You, err no, hang on. Not you, but ‘a friend of yours’ has asked for advice.
Your friend wants a car that is a bit of a giggle. They want something a bit left-field, but you have been telling ‘your friend’ to be careful. No one wants to throw thousands of pounds away on a totally reckless set of wheels and end up regretting it.
And it is for that reason, you – or whoever - are considering buying a Volkswagen Beetle. In yellow. Because it’s fun, that has been engineered by Volkswagen, who make Audis and Golfs and other cars that have ‘bullet-proof’ reliability.
And you’re spot on. Don’t get me wrong, no one is ever going to be impressed at your ‘far out-ness.’ And some will still mock you for driving a car that is such a giggle. But that’s the point isn’t it? To raise a smile here and there.
In a shopping mall car park, two toddlers stared out from their car seats at our yellow test car as their Mum drove them home in a Fiesta. If they were old enough they would have asked, “Mum, why can’t we have one of those banana cars?”
And their Mum may have responded, “Because the boot isn’t really big enough for a family.”
Or may be she would have said, “Because the rear seats are too hard to get to in order to fit baby seats.”
But secretly she was probably thinking, I wish children looked wistfully at me and my car. And may be it’s not such a silly idea, when the boys a bit bigger?
Afterall the build quality throughout is faultless. While it’s not objectively better than a Golf, because the Beetle seems a bit whimsical, the contrast makes everything from the switches to door shutting more noticeably solid.
The driving experience seemed to be more special than other Volkswagens too. The main reason is that to accommodate the eccentric curves of the Beetle, there is a deep dashboard which pushes the front seats back, much closer the rear wheels than in other 3 door hatchbacks.
So the car turns through corners, especially in town, in a surprisingly pointed fashion. The sensation is not abrupt, because the ride is so smooth. But there are few other hatchbacks that have such direct responses to the driver’s input.
Thank goodness the front seats are the large, supportive affairs, whose lumbar supports hold you firmly as you flick left and right through inner City traffic. Something that is easy to do because clutch and steering are both feather-light.
Something else that is easy to do in a Beetle is to hang out in the middle hand lane for several hours on dual carriage ways and motorways. At no time is there any road, wind or engine noise. The 1.6 litre engine delivers a nice range of power that means you waft along steadily – but that may not be enough if you want to really compete in the fast lane.
So there’s a 2.0 litre petrol for you (or your friend?). And if fuel economy is the main concern while you trade a light clutch and smooth power delivery for it, there’s a 1.9 diesel too.
What’s the market like?
There are around 1,500 used Beetles on the market at any one time. The cheapest diesels are £6,500 with about 70,000 miles and that is as low as they go unless you accept riskily high mileage.
1.6 petrols are our top pick as mileages are lower – for example a 3 year old, with 25,000 average miles is around £8,000.
If mileage (and the related reliability) doesn’t bother you, then £3,000 is now entry territory. Whereas nearly new models can be found for under £12,500. Saving £1,500 over a new car.
What else can this budget buy?
The only thing that really compares is a Mini. Which is another retro design brought up to date and built to the modern manufacturing standards of a premium German car maker. Both are slightly compromised for their design style.
A Mini is less quirky and more ‘cool.’ But as a result if you compare 3 year old models the Mini is as much as £2,000 more. And it doesn’t drive better, or offer more practicality, or better fuel economy.
Summary
Fun. A mid-range hatchback, that provides as much practicality as all but parents of very young children need, in a more entertaining shell. The quality of the driving experience will surprise you.