car advice (Volkswagen New Beetle)?

[crimpa]

Hi, I know nothing about cars (except what I learnt on the test)
but I have saved for a long, long time and am finally hoping to buy my first car
but I want it to be a new model used beetle, possibly convertible.

Questions:
what should i look for in a used car?
where should I buy?
do convertibles leak / are cold / unsafe?
how many miles is too many on the clock?
what questions should I be asking?

thank you for any constructive help; it may not be the most sensible first car but I have waited along time.
maybe im gay? maybe im rich, maybe im a rich gay? please actually try to help rather than passing judgement on issues that are not part of the question. thankyou

 

[Roger]

well in order to protect your hard earned money, decide right now if you plan on having an inspection at a mechanic you trust. If you buy any used car, you are likely to need one just to make sure its in good shape. ( I drop my used cars off at my mechanic, and assume a 200 to 800 dollar bill) Here is a website that may help www.samarins.com has a lot of good information about how to buy used cars and discusses many other things you need to know. Knowledge is power with a used car and the people who buy and sell them are not always honest.
I do a cold start test drive with any vehicle I am interested in. I like to look for private party cars, because I get a better overall picture, not like a dealer who has detailed a old crap car to look new. I ask the owner the night before not to start the car and then show up the next morning if convenient and check the engine oil first thing. If its the same temperature as the outside air good. If its warmed up at all I assume someone is trying to hide a engine or more likely a worn transmission problem. I also check the automatic transmission fluid to see if it is pinkish and clear. (good) brown, black or burnt is bad, (walk away). If the transmission fluid looks good and I believe the car sat overnight without being driven, I start the engine and listen to it. The engine should start easily and quietly, and smooth into a high idle in 5 or 10 seconds. no big blue smoke clouds out of the tailpipe. I give it a minute or two to warm up, and then drive the car like I stole it. Any used car that you can get up to freeway speeds of 55 miles per hour or more in the first 5 to seven minutes cold, is likely in pretty good condition. I usually discuss a extended test drive of 40 minutes to an hour with the owner. Any owner who does not want you to take the car to a mechanic, or will not let you test drive the car, run away, do not buy it, they are hiding something. A used car that is warmed up good may hide a bad transmission, for awhile, but someone will get stuck with it.
If you find these cheap screw ups who refuse to register their car when selling and the tags are expired. don't buy the car. you cannot legally drive it, and if you get caught while test driving the vehicle gets impounded. And if someone is too cheap to register it when selling, what other maintenance did they skip too?. its not worth the hassle.
Once you have done your test drive and checked all the lights and horn, radio and heater and ac and power windows, its you want the car the final step is the mechanic. He is your final defense against possible issues, If you think you can look at a car and tell whats wrong, you cant. I found a car owned by a nice old guy for my sister. he lived in an expensive house, had other nice cars, and was open and honest (except about who drove the car. I had a free inspection lined up for my sister. at a mechanics shop. I called in a favor all she had to do is show up. She did, and too impatient to wait 5 minutes decided to buy the car and drives off without saying a word, blowing my favor, thinking she saved 50 bucks . a few weeks later the front end almost fell off the car, and she called the owner to ask him if he knew about any recent possible damage, and he admitted his grandson had launched the car over these bushes in the front yard. It broke several bolts then, several more snapped later and my sister in her infinite stupidity, could have found it out and had it fixed weeks before, during the inspection. so don't skip the inspection, its a safety factor too.
I would not recommend a convertible as a first car. Mainly because they are not safe in a roll over. But also because unless a top is new, they tend to dry up and shrink and not fit well after 5 years in the sun, and will be cold in winter, great fun in summer. But do a lot better if sitting in a garage when not being driven. and the top will last much longer inside a garage. High mileage cars are high mileage cars, Honda , Toyota, subaru and nissan have some good cars that go high mileages, most other companies do not. Your main defense about any used car is a good mechanic you trust. Never be in a hurry, always get a good nights sleep before buying anything. And a car that some dealer put as is on the window sticker, they know its going to break, don't buy it.

 

[jimmy]

You buy an old, 10 years at least, Japanese car for £500-600. You can't, unless you are a millionaire, afford insurance on a new car.