Well guys, she's gone. Sorry to say.

Nacho98 · Jul 8, 2012

I traded her off this morning. With the wife needing something with an auto to get to work which will be starting soon, and having spent the last 9-10 months relying on me to drive her everywhere, I had to say goodbye to the Stang.

We got her a brand new 2012 Beetle 2.5L w/sunroof today. It's a great car so far. Quiet, silky smooth--everything a new car should be. In regards to my other thread about the trade, I found another exactly identical car to the one we looked at (exactly what the wife wanted) at another dealer, so we headed over there today. I talked car price first without mentioning the trade again, and ended up getting the car for $500 under invoice price, so they were $500 ahead of the other dealer to start. Then I mentioned the trade, knowing they had to give me at least a solid $5k for mine just to match the other dealer. Sure enough they came back and said $5k, so I said that's just a match to the other dealer, what's the incentive to buy from you? Figuring the other dealer probably wasn't going to give me $6k, and figuring NADA clean trade was $5k, I figured well at $5k I'm at least not getting screwed on the trade, it's at least more or less what it's worth; but I needed more to buy from here since it just matched the other dealer and I thought the first dealer was pleasant to deal with. So I just said alright tell you what, come up to $5200 on the trade, 0% financing for 60 months, and you've got a deal right now. He talked to the sales manager and it was a done deal within about 45 minutes.

Then it was just an issue of signing papers and giving a longing, sad goodbye look to the Mustang that did exactly what I needed it to do--be cheap reliable transportation to get me through the transition period of leaving Japan and coming over here knowing I was facing unemployment but still needing a car right off the bat to be able to find and get to work and get established. It did exactly that, and never once worried me that I wouldn't get where I was going. It was a good buy, and I'd do the same thing again in a heartbeat. It was a good car for me, and I will and would miss it, but I already knew I would but more importantly I knew I'd have to move on as our needs changed. Since I work downtown, I'll be sloughing it on the bus with the riff raff and heathens for awhile which is going to suck ass horribly, and once the wife starts working and we start bankrolling some good cash, I'll pick something else up down the road. On the plus side since I had 0% financing and owed a small amount on my wife's school, I had them apply half my trade to the new car and cut me a check for the other half so I can pay off her school and wipe out the student loan payment, so her school is now a thing of the past, which makes us both feel good.

Here are some pics:

Nacho98 · Jul 8, 2012

SRT Handz · Jul 8, 2012

ademily87 · Jul 8, 2012

That's an expensive blow job.

You'll get another one!

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

vermilion · Jul 8, 2012

poop happens.

Nacho98 · Jul 8, 2012

As for features, this is the middle trim (not counting the Turbo model since that's kind of a separate line). It's got heated seats with three settings, push button ignition, that smart key thing where you never take the key out of your pocket, sunroof, bluetooth so she can call me over the car's stereo, 8 speaker stereo, ambient lighting, iPod hookup, heated mirrors and washer nozzles, all sorts of good stuff that I'm not used to technology-wise since I've always had old ass cars that you got in and just drove. The highest trim just adds navi (hassle) and an even better stereo, and a couple other small things. The beetle was redesigned for 2012. Longer, wider, shorter, less fenimine/gay, and way cooler oldskool wheels and no stupid flower inside. MUCH nicer interior with the body color pieces...guess I'll be waxing the interior?

The 5 banger has good power (170 hp) and is a proven engine, the headlights, although halogen, are impressive--they have a nice cutoff line like a xenon and light the road WAY better than any halogen I've ever had the suffering/punishment of having to use...I was genuinely impressed with that since when I think halogen I think total shit and definitely wasn't expecting that. The handling really surprised me--it's actually really good and it is indeed a fun car to drive. The steering wheel controls are great, and it has an info display with menus on the gauge cluster that tells you all sorts of useless shit. I can finally throw my FM transmitter in the trash, ****ing garbage piece of junk. In addition to the iPod/iPhone cable which lets her control everything through the touch screen, it also has an aux in port, a 6 disc in dash changer (lol, at least I upgraded to 1995 and got away from the cassettes of 1988...), and an SD card slot. Leatherette interior, but nicer leatherette than the leather/vinyl in my Mustang, so no complaints It's also partial leatherette, partial cloth, so it shouldn't be as much of a pain in the ass to keep clean as leather. It's also comfy and has a hell of a lot of room both for passengers and cargo in the back. Those black L-shaped pieces in the trunk? Those have velcro on the bottom to attach to the cargo liner, and you can just shape them around whatever you're carrying to hold it in place--ultra useful yet so simple, never even thought of something like that.

Overall we like the car a lot, hope it turns out good and if it's a lemon then when the warranty is up we will dump it for something else, but we are hoping to keep it at least until it's paid off.

It was just time to move on to a new car. The Mustang, though it had run pretty great for me, was about to nickel and dime me to death, I could sense it since it was giving me early warning of large future expenses. The dealer said they were going to repaint the hood since it has a few small spider cracks in it, whether they do or not is yet to be seen, but if they do the hood I'm sure they'll do the chipped up bumper. I genuinely hope they do since I'd like to see this car stay as nice as possible and not end up ragged out and rundown since it was indeed such a nice car. It's future is uncertain, and I can't help but feel a little bad about that. But it is what it is.

MustangKrazy97 · Jul 8, 2012

you better get another stang down the road,other than that not a bad little bug you can punch people now..

Nacho98 · Jul 8, 2012

You know what they say, happy wife happy life. No idea what I'll get down the road, depends how much the wife brings home. Most likely I'll be in the Ford camp, but we will see what's out there when I get to that point.

Nacho98 · Jul 8, 2012

I bet it can beat my SN, heh heh

low blow i know

auto_x5.0 · Jul 8, 2012

I love the look of the new beetles, if I could find a clean one local with a diesel I would definitely rock one. The new body lines and retro wheels are great together

atlanticblue98 · Jul 8, 2012

These new beetles are SO much nicer than the old ones. Some wheels and springs would set it off but its your wifes daily so I assume it'll stay the way it is

Nacho98 · Jul 8, 2012

^^^Yep, staying bone stock. The only things we are doing is ditching the dealer advertisement license plate frame for a chrome Beetle one, and maybe getting some nice embroidered carpet mats with red borders (VW accessory) to replace the el cheapo carpeted ones it came with. I'm apprehensive about VW since it's VW, but I really want/need this car to last her a long time. I'll need a car, and we are going to want a house eventually. I need a solid 5 years from this car, I don't want it crapping out by the time the warranty is up to where I feel I have to ditch it.

I do miss the Stang a lot. It was the best used car I've had mechanically, and I had to turn around and walk away from it when I could feel the waterworks coming as I looked at it today after the deed had been done but before signing the papers with the finance guy. Trading a car is always rough when you're a car guy. Not a clue what I'll get next or how much I'll have to spend.

DropTopPony · Jul 8, 2012

I like the new Beetles a lot!

Not a bad car to own and I am sure the wife will reward you for your sacrifice

Tony · Jul 8, 2012

awww the things we do for our wives!!

miss2slocoupe · Jul 8, 2012

Thats a pretty slick car and perfect for your wife. Im not feeling the wheels but that was very nice that you gave up your car for her to have one. Thats what a marriage is about.

Raffaelli · Jul 8, 2012

Man I feel your pain.

I JUST sold my 94 and bought a german car too. A 92 190E Mercedes Benz.

But having spent years at a VW dealership...The Beetle is probably a good buy. The drivetrain is solid, But to warn you, the first year or two of a new body style is utter crap. Little things like window regualtors, all sorts of switches and stuff like that had a hellacious time when the new beetle first came out.

Probably nothing you have to worry about for years and years. Most people dont keep a new car past 3 or 4 years anyway.

Anyway, I always thought the 2012s looked way tougher than the earlier ones. Way to go!

Sinned83 · Jul 8, 2012

Biggest mistake I made was getting rid of mine.

Nacho98 · Jul 8, 2012

Raffaelli said:
But having spent years at a VW dealership...The Beetle is probably a good buy. The drivetrain is solid, But to warn you, the first year or two of a new body style is utter crap. Little things like window regualtors, all sorts of switches and stuff like that had a hellacious time when the new beetle first came out.

Yep, there are problems with the driver's side window on mine and everyone else's already, and mine's a late '12 build. When rolling it up it thinks there's something stuck in the window and then it rolls back down. VW released a TSB for it, then realized that their fix didn't fix it, so they suspended the TSB and are working on another fix. The suspicion is that the glass is just rubbing too hard on the weatherstripping on the way up so the pinch sensor thinks there's something in the way and rolling back down. I'm sure it'll get sorted out so I'm not too worried since VW is actively working on it, but it's pretty annoying on a brand new car.

One thing I quickly am learning to hate is how the windows roll down a quarter inch when you open it and then roll back up when you close it. I don't trust it at all. It doesn't always work right--sometimes the passenger one rolls DOWN a quarter inch when I shut off the car, even if there is nobody in the passenger seat or touching the door. That's already aggravating as ****. Sometimes it does it, usually it doesn't. I think this is part of the window issue people are having also. I'm going to be unhappy if I have to check that the windows are up every time I get out of the car. Personally it's just a stupid, overengineered design to me. I realize they do that so that the window tucks under the weatherstripping, but in all the frameless door cars I've had, none of them have ever necessitated such a feature since they used different weatherstripping which was just as functional.

Besides the window issues, which I will give them a little leniency on it since I bought this knowing it was a first year model, the car is great and I'm glad we picked it up. Don't really miss the Mustang today, it was time to move on.

EDIT: Turns out according to some VW people my windows are doing the 1/4 inch thing correctly, I just don't know what the hell I'm doing...these intelligent access key systems have a bit of a learning curve to them. I had them on two of my Japanese cars when I lived over there, but they were SUPER simple...when you got within 10 feet of the car the whole thing unlocked, and when you walked away, the whole thing locked and that's all there was to it. No buttons on the key fob and no door locking buttons in the car. Had an emergency manual key that popped out of the fob if needed. The ones here by VW, Ford, and others where you have to grab the door handle etc. are more complicated to learn.