Old vs New Beetle Maintenance

Did anyone catch the Midwest Scene article in the latest Hot VWs. It was talking about replacing some minor items on a New Beetle. Apparently Volkwasgen screwed up by making the aircooled Beetle to easy to work on, but has rectified this oversight on the New Beetle. It said to change a side marker light you have to the following according to the Bently Manual: You have to remove the rear wheel and then take off the entire inner wheel skirting just to gain access to a $1 bulb, which is designed to ensure that the NB owner will have to go to the dealer and pay some $$$ jiust to get a light bulb changed. The rear tailight lens are flush mounted to the fender rendering it virtually impossible to remove without special tools. The article said a plunger will work well if you want to avoid another trip the pay some money to the dealer. It also said if you lose a key with a transmitter, then expect to separate yourself from $300 for a new one. VW still needs how to figure out how to make floormats inaccesible so you have to run to the dealer to get a new set installed. Bill Berckman

67 Beetle

That's not true at all...

To remove the marker light, all that you do is press in on the front or rear portion of the light...it's on a spring clamp. The rear taillight is removed by undoing a nut in the trunk, and then pushing the light right out...takes

30 seconds...losing the key...$300 is extreme. Try $189....have you priced the key/remote for any late model vehicle? For any vehicle that has a transponder in the key it is very expensive to replace.

Just reporting what I read. The article starts on page 38 of the August Hot VWs.

Bill Berckman

67 Beetle

That's Ok, I bought a new Toyota pickup in '89. I order to change the sealed beam headlight you had to remove the belly pan/splashguard under the radiator, remove the lower valance, remove the front bumper, remove the grill................. Needless to say I changed both while I was in there. Supposedly they realized their oversight and fixed it on '90-up models.

Tom

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Dear Bill,

You apparently missed the numerous articles in the trade pubs following the introduction of the New Beetle.

A lot of folks don't realize that the body is NOT the Concept One. After paying for some superbly talented designing, such as identical LF/RR body panels and so forth, VW retained only the basic body SHAPE, massaging it rather crudely to fit the Golf chassis. 'Crudely' based on the recalls for the jammed wiring looms, failure to provide access to various maintenance points and so forth, as explained in the auto maintenance tech journals of that time... which of course are not read by any of the editors of the chrome & go magazines.

-Bob Hoover

I would guess VW is following a trend well estabished by popular culture which is why do it yourself when a paid professional can do it better?? Most vehicle owners don't want to worry about maintenance. They would rather have aprofessional do it, just like they would rather pay a pro to do their plumbing and electrical work. When the AC VWs were designed they were created in a time when the average man did most of his own maintainence. Now, many new car buyers are women who traditionally do not work on their cars hence ot os expected that the work will be done by pros. Is that the fault of the maufacturers or the consumers? Probably a little of both.

--Dan E

Speaking of New Beetles..... How many of these cars have you seen on the road, with one of their day light headlights burned out? A bunch I believe. There is a huge problem with these cars that overloads the fuse panel and wiring harness that deals with this circuit. We had to change both in our '98, and that harness is $175, and the sub panel fuse block, which is located on top of the battery is another heavy blow. Our fuse panel was so overloaded that is was about to catch on fire! It had already melted the fuse holder, and was burning out one light after another. This panel also controls the fan. Once it gets bad, and you drive the New Beetle without the a/c on, when the engine gets too warm, the fan does not come on! The engine will over heat. If you drive with the a/c on, the fan will come on by itself. VW should do a recall on this costly repair, but no....... The next time you see a New Beetle driving your way, check to see if the day light headlights are both on. Bet you, they aren't!

snipped-for-privacy@aol.comSPAMOUT (Bill Berckman) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m29.aol.com:

Grrr. Tell me about it. Grrr. Just like the game the American auto makers are playing. Go to the dealer or lay out $$$ for a bunch of @$@!% Torx tools. GRRR!

VW deserves to be nailed to the wall due to the fact that some have not forgotten how VWoA has treated the aircooled community with lawsuits. While that may have died down, some are probably still recovering financially. Have not heard of any new VWoA lawsuits recently but that does not mean that there are not any.

Bill Berckman

67 Beetle

Come on Dan, Let's not turn this into a male/female thing. I know many women capable of doing their own maintinance on their cars and many men who are not even close to capable.It is much more a laziness thing. Most DRIVERS nowadays are just to lazy or busy or just don't care about doing maintinance anymore. Do your maintaning with a credit card and you won't mess yourself up with grease and grime and goo. It's most of the drivers, not just the women.

Just my opinion of course

-- the Grokdoc Tom Malmevik all that groks is god

67 Baja "marti"

I took your advice and looked, and you are right about the lights. The most important light on a New Beetle is the license plate light that is used to illuminate the vanity plate that 90% of New Beetles have attached. I was behind a NB at a stoplight today. If you look at the back of a NB , it really does not have bumpers. Anytime you touch another object, you will be in for some touch up work, which can be done for a nice fee at your local VW dealership.

Bill Berckman

67 Beetle

Why be so bitter about a freaking license plate? Ironically, it's my '74 Super, not my NB, that has a vanity plate on it. I have two working headlights, and over 100,000 miles on it with nothing breaking that I consider to be horrible. Nothing that totally impaired the function of the car. The New Beetle is hardly alone in having painted bumper covers, other than trucks I am not so sure there really are any newer cars still made that have seperate bumpers such as old cars like Beetles have.

Not bitter, just stating a fact. Bill Berckman

67 Beetle