VW Beetle 1.4 and 1.6

ggsumo

Well-known user
Feb 14, 2009
1,224
191
Luton Airport
Hi All

I am looking for an old banger as my daughters car to learn in. She has set her heart on a VW Beetle (the newer design not the old air cooled). it will be a 2002 - 2005 1.4 or 1.6 (not convertible) as these are the low insurance jobbies.

Anybody know any specifics to look for on these or had any experience of them?

cheers
 
They are great cars, wife sold hers on a few months back, but it was a nice smooth drive (2 litre petrol)

One common thing is failing window regulators. Ours failed 3 times in the 2 years we owned it, which became annoying and the reason we sold it on. They are a bit of a faff to change. They often fail partway down, or the window can just fall down in to the door causing it to shatter. There's a couple of variants in them but if you're lucky the cheap clips off eBay will fit, otherwise you'll need an entire inner door panel with the reg already fitted (as we had to do, twice on one side, once on the other, all in the space of 10 months or so)
 
Do not get the 1.4. The gearbox is prone to the differential failing on them, common fault with it on the Golf and if it shares the same engine then it will be a massive repair bill.
 
They are great cars, wife sold hers on a few months back, but it was a nice smooth drive (2 litre petrol)

One common thing is failing window regulators. Ours failed 3 times in the 2 years we owned it, which became annoying and the reason we sold it on. They are a bit of a faff to change. They often fail partway down, or the window can just fall down in to the door causing it to shatter. There's a couple of variants in them but if you're lucky the cheap clips off eBay will fit, otherwise you'll need an entire inner door panel with the reg already fitted (as we had to do, twice on one side, once on the other, all in the space of 10 months or so)

2lt insurance is too high but the 1.6 is ok

My mate had a Golf (96 i think) had exactly the same problem, thanks
 
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Yes I imagine the 2.0 litre would be expensive on insurance for a new driver, though I don't know why as its hardly an earth shattering performance being an 8 valve lump in a heavy car! Does the job day to day though.
Im sure the 1.6 will be ok for her, these cars have bags of character, she'll love it.

The golf your mate had will have had the same cheap nylon plastic design clips as the Beetle, and most other VW, Audi & Porsche's of that era.
 
Whilst they are great cars and our 1.9 tdi is still going strong I am not sure about learning to drive in one.
They are a bugger to park, it's very difficult to judge distance to the front and rear and even after 10 years of ownership I still can't reverse park the damn thing straight without opening the door to check.
Not wanting to put you off but just something to be aware of.
In 10 years we have replaced the window regulator and wiper motor (touch wood) so very reliable.
Good luck in your search!

Sent from my LG-M250 using Tapatalk
 
Nice one thanks for the info.

i am always of a mind that you should learn in something challenging - like going to an empty car park to practice driving in snow etc. If I need to fit parking sensors then so be it but test would be in a driving instructors car anyway. I learnt in a Vauxhall Victor but passed my test in a Mini :)
 
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When my wife and I went thru this loop of looking for a 'learner's' car for our last child, we must have already made every mistake possible. So we were keen to 'get it right' this time. We had already realised that it would be the insurance and not the cost of the car that would be the problem. I started with insurers who were really the most difficult and unhelpful that they could possibly be about the whole thing. Claiming to have absolutely no idea what to suggest and expecting us to feed them an endless list of registration numbers to get any kind of quote.

The question I put to them was - 'From your experience, what types / models should I be looking for, to get a lower premium for a female learner driver ?' The old chestnut of, 'But I can't give you a price until I know the vehicle reg.' just doesn't wash. Eventually I found a local broker who seemed to understand and was told that Toyota 'Aygo', Citroen C1 and Peugeot 108 were pretty much the lowest on the list, as well as all looking remarkably similar. The other problem is that many policies are quite reasonable for the 'learning phase', i.e. my wife or myself supervising, before my daughter passed her test, but what about the cost after that ? Some were 10 x ( ten times ) the cost once the test was passed !

Anyway, Lucijo ended up with a two year old, 20k mile Toyota Aygo for £5k and with 'Go Girl' insurance for young ladies at £275 whilst learning and about £750 once she had passed the test. Shes now been driving 3 years and its since done a year of high school, a year at Liverpool and is now her daily for her ATC training down south...