As the three year lease of my beloved yellow '99 GL New Beetle draws to a close, I thought I'd take a few minutes to reflect on my Bug-owning experience. Owning a Beetle is not like owning your average car, and I doubt that I'll ever own a car quite like it ever again.

Instead of giving you the usual car review with prices and specs and details of the interior workings of its engine (as if I'd ever know anything about any of those things, anyway...), I thought I'd give you a rundown of the positives and negatives of owning this unique car.

I think I'll start with Things I haven't liked and end with the positives, so that I can leave you with a positive impression of my car. Most of these problems have been so minor, that they really haven't detracted from the overall experience. But you should know about them...

* Don't plan on putting anyone over 4'6" in the backseat. There is absolutely no headroom and very little legroom, even if the people in the front seats slide their seats way up. I can count on both hands the number of times I've had anyone sit back there. I have the feeling that the backseat of this car was put there either for show or as a place for me to throw my coffee mugs when I finish my morning caffeine fix. My owner's manual is buried back there somewhere, too, I think, along with the little poetry book they gave me when I bought the car.

* The trunk is also quite small. One plus, though, is that it is a hatchback, and the back seats fold down, so it is possible to fit some things back there. And, actually, since it is a tall car, you can sometimes fit things that would not normally fit in the back seats of cars. Oops- I'm supposed to be talking about negatives here. Um... Oh yeah- my trunk also has a little mechanical glitch where sometimes it doesn't open the first time that I hit the switch, even though it sounds like it has. The dealer supposedly fixed it for me, but I haven't seen any change.

* The cupholders in the front suck. The clearance is so low that you really can't fit anything much larger than a dixie cup. My large Dunkin' Donuts coffees absolutely do not fit, and often end up sitting (and then spilling) in my lap.

* I've had some issues with warning lights going on and off unnecessarily. In my three years with the cars, I've gotten the check engine light, and the overheating light. The lights come on and then stay on until you drag the car over to the dealer to get them shut off. The overheating light was particularly annoying because whenever it came on (and it would often blink on and off until I got it fixed), it was accompanied by an earsplitting beep.

* Speaking of that beep, the same beep comes on every time the gas level is low. It is so jarring that it has practically run me off the road. I guess it's effective, though- you definitely know that you're low on gas!

I think that's all for the negatives... On to the Things that I have liked:

* The Beetle is an unbelievably fun car to drive. It handles superbly, similar to the Saab that I owned before this car. The handling is tight and clean, and the car feels like it is sitting squarely on the road. The acceleration is not wonderful (unless you get the turbo model), but it does the job.

* This car gets a lot of attention. I guess this can be a pro or con, depending on how you look at things. It doesn't get as much attention as it did in the first year that I owned it, because now it's more common. In my first year, it wasn't uncommon to be approached by someone once a day who wanted to peek inside or ask me how it handled. I still get waves and people flashing peace signs at me, and little kids always turn around and yell, "Punch buggy yellow!!!" and then start whaling on whoever is with them. It isn't uncommon to drive down the highway and see children in cars pummeling each other. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. Depends on how my day in my classroom went...

* The Beetle is safe. It has driver, passenger, and side airbags, and has scored exceptionally well on safety tests. During long New England winters, it drives beautifully on the snowy and icy roads. It is so solid that it almost feels like driving a four-wheel-drive vehicle.

* It's a comfortable car. The front seats are large and comfortable, and, believe it or not, there is an extremely generous amount of room in the front seat. The dashboard is huge, and the windshield is far away. There is tons of headroom, so even very tall people would feel comfortable in it. There's lots of legroom, too. The ride is smooth, but not with that marshmallow-y feeling that makes me sick.

* My students think I am the coolest teacher ever and constantly bring me little toys with Bugs, Bug pictures, Bug drawings, poems about me with my Bug... I'm a little worried about what's going to happen when I show up next fall without my Bug. They'll probably fire me.

* It warms up and cools down quickly, which is great for really hot or really cold days.

* At night, the dashboard and other light-up displays are blue and red, and look really cool.

* It is very easy to parallel park, which is handy for city drivers.

* There are two separate sunglasses holders. What would you do without those?

That's all I can think of for now. Owning this car has been a truly fun experience. I will have to give my little Bug back to the dealer at the end of July, and I will be sad to see it go.

Maybe I'll have to lease another one. I hear the convertible is coming out soon...


Amount Paid (US$): 17,000
Condition: New
Model Year: 1999
Model and Options: GL, automatic