So, I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with leasing cars - particularly in the US?

I need a new car, and the local Volkswagen dealer is advertising really good monthly lease rates in the paper. Am I being naive to believe I would actually pay the price listed in the newspaper each month? (Aside from "tax, title, and registration" which I would have to pay). Are there typically other costs?

I understand the whole thing about getting a limited amount of mileage, and fees if the car isn't in perfect condition at the end of the lease. That's not a problem for me, so it would work out fine. Is there anything else I need to consider?

(Poor Veda. I see no one answered her question from three years ago. Alas, I'm as ignorant about leases now as I was then.)

So I have another thing to put to you guys. Do any of you have experience with repainting a whole car, or know what it typically costs to have it done right? The reason I ask is that, putting the grieving process on the bottom burner, I went on a madcap long trip to see a totally tricked out, new-feeling 2001 Beetle that, shockingly, is selling for a price I can afford. I wasn't thinking I could get any car that young for what I'm willing to pay... I was looking at 1995s at best, with 100K on them. The hitch is that this car was part of a fleet run by a marketing and advertising agency to promote Taco Bell, and thus has a custom paint job — bluey-purple a la Barney if he held his breath, with a lower portion that is black with a very small flame/water detail along the edge where the two colors meet. Now, I love purple more than anything, to the extent that my apartment is just sad, but I don't want to become that Adam Purple guy, and I wonder if driving around in a Taco Bell Beetle is going to be a little too conspicuous for shy me.

The thing is, though, it's an amazing amount of car under that paint for the price, and it drives like wheeled butter. If I couldn't live with the paint job and a new paint job was reasonable, I'd still come out ahead.

I'm embarrassed to admit that if I did repaint it (and thus could choose any color), it'd be a different shade of purple. For years I've seen my dream car on my morning commute... a Beetle someone did in a lilac paint with a titanium finish, so that it ever-so-subtly gleams or seems to change color in certain light. I guess a custom or fancy paint like that might cost more.

Thoughts? Other than a desire to laugh at me as I pull up to your house inside Barney?

Shiny. I think you should get the car and paint it your dream color. :)

You think?

I found a two pictures of the cars.

All the stickers were removed, so car no longer has a giant quesadilla on it. And I can't believe I just typed that. My life is odd.

Nice car, I'd totally go for it eej. No idea how much a paint job costs - I'd ring your local detailer and see if they can give you a ballpark figure quote.

That is so very cute.

How, precisely, does wheeled butter drive?

Minus the decals, I even like the base color it comes with, eej. Though maybe the ripply border might be a bit much in isolation. I can't really tell.

I agree with Claudia. But then, I also like purple rather a lot.


The Beetles are so cool. I'd never be able to afford one myself when I start looking, so I'll be mighty envious instead...

I paid about $800 for a paint job on my Z car a few years ago, and I went to a good shop, and not a crappy cheap place.

My gut instinct is that it's VERY hard to find any place that will paint your car and make it look like anything but a crappy paint job, but some research in the LA area (where, if there were a place that could do a good job, it would be there) might help find you a place. I would think that you could have what you want done for 1K or so.

That car is beautiful. I'd go for it, and sit on a paint for at least a few weeks. A newish beetle would be butterlicious.

Thanks. Boliver, after you got your $800 paint job, did it look like a shoddy paint job, or did it look like a factory one? And is it as durable?

Come to think of it, the car was repainted at $400 (the seller told me) to get it to where it is now, and it seemed decent... I don't think I'd have known it was a repaint were it not for the unusual color combination. Hadn't chipped or worn, except for a few places on the inner rim of the hood from when the decals were ripped off (who knows how the edges of those things were affixed).

Shrink-wrap.

(At least, that's how a Babylon 5 fan described it when she got to drive around with G'Kar on her car as part of a promotion. It was a bit like if you had a Kartheiser'ed vehicle to advertise a new Angel spinoff, eej.)


http://www.fjordstone.com/gcar2.html

Of course, the tacos and whatnot may not have been covering the entire body like that.

I thought it was a very good paint job, but it was an ooooold car, with rust and stuff that needed to be fixed, so it was more labor-intensive- I don't think a factory-lloking job would have been possible. And durability can't really be compared, either, because there were stress fractures in the car and little oddities that made it "age" faster than on a "new" car. So, really, my example was no help at all. :)

I think it would be easier to do a great job on a newer car, without years of oxidized paint already on it. It would be easier to prime and spray, and the Beetle has nice curves and not tons of angles and crannies which are a PITA.

All very good points. It doesn't have rust or dents, and with the roundness.

How did you find the good shop? Is it a chain, by any chance?

Nope, my trusted Z car mechanic recommended him. And de-recommended all the chains around town.

It was sold out from under me this morning. I'm bummed to have lost out on it, but at least there's nothing I could have done. Even if I'd been 100 percent decided on the spot last night, I wouldn't buy before getting the mechanic's inspection. I can't compete with a guy who sees the car at 9 a.m., puts a deposit down at 10, and picks it up at 3. Dude...

At least I've learned to move faster and that the color a car comes in isn't a factor since it's easily changed. And I have more time to test drive a few more to see if I really like them. (It was Veda who described her Beetle demo as like driving her kitchen counter around.)

Still, down on the whole process because the other Beetles in that price range seem to have sold too. I may have to settle for another boring commuter special.

Plus I think I got snapped in an intersection, caught by a yellow light that turned red on me. This week is trying to kill me.

I looked at the Beetle when I was car shopping, but the gas mileage was way higher than I wanted.

Did you end up getting a hybrid? I can't remember.

Why, how much do they get? Someone was telling me they do well... although sadly I doubt many cars can match the mileage on my old one.

Another thing I wonder is how well they hold up, repair wise. How much mileage is too much for a Beetle (keep in mind that I'm buying on a rock-bottom-budget mentality, not a normal mentality)?

I really wanted a hybrid, but the only one I could get my hands on was a Civic, and it was a couple thousand out of my price range, so I got a regular Civic, which gets 29-34 mpg right now. I'm really happy with it. They're making an Accord hybrid, so when my lease is up I might cosider that.

Ron's thinking of trading his Subaru Forester (when it comes back from the shop- it's been gone all this time since the accident) for a Mazda 3, which is snappy and gets very good mileage, and has enough room for his bike or the dog, without being a wagonish vehicle. We're both wishing that he had gotten gap insurance on the car. :)

Ah, yes, gap insurance. I often thought wistfully about that, but given what I was driving it would have been the cost of a whole car.

One trick I've noticed is that when reviews talk about the highest ranked mpg cars and list Volkswagon's they always list the diesel version, which of course gets better mpg. Not to say VWs are bad with mileage though, just probably not #1 like they seem.

If you get a newer car get gap insurance!! My insurance company bent over backwards for me with that hanging over their heads, to fix my car.

Interesting.

I checked out some Toyotas and things tonight... they're fine, but no comparison in terms of power and the feel of the inside of the car, even the quietness of the engine. Made me want a Beetle even more. Or a DeLorean, so I could go back in time two days.

Try out some nissans if there are any available in your area.

Why Nissan? What are some good models?

In a classic case of family trust in particular brands (the type of thing which makes marketers drool), I only tried out a Mitsubishi (too big), a Mazda (nice but small) and a Toyota, because those are makes my mother or I have driven. Hmm, maybe I should try a Ford too.

My experiences with Nissans have always been positive. And you always get a lot of engine for your buck.

The sentra's are the smaller cars - Pam has an altima that is quite nice and I have a few friends with 2000/2001 altimas that have over 100k miles on them and no real issues other than maintenance.

I have had a mitsubishi eclipse and loved the car - only had it 2 years though so of course I had no issues. :)

My family has had a lot of nissans, our 1986 stanza died with around 250k miles on it when my sister introduced the front of the car to a truck's towing balljoint. It was still driving find though and had only needed a fuel pump replacement. Our 1986 Nissan truck was still fine as well whem my dad traded it in for his current nissan frontier (he got 1500 out of it too, with over 200k miles on it).

If you liked the VW you should also try checking out the Golfs and GTI's.

I like car shopping. Its too bad I love my jeep so much. :P

I don't like it, myself. There was a point this afternoon when I wanted to be far far away from everything resembling a car or a car dealer... ugh.

I did make some discoveries. I drove an older Lexus that had an amazing engine, but I think it was too fast and too much power for me... first time I've ever felt a little scared by a car. But the real discovery was the Jetta. I drove one and was really impressed... it was basically the same ride as the Beetle that got away, with a lot of interior frills. It had great handling and power and just felt good, in and out, like someone had put talent into the design. Also, weirdly, it seemed nice and little on the outside but huge on the inside.

I would've tried a Golf but there wasn't one around.

Does anyone have any experience owning a Volkswagen? Or know someone who has? I'm all confused at this point... there are a lot of consumer and user reviews that say they're all unreliable and need frequent and expensive repairs, and the other half say they're the best cars ever. It's made me nervous about buying one. I want either a Jetta or a Beetle so badly, but I worry that that will be an expensive move not just now but later on down the road and that I ought to be making not the enjoyable but the sensible choice (which, according to my mechanic, is only Toyotas and a few other Japanese makes). I can't afford to buy a car that is like falling in a hole lined with bills.

I have a number of friends that own VWs and loved them a lot. I've never had one myself.

Eej, I assume you checked Consumer Reports, but if you didn't, and you're not subscribed, I'll send you my login. They'll have extensive listings of reliability in there, I'd wager.

I know little about VWs, except that when we went shopping for a new one the dealers seemed to have little or no interest in working with us on the financing, and they were (all 3 dealerships) snooty and generally not comfortable. The steering wheel on the Passat Wagon sat a little to the left of center, and all of them were priced higher than I thought they should be. And in buying a used car, you're taking a huge chance (unless it comes with a killer used warranty) that something will be wrong with it and it won't be covered.

Eej, isn't gas mileage a big deal for you? I remember when we were looking for a car and Ron got a Subaru, you thought it was an SUV because of its size, instead of being based on a car, and as far as I know, it gets the same gas mileage as any VW, with the exception of the diesel, which is out of stock and not available in California until 2006. Or something. Or are you coveting a purdy car? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

As far as I know, Hondas, Toyotas, Nissans and Mazdas are going to have the best reliability, and I'm with you on the Toyotas- I was nonplussed with them, with the dashbpard feeling like monkeys designed it and feeling sort of cheap.

I have two friends who own Jettas and, when purchasing new cars, always get the latest Jettas. As far as I know, they've had no issues with reliability and love their cars.

I've seen a fair amount of turbodiesels for sale, though I'm not particularly seeking one out (either way). I'm buying used, not new or precertified... private seller, most likely. I'm not expecting anything to be covered, but that's what I'm used to. It breaks, I fix it.

As far as mpg goes, the non-turbodiesel automatic Jettas get 22 city/28 highway, and the non-turbodiesel automatic Beetles get 22/27. My Toyota, which never seemed to need refilling, got 25 or 26 (I never distinguished between city and highway when I clocked it, but the oldest Camrys I can find figures for get 21/28); I was thrilled with that.

A friend did fax me a lot of pages from the print edition of Consumer Reports, but they are a bit fuzzy. So if you're inclined, Boliver, thanks.

Done.

Okay, going just used, the opinion about dealers won't mean anything. I get 34 mpg in my Civic, and 29 when the tires were flatter than I'd intended. I used to drive fast in my old car and in Ron's but now that it's mine, I drive in the right lane at the speed limit, to see what kind of mileage I can get. It's a challenge. There's a spreadsheet and everything. It's a combination of being cheap and of the curiosity about what I can squeeze out of my car.

The next car has to be a hybrid or something. I'm getting really spoiled with the 32-34 mpg range.

My Jetta's treated me right so far (minus the recall about the windows that got stuck down) but it's only got 22,000 miles on it. The folks here who I've brought it to for service have treated me well, FWIW, though when I bought the thing back in New York there was some excitement with them trying a bait-and-switch on me.

Another dilemma. I think I'm in the final stages, and there are two Jettas with similar mileage (3K apart), same year, similar features. The lower-mileage one, in the dark red color and tan interior I like most, vs. the higher-mileage but slightly more feature-laden one (actually, laden with leather seats, which unfortunately I've discovered I really don't like... leather feels hard and clammy to me, while cloth is soft and couch-like) in silver, which is the color I like least. The first one also has an extended bumper-to-bumper warranty that would last me another 20K if it's transferrable (which we all suspect but aren't sure about yet). Both are single-owner with clean titles, treated beautifully and with no dings or anything, and both are priced low and getting lower (since the sellers work all the time and are looking to sell quickly, but which also means I'm going to lose out on them to another buyer if I choke).

I'd just snap the first one up, except that the engine runs louder. Not clanky or like when you hear something wrong, and it responds well, but just louder, particularly when you accelerate (still quieter than my old car). The bulk of the other Jettas I've driven are silky quiet, which is one of the attractions of the model for me. I would be getting the car inspected by a mechanic before buying, but I don't want to get moving on the wrong car and lose both (plus, big shock, I'm obsessing about the whole thing).

I guess the question I put to you guys with auto knowledge is, what could make an engine run louder? Muffler, I guess, though it wasn't sputtery (I do remember my old car suddenly running near silent after I got a new muffler). Or do different cars of the same make and model have natural variations?

Does it have any kind of maintenance record of when it last had an oil change and all those other services?

I asked Ron, but he was really no help at all, saying what you already know, which is have a mechanic look at the cars.

My opinion on something about which you didn't ask is that it is worth the extra aggro and mile to try to get a car that you in istinctively like the looks of. To walk out every morning to a car with a color you don't like can suck.

I would also advice carfaxing the cars..

http://www.carfax.com/

I've done that for all the ones I've looked at. These two are veddy clean.

I had an old old car that ran loud once and all it needed was a trip to a good neighbourhood mechanic, it went from rattle and sputter to a purr. The biggest challenge is finding a really good mechanic to tell you what's causing it so that's what I'd get onto.

I gots a new car! (Finally.) Went for the red one... a same-day comparison of both, in the daytime, not in the rain, proved the key to the decision. The silver one turned out to be not much quieter than the red one, and the red one is nearly silent at idle and at highway speeds. Turns out it needs a few routine things, like ball bearings in one wheel, a tune-up, and new tires, all of which I bet are contributing to the noise. I bet it quiets down completely after I get done with all these errands. (Some stuff will be covered by the warranty, hopefully, and some by me... it was a great relief to finally get the mechanic's confirmation that it's a sound car.)

I'll post a picture if I ever get to see it in daylight. The sibling was all, "Aren't you excited? In your new car?" And I was thinking, "I'm driving an uninsured car I'm not familiar with, in the pitch dark, in a freaking tropical storm... it's not the fun part yet."

Though, given the humble but beloved vehicle I was satisfied with, there's a lot new to be excited about. And not just the gee-whiz stuff... I have a light! And a clock! And a tape deck, which means a better connection to my iPod than the CD player offered, not to mention a wider selection of audiobooks.

In short, I have many many switches that do things I do not understand.

Well done ejg!

Congrats on your new baby, eej!

Yay! Did it seduce you, all red and sporty? Little four-door tramp.

It did, it did. I was thinking about your Giles quote while driving it.

Eej thats great :) Congrats!

Yay car!

Er, be aware that if it works like mine it will beep very loudly at you when it wants you to refill the gas tank, the windshield wiper fluid, etc. This freaked me out the first time it happened. (Oh my God, the self-destruct has been activated! ...I've watched too much Star Trek)

Yay! Go red! Choose Red! I must say that I love my leather seats...simply because they're much easier to keep clean of 1. dog fur, 2. toddler spills...

I love my car...it's paid for and I'm not in the market for a new one for at least a few years.



I like the idea of good gas mileage, but hybrids are a bit pricey, and to make the $$ worth it, you've got to own it for 10+ years...

I'm waiting for the hydrogen powered cars.

Article

What kind of car is that, Goalie?

I'm pretty sure it's a Subaru. A WRX?

We might get the car back today, in the shop since November (after the accident), and Ron's wanting to go trade it in, since the airbags didn't deploy, and he's had multiple problems with the clutch. It's a love/hate relationship: we love the way it drives, but hate the shit that's gone wrong on the car, and Subaru's response to said shit.

The odds are good he'll go for a Mazda 3, which I like because it has way better mileage than the Subaru, and is affordable.

Yup, it's a Subaru Impreza RS (not a WRX-those have turbo...) it's a 2001, the last model year before they redesigned them. I've had really good luck,and no problems at all. Sorry Boliver to hear you haven't had good response from Subaru...I guess it's nice to have a really good dealership that bends over backwards for you. I had an Impreza wagon that had the airbag light come on...and stay on. It was after the warranty expired...but the dealer finally figured out what was wrong and didn't charge me a thing.

I think if I was going to look at a new car I'd check out the new Toyota Corollas. They seem pretty reasonably priced, with decent gas mileage. Two of the engineers I work with have them, and really like them.
For now I'll stick with the Subaru, because with all the snow, the all wheel drive really comes in handy.