with the older beetles, you're getting about the same amount of distance per gallon, unless you get a diesel (which I did), you'll get more like 45-60 miles per gallon! My husband and I did a road trip for our honey moon which was about 2000 miles round trip and only filled up our 15 gallon tank 2 1/2 times!

So whether we're all just crazy or just very fond of saving money, we definitely have something good in the driveway!