| Looking to buy a used Volkswagen Beetle? Not too | | | | were a number of things we were looking for. Here |
| long ago I was on the search myself. Here's a little bit | | | | they are: |
| about how I found my fun little car and what I did to | | | | * Body in good shape - We looked for cars with no |
| find it. | | | | rust at all. Any rust is just an indication of more to |
| Searching Online: | | | | come and we didn't want a car that had started |
| My first step was to start searching for cars on Auto | | | | rusting. Also looked for scratches and dents. Not |
| Trader which is a Canadian website since I'm in | | | | looking for perfection here but at least in good shape. |
| Canada. I'm sure the US must have something similar | | | | * Tires fairly new - Obviously replacing tires after |
| that you can search if that's where you live. I was | | | | buying the car is not a good deal so we looked to |
| looking for Volkswagens but in the beginning I wasn't to | | | | make sure the tires were in good shape. |
| picky on whether I wanted a Jetta or Beetle. I was | | | | * Timing belt new - Mentioned this already but we |
| also considering a Golf. | | | | needed to know that the timing belt had been replaced. |
| As I got out there to look around I really started to love | | | | * Interior in good shape - Some cars were not in great |
| the idea of owning a Beetle. I remember Herbie the | | | | shape on the inside, this wasn't a good sign as if |
| love bug and I always wanted my own Beetle when I | | | | someone didn't take care of the inside it's possible they |
| grew up. | | | | didn't keep up maintenance either. |
| Timing Belt Issue: | | | | * Low kilometers - Lower kilometers means less wear |
| Most of the cars I went to look at my boyfriend came | | | | and tear on the vehicle. Most cars in my price range |
| with. Now I don't know much about cars or bargaining | | | | were around 150-200k. |
| for a good used car price so he was doing all the | | | | * Who to trust - It's scary buying a used car from a |
| talking for me. | | | | place you don't know. It's hard to know who to trust. |
| One thing we often came across was that the | | | | The dealership I bought my car from did have a |
| salesmen at used car dealerships couldn't tell us if the | | | | UCDA (Used Car Dealers Association) membership |
| timing belt had been changed. According to what I've | | | | so that was some comfort. They have also been in |
| been told the belt needs changing at about 150k and | | | | business for 14 years and I did get a good 'gut' feeling |
| we needed to find out for sure that it already HAD | | | | about the guy I bought the car from. |
| been changed or I would be looking at about $700 or | | | | That should give you a great starting point as you hunt |
| so to have that done after I buy the car. | | | | around for your bug! Good luck and I hope you find the |
| Finding a Car in Good Shape: | | | | perfect Volkswagen New Beetle for you. |
| Buying a used car is certainly a lot of work! There | | | | |