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Proud Owner of 1999 New Beetle

2K views 14 replies 10 participants last post by  peanutsmom 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello! I'm a proud, and broke, owner of a 1999 new beetle. I have never owned a beetle, or any car other than a Toyota. My first car was a 1992 Camry my parents purchased from my band director for 3200. Well, 3 months later and an engine leaking oil so profusely that you could quite literally follow my path through out town, my mom traded in my car for her new hybrid toyota camry and I got her old toyota corolla. After graduation, my brothers got the corolla and I went to college dependent on my parents, brothers, friends, and boyfriend for rides. After a semester of mooching, I, and everyone else, got tired of it.

So I saved up $1000 over a period of 3 months, yes surprising on a college students budget, and I and my parents unequally split the cost of a VW Beetle!

1999 VW New Beetle GLS
It has had 3 owners, not counting me.
122,304 miles on it.
It's a manual.-_-.... I have to learn how to drive it ...
It's had a good little life.
It has no spoiler, the sun roofs a little tricky with it sucking the cover back when it opens.
It needs an awesome cleaning, an upholstery fix on the passengers side. Also on the passengers side, the power window doesn't work.
A new stereo would be nice too ( has a cassette player).
Needs a new dash or a fix on the dash. The previous owner had a dog and so there are some scratches on it.
Also needs, last but not least on the interior, a flower vase ;).

As far as the exterior, a nice wash and wax is all I can find wrong. My mom said that the antenna seems to have lost its plastic stripping on it. I didn't notice anything, but I will look and try to fix that too.

After all of the other thigns are fixed, I might consider a spoiler and other stuff but thats last on my to-do list. First will be actually learning how to drive it! I'm so excited!

I think there are a lot of things that need to be fixed, but I'm excited to do so! I'm so proud of it!

One thing I really love is that the car's body style is timeless, and while there might be a few noticeable differences between the 1999 and the more recent models. I can't tell and i feel like I'm getting a really nice new vehicle! YAY!!! I'm really excited! I've worked really hard on this!

Oh and if anyone has any tips or anything they think I should know about my bug I would love to know! I want to make sure it lasts so avoiding a problem now would be better than substantially paying for it in the future. ;)
 
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#2 ·
Oh and I forgot!

It's blue, has a sunroof, heated seats, and... I don't know what else to put!

I'll post pictures later on. I live on campus and my campus is a huge hill. I'm afraid to drive it with out being better at the manual driving because I may kill someone, myself, or worse ... DESTROY MY CAR! ... I need to get my priorities straight! Anyways.. I've got an Anatomy and Physiology lab test to study for... so I'll ttyl!

Again, I'm so happy to have this car and I can't wait to make her mine! YAY!!!!:p
 
#3 ·
Congrats on your new car! Once you learn to drive a manual, you will never go back. Sounds like you are planning a lot of the same things I am planning: cleaning, small cosmetic repairs, etc. Enjoy!
 
#4 ·
Welcome to the Org! :wave2:

Welcome to the New Beetle! :party:


We Love Pics! :D
 
#6 ·
You'll be fine with a manual, I'm so surprised how many people in the US don't know how to drive one! In the UK we can take either a manual or an auto test, if you pass an auto test you can not drive a manual until you pass another test! Most people take the manual and most cars are manual in Europe!
Sounds like a nice little car, mine is a 2000 GLX and I love my sunroof :) It gets too hot here for a vert most of the year but it's nice to get some fresh air!

Kate
 
#7 ·
A million years ago when I took Driver's Ed, my instructor wouldn't teach anything but manual. He said if you could drive a stick you could drive anything. I have preferred having a manual transmission ever since. Much more fun to drive. :D
 
#8 ·
Welcome to the org! Love your spunk! You will find alot of great people here who also love their bugs! Keep up the spirit! I wish I had your vigour to learn a stick! Good Luck!:)
 
#10 ·
Hello, and welcome to the Org! Its awesome to see how excited you are with your new dub! You will enjoy the shifting gears when you get used to it. My wife was off and running in three days with her 5 spd. Make sure you start your own thread in the picture forum to keep track of all the good times. We love too many pics:D
 
#11 ·
Thanks Everyone!

Thanks everyone!
I am really excited! lol As you can already tell!
This week is going by really fast because I can't wait to play with my bug.. lol ... that sounds weird like it is a hot wheels car or something but I'm super excited!
I really want to make it my own but I'm not really sure how, plus I want it to be uniquely mine... if that makes any sense...
As far as the whole manual vs automatic. I feel like most cars in the states are automatic and most people only know how to drive automatic. My parents both grew up working onfarms so they know how because of tractors. If you buy a manual car in the US, then you can save no joke like 3-5 thousand dollars on a new car.. granted the manual might not have all of the same features.

And don't worry guys, I love photography so you will have some pictures soon... LOTS of pictures REAL soon :p

Thanks again! ! !
 
#13 ·
My Bug's First Picture... with my mom :( lol

Sorry about the doted out face, but I don't think she would like me putting her picture up on the Web without her permission. Anyways, here is my bug's first pic. More to come soon. My mom's co worker took this with her phone.
 

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#14 ·
Advice Anyone?

I've read some of the posts and threads on here, but I can't really follow the lingo....(for instance card) Not to be a newb, but I really don't know where I should start as far as taking care of and making sure my bug lasts as long as it can. Any advice? My mom said take her for a tune up, but I don't know how much that would cost and I am currently, definitely, broke...

Any and all advice and tips and hints and anything else would be greatly appreciated. I'm sorry if I haven't given enough information, I'm just new at this.

I am a very eager and excited bug owner! I want to make my little bug last as long as it can. Thanks so much for your time!
 
#15 ·
I feel the same way :) and your baby is the same color as my Smurfette :) love it!! We need alot of info on your buggy.. Miles? Probably need to change your timing belt and all the excessories. Tune up would be great. Oil change done how often? Clutch? Exc.... You know.. Good luck and keep us updated. Smurfette wasn't born with a wing either the previous owner put it on before he sold her (to me). But we have done normal stuff to keep her going. Smurfette is a 98 5 speed model w/o sunroof, but fun to drive. When I bought her her front rotors where toast so we put some cross drilled and allotted rotors on her with some good brakes.. And so on from there..lol.. Oh make sure you change the cabin filter I can almost guarantee that's way nasty!! Lol.. There is a thread section that can walk you through everything. Smurfette will be getting a timing belt change with her water pump here pretty soon (before baby comes I hope) but start a pic thread to keep us up to date on her progress :) have fun and give her lots of love and she will love you back :) congrats and welcome again
 
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