New Beetle Owners? Fiat 500c Abarth owners?

[adam78]

Anyone with the new beetle? I may be getting a promotion at work, and it requires me to travel about an hour instead of the 10 minutes i currently do. My cars right now are a 75 standard beetle, a 72 westy, and a 64 thunderbird. All great cars, but none I would trust with a 9-5. In fact, my boss said one of her stipulations for referring me to the position is that I get a reliable car seeing as I am late to work once or twice a month due to break downs or other issues.

I've never owned a new car aside from a Jaguar XJR which was both fun and a nightmare. It broke down as often as my classics, but cost 10 times more to repair!

The two cars that I am going to look at this week are the 2015 Fiat 500c Abarth, and the 2015 VW Beetle GSR. I love both cars, but the 500c Abarth is a good deal cheaper and comes with a pretty awesome roof design. But the beetle looks like it would be a more comfortable interior (I'm a big and tall guy). Anyone have any experience with either? Anything I should pay attention to while test driving? I will be test driving both this Wednesday to see what I like more and what my pocket likes more. In general, the beetle is a little more expensive, but a little bit cheaper on insurance, seeing as I already got quotes for both cars from my agent. Let me know what you guys think!
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1975 Beetle 1600dp 4spd Daily Driver.
1972 Westy 1600 Type IV 4spd project/ soon to be driver.

[Cali_Army_Guy]

I've driven both and the new beetle is WAY more comfortable than the Fiat. I'm 6'3" 210lbs and the Fiat was horrendous for me. Super uncomfortable and I felt like I was sitting way up high. Obviously each person is different though. If you are going to spend a minimum 2 hours a day in the car I'd seriously put comfort near the top of the list for must haves.

[Cali_Army_Guy]

Oh and then there's this

Poor rating
http://youtu.be/6Df9HsixvBs

A little better
http://youtu.be/WhgcDeARanQ

A lot better
http://youtu.be/2apWN173D4A

Not sure what your budget is, but the more time you spend on the road the higher your chances are of something happening. Just something else to think about.

[adam78]

[Malokin Martin]

Of the many difficulties with the new beetle for me, was the seatbelt position. You'd have to be some sort of mutant with crazy long arms to reach it while sitting in the seat. And I'm 6 foot 2 with long arms. I absolutely loathed this car for multiple small reasons that added up. The interior layout is just odd for so many reasons.

The Fiat is insanely fun to drive and has that huge style Mini Cooper type gauge that make it feel like you're in a race car. Its literally like driving a rocket ship. It's definitely not cool though... I mean everybody mentions the Jay-Lo connection... but I'm old enough not to care. Especially with a commuter.

Both are available through the standard sh***y rental car places. My advice would be to rent each of them for a couple days. The dealership test drive doesn't give you enough time to really sink into the car and notice the small things in my opinion.

It's lame to say, but try out the Chevy Cruz. It's not pretty, and isn't cool either, but was a well balanced all around car in my experience.

I don't own any of the above, but I have driven them for several days each. I travel a lot and rental cars are/were kind of a thing for a while.

[adam78]

[bladerunner80]

Well, if the new beetle is as reliable as my 2012 GTI, I would steer clear. I purchased my GTI new and it has by far been the worst car I have ever owned. I've replaced the intake manifold, two injectors, fuel pump, waterpump and I'm sure there is more. Heck, last summer alone I spent over $2,000, half of which was a deep carbon cleaning. Some of it was under warranty but most of it wasn't. I like my old 66 bug, but I will never buy a newer VW again after my experience with my GTI.

My advice...buy a Honda.
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http://das-auto-66vw.tumblr.com/

[IFVandal]

my wife's daily is a '13 beetle. Great car so far; we roadtrip 13 hours to the Washington coast every summer and while I do not care to sleep in the car it can be done and with 2 little kiddos in the back to boot. I find them very comfortable, granted it is no Lincoln.

We have never had a lick of a problem granted we only have about 20k on the car.

Good luck

[adam78]

Well, I went to the dealer today, but they wouldn't work with me. There are no manual R line beetles near me, and the dealership said they couldn't get one (used that is) so I ended up testing a 2013 fiat 500c abarth. Oommmggggg was that so much different than I thought. I put the top down, put it in sport mode and was sold instantly. It feels as planted as a crossover, but is zippy as hell. I also averaged 34.5 mpg on the 2 hour ride home at 75mph. The exhaust note alone was incredible. The car only had 3,000 miles on it and I got a fair deal. I'm happy lol
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1975 Beetle 1600dp 4spd Daily Driver.
1972 Westy 1600 Type IV 4spd project/ soon to be driver.

[Cali_Army_Guy]

That's awesome. Is it the one that has the sliding rag top of sorts?

And because I care haha

http://www.fiat500usaforum.com/forumdisplay.php?49-Fiat-500-ABARTH-Forums