Faults:

Driver's side door handle broke at 56,000 miles.

Brake pads had to be replaced at 58,000 miles.

Heater failed at 59,000 miles.

General Comments:

A very reliable and economical small car.

Fuel bills were low.

Cheap to buy and to run.

Was a bargain buy at £350 for a seven year old small car.

Space and comfort were good except for the lack of rear passenger doors.

An ideal car for young drivers.

Faults:

Fan Belt snapped at 140,000.

That's it!

General Comments:

Classic air cooled fun.

Slow.

Noisy.

Uncomfortable.

Cold in the winter.

But really, who cares, you get that one day in the summer when the whole thing makes sense, Windows down trundling around, feeling very special.

I will give you an example, I popped to the shop to buy some milk last summer, at the shop I saw a couple of my friends talking so I parked up next to them to have a chat, not one person passed comment on their vehicles (Mercedes CLK Kompressor and Jaguar X type) But, children pointed and stared, teenagers pointed and wanted to lower it!, older people wanted to talk to me about the beetle that they used to run which never let them down, Fantastic!

Talking of never letting you down, you will notice that I have been fairly harsh on this car as far as comfort and performance goes, It does however get full marks for reliability. Again I will illustrate this with an example, Last October (2003) I parked the car in my garden and left it. Last weekend (March 2004) I needed to move it, so I retired to the shed to get a battery charger. For a laugh I thought I would try to start it before charging the battery, to my surprise the thing turned over, and on the third attempt burst into life! Five months of neglect just shrugged off amazing.

Faults:

Nothing although the head lights would slowly dim to off after approx 20mins, but if turned off and then on again would be fine again for another 20mins. Took to various specialists over the years, but cause was never found.

General Comments:

Very nice cult car although pedals took time to get used to.

Not the fastest of vehicles, but it was never meant to be.

Very reliable except for the lighting gremlin. When I finally parted with it I had left it standing in a old barn for 2 years. A new battery and rotor arm were fitted and it fired up after two turns.

Faults:

Gear-box failed after 800 miles.

Engine failed after 30,000 miles.

Second engine (a second-hand unit for £70) failed after 120 miles!

Third engine (a re-conditioned 1641cc unit from Volkspares) failed after two months. It was repaired under warranty only to fail again a month later. After this I demanded my money back which took a further two months of phoning.

General Comments:

Despite all the problems I've had with this car, I wouldn't change it for anything. It's a damn good car to drive.

I love the way it looks and the roar of the engine (it has a very loud stinger exhaust and merged header manifold) this also helps greatly with the performance over a stock set-up.

I would advise anyone who wants an "old-style" Beetle to study the following:

Budget for repairs.

Learn how to do the repairs yourself (easy once you get started!)

Never ever ever buy a Volkspares engine (I recommend a Vege 1600cc re-con unit, it's never let me down!)

Faults:

Replacement of the fuel tank, carburettor and rear brake hub.

General Comments:

The car was in a remarkably good condition for a 27 year old car, though I have had the car fully restored.

Faults:

Just about everything - including having one of the wheels falling off whilst moving!!!!!!!!!!!

General Comments:

It's unreliable, cranky and downright annoying at times, but it has such character that I couldn't never even think about parting with it!!