IS A NEW VW BEETLE A GOOD CAR FOR A 17 YR OLD GIRL?

Question 1
IS A NEW VW BEETLE A GOOD CAR FOR A 17 YR OLD GIRL?...  

Answers
1)   Assuming you can afford the £1,000 + insurance you will be charged, then yes! - Sal*UK

2)   No "new" car is good for a teenager. It will get all banged up, scratched up. be worth crap in a year - Still Hungry

3)   if youve got the money for one :) i passed my driving test other day + i wish i could have a beetle for my first car! - Blondie ;)

4)   VW Beetle is an ok car i don't know if its good for a 17 yr old - JANE W

5)   Yeah sure, if you like being a girl that drives a bug. - CT

6)   a new one no you would have wasited your money good choice tho - Xanavi

7)   You dont need to spend so much money for a first car. You can get older cheaper cars that are far more cool. For example, an old mini, mk2 VW Golf, BMW e30, mk1 Mazda MX5 and my friend had a 1970's Triumph Spitfire that would be the most coolest car around anywhere he went. - Benjamin

8)   Not really, my ex was looking at one but when she tried it out the seating and viewing positions were really bad, so not ideal for a just passed driver... She ended up with a really nice golf GT - the 2 door 2.1ltr diesel one, seating position was elevated, strong safe car of course, a bit nippy for a first timer, but there are other drive trains.

Perhaps consider something like the suzuki swift, excellent small car, safe and cool as there arent that many about... or a polo... sit in one and see what it feels like...

oh I should add my ex was 5'8 and still had issues seeing properly.. - flubewl

9)   I would not recommend it as a car for a first time driver. Visibility is bad due to badly placed pillars, the long swooping front and rear which aren't easy to judge from inside the car, and the massive space between the steering wheel and that windscreen.

That, and a new car isn't a good idea. Will get banged up, expensive servicing, and high insurance costs. - 1992LP


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Question 2
My brake lights on my 1966 VW Beetle stopped working. Any suggestions on how to fix this problem?...  I checked the fuses, they look ok. Also, when I hit the brakes, the right/left hand indicator light on the speedometer lights up. It's a 12 volt engine.

Answers
1)   check the brake light switch up by the brake pedal. it might be bad or need adjusted. - bandit_60

2)   there is no brake light switch at the pedal it is in the master cylinder. Have you checked the bulbs? If the socket are corroded that will do it. Same goes for the ground connection .Open up the tail light aseemblies and have a look see. - convexed

3)   could be the brake switch, or a short somewhere.

replace the fuses anyways and then start looking for a short - Buslady

4)   Ok.. lets assume that all of your mechanical systems are ok.. (brakes etc..)

Do the following

1) Check the light bulbs (obvious eh> but you didnt say you had)
2) Bulbs ok? Check the ground wire?
3) Check the flasher switch (my personal vote since you say BOTH lights have gone south).

You can also use a continuity checker to see if you are getting power to the rear lights...if you are then it is definately either the ground or the bulb.

Lastly.. if everything else checks,.... you have a 40 year old turn signal switch... that is the last possible option... again a continuity checker is the fastest way to isolate it \

(If you don't know what they are its just a light bulb and two wires... one you ground and one you poke into the wire you want to test for power.. If the light comes on, your wire is hot.

good luck..

. - ca_surveyor

5)   Did you actually go out and take off the rear lens and inspect the bulb.? You may have burned them out.
The dash light signal indicators would not light up until both of them died.(then power has no where to go and it goes to the next bulb(totally wrong for the system) but that is an indicator to you something is amiss with the brake electrical. Because no one can really stand on their brake pedal and look at their rear tail lights at the same time to see if they are working. Also, be sure where you screw the bulb into is clean and not corrodded or oxidized. It should look coppery or steely (I can't remember the metal) Same applies to the bulb base, it has to be shiny brass . If it is black or green, electrical current won't pass through that "rust" which is what "oxidation" means. Meaning you may need some fine steel wool and fine sandpaper and a pencil(you will figure out that the pencil can go into the light socket hole a heck of a lot better than your finger.)
If they were heavily corroded that puts more resistance into the circuitry and normally that would affect the brake light fuse. But, I have seen the bulbs go "poof". Maybe water is entering in past the rubber seal and the lens. That would short them out too. You should be able to store doobies inside the lense and they would not get wet. It should be that dry.
Or you can pay a mechanic to do this trivial job @$80/hr - the Horses Butt

6)   Four areas I would look in order of where I most think your problem is.

1. Look for a bad earth. What you are describing ("...he right/left hand indicator light on the speedometer lights up") is generally a sign of a bad earth, the current being forced to take another route hence the lighting up of indicator warning lights.

2. Bad electrical connection or you have a short to earth. I think more probably bad connection rather than short to earth.

3 . Both globes are faulty (blown). Can happen.

4. The brake light switch at front of master cylinder is faulty. (However would not explain why indicator lights are lighting up)

. - Replica


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Question 3
2003 VW beetle Engine smoking?...  My 2003 VW beetle was working great until this morning. I tried to start it and i made a clicking sound(as if the battery was dead) I tried to have some one jump me but the charge would not last. I got the car to start but it shut off seconds later. My dad tried to start the car over and over and over again and finally the last time it started to smoke. What is the Problem? Need help

Answers
1)   take it to a garage - Damian

2)   Get a new car? (: - bilem3

3)   Go see a mechanic - sounds like an electrical fault. Get the battery checked. Check your oil. - Cyberia C

4)   YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE SLUDGE INTAKE, when the gas goes to your air filter it heats up and makes the intakE valve smoke fro the radiatior water take it to pepboys they replace the valves for under 250$ - robert

5)   If it wasn't for the smoke, I'd say It could be your alternator. That would be the best case scenario for you. Not too expensive to fix

We need to know where the smoke is coming from and what colour it is (black or white) - The Jamester


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Question 4
VW Manuel Transmission?...  My neighbor was complaining that when he stuck it in reverse it drove forward, i drove it and it was infact going forward when i had it in reverse, it was not grinding at all when i shifted, possibly the clutch is burnt out? any ideas? He's also a noobie at driving his daughters standard jetta maybe he screwed the tranny?
nope, for jettas reverse is all the way left then up and it still drove forward?

Answers
1)   Maybe both of you thought the transmission was placed in reverse, when it may have been in 5th gear ??? - not 2 B fooled

2)   well, a vw reverse is in the neutral position, then you push down and then to the left, past first, then up. - Taran

3)   When the motor mounts get old or go the way of the dodo. Engine torque can "pop" the linkages off the ball studs.

Look around your engine and tranny while some one cycles the shifter
It should be apparent. - Briano

4)   i doubt you were in 5th or you would have had a hard time trying to roll it without stalling, however it does sound like you both dont understand how to shift it. when driving a vw if you want to put it in reverse you have to push down on the knob, like your trying to put it through the floor, when pushing it over to reverse. pull the boot up from the bottom and watch it shift (then you will see why). if you already knew that then sorry, but on a positive side sounds like the problem is in the shifter-linkage and not the trans itself. - skittlz

5)   you are putting it in first thats why. Do what the other guys said: press down while in neutral and then left all the way and forward all the way. - Ioan Pop


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Question 5
How does VW beetle handle in snow?...  

Answers
1)   used to be that they were great/dont know about the very late models - ken k

2)   better than u think - Tyler

3)   With 4 winter tires its as good as things can get. Very good handling car in the winter. - pbleek

4)   The old air cooled ones = AwwwwwwwSommme. as all the engine weight was overtop the wheels. But, you have to "know" how to drive in the snow.
I do not see much difference with the newer front wheel drive models as the engine is still overtop the wheels.
And that is something that they would have designed it for. Lots of snow in the Alps you know.
No matter, if you got crappy tires it would matter not what car you had them on, you are going nowhere fast. I have dedicated summer tires and winter tires(on rims) and the winters are not installed until the snow is on my lawn. - the Horses Butt

5)   With the right tires in a word..... AWESOME.

Front wheel drive cars do exceptionally well in all conditions, with the proper tires - Briano


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