Lemme tell ya... this is one hell of a fun car to drive. It's fun to drive it alone, it's fun to drive your friends around in it, and it's just fun to be seen in.

But it's not only the looks. Granted, the looks are what grabbed me from the moment I saw that car ("THAT'S what I want!!"), and for good reason. It's got style, it's got personality. It's both elegant and cartoonish (in fact, more than one person has said that "it looks like a cartoon car"). It's not quite the novelty it was when it first came out, or even when I bought mine in March of '99, but the car still turns heads, generates smiles, and people still ask me about it every time I take it to the car wash.

One other big thing it's got is ROOM. For such a small car, it's incredibly roomy, with tons of headroom in the front seat. The dashboard is nicely styled, with everything in easy reach, and there's acres of room between the control panel and the window (this actually took some getting used to). The dash's truly shining moment, however, comes at and after dusk, when you get to turn the lights on. The lights are blue, and all the white markings of the various controls glow red. This is very cool, and never ceases to impress your passengers. And y'know ... the bud vase is the perfect touch.

Some have complained that it's not as "peppy" as they'd like. Well, it's perfectly peppy enough for me. I don't need to go from 0 to 60mph in eight seconds, and neither do most people. The engine's solid, has a good sound and feel, and if you insist on extra pep, get the Turbo model. Mine's a 5-speed gasoline model that's been averaging about 24mpg (I do lots of city driving, and some highway). I have yet to take a long freeway trip on it, so it may well do better, but it's been okay so far. I declined to get the diesel model, despite its claims of 45mpg, simply because I don't see diesel fuel sold in enough places to suit my convenience.

One advantage of the car becoming more commonly seen and less scarce on the lot is that the dealers won't be able to get away with gouging as much as they were when the car was first available. I began shopping in January '99, and there wasn't a single Los Angeles area dealer that I spoke to who wasn't adding at least $2,500 to the MSRP. Trans Ocean VW in Pasadena was the worst, with the salesman sheepishly quoting a price of $23,500 for what was a $17,400 car. I managed to find a dealer in Palmdale who was only charging a relatively small amount above MSRP, but there's no excuse for doing this now. (The just reinforces my feeling that car dealers are pond scum at levels just above Hollywood agents.)

I do have a few quibbles ... the side view mirrors are too small, for one. The drink cup holders are awful - you can't fit anything into the front ones other than cans of soda, and I don't drink soda. I'll be looking for some third-party solution to this. I wish they had put one dome light in the center of the roof rather than having to rely on the back/side lights, the visor mirror lights and the little light on the bottom of the rear view mirror. And the back seat is a tad cramped, but not as bad as you might think. I've taken 6' tall friends back there who haven't complained, but I suspect they'd have a slightly different attitude if I hit a big bump or took 'em on a long road trip.

But those are minor quibbles indeed. This was literally the ONLY car that I was willing to make five years of car payments on.

I love my Beetle.


Amount Paid (US$): 18,200
Condition: New
Model Year: 1999
Model and Options: GLS 2.0L 5-speed