1971 Volkswagen Beetle Super from North America - Comments

I bought this car with the idea that it would be a reliable and economical winter car. It was neither.

This was the 4th VW that I owned, and it was destined to be the last. The worst things about the car was the heater basically didn't work. The heat exchangers would rust out every few years, making replacement a necessity if you wanted heat. The engine was woefully underpowered, making any passing situation a real adrenaline rush. The car had several annoying minor problems. But the topper was the this: while driving down the NYS thru-way, the engine blew. Just going the speed limit and not doing anything crazy, a valve broke which basically destroyed the motor...

Strictly a warm weather car. These things do not fare well in cold weather.

Although replacement parts were cheap at the time, be ready to make regular trips to the parts store.

Mileage was reasonable, but nothing to write home about. There are much more economical cars that have better performance.

This review is almost ludicrous.

Beetles didn't have a true heater, so heat exchangers needed to be replaced.

As far for the car being underpowered - it's a Beetle! Get serious!

Lastly, VW Beetle engines are low maintenance, but the valves MUST be adjusted every so often to prevent the engine sucking a valve, which would, as stated "destroy the engine."

My own personal view is that these cars are very over-rated also.

On the other hand, it is a pre World War 2 design and it was eleven years old with a high mileage when you bought it.

Be glad that you owned this brick for only a year.

You chose smart on the winter car choice. A 1970 VW beetle with its legendary engine. It prolly needed maintence and that's the valve blew...

Screw it, why comment further. Shut up.

I understan some of the comments made, but to say the Beetle was overated is just plain stupid!& for the gentlemen who has owned four he should no better! Bash the Vw you owned! that's acceptable. IT's not a slippery Slope!! & Bye The Bye I'm a vw fanatic I now own a 70 and It rocks I also owned a 69 and it was great also!! My winter car is a vr6! and machanically it has drove me nuts at times! but I love it and would never condem all vr6's b/c of my cars history!!

Tim.

I own a VW l970, which I bought in l996. It has been a reliable street car. Even with its air conditioning on in very heavy traffic for as long as four hours (the longest I have experienced so far), it runs well.

My summary - "If you have not owned a Beetle you have not owned a car!" These little cars were wonderful. I owned 3 Beetles when I was young and now in my mid years, I bought 2 Beetles again, a 1970 model and a 1975 model, both in pristine condition. Fact is that you draw more attention than with a newer E-Class Mercedes-Benz (my daily car) and despite the odd handling, the brakes which can sometimes be a bit dangerous, it is still a wonderful experience to drive it. In fact, a while ago my wife and I decided to go on holiday with the one Beetle, like in our student days. We've covered about 6000 km (3800 miles) and it did not miss a beat. Everywhere we stayed and parked, people were looking. It's great and I will see that my grandson one day will also have one. At least he can then also say -"I've owned a car!"

I had 5...a 1963 Karrman Ghia which cost $100 in 1971 had a bashed in headlight. Since the fender was integral to the body I jacked it back and put in a light and drove it all through high school. I liked the little coupe and its ivory knobs and only had 30 hp I sold it for $300...my next VW was a used dark blue with white interior 1969 had the semi automatic my only mistake... stay with the stick shift, Later owned a brand new 73 and 74 were great much more power and the regular Beetle not the Super Beetle handled even better. The Super had better heat controls. Later the speedometer broke on the 74 we kept it at least 15 years and its probably still being driven. They were also in accidents, but it didn't stop them from going just kept repairing them. We drove to Fla, the mountains and in very heavy winters and never got stuck! With a bug you seem to be OK without a/c I later had a Rabbit sedan my dad even had the diesel VW pickup. We went to Nissans after and kept buying 210's they were also very rugged and easy to work on.

I have put 20,000 miles on my bug in 6 months, unrestored 1968 sunroof. It has almost 400,000 miles on it. It is as reliable as the maintenance you put into it. It is like a woman, if you are good to her, she will probably not leave you.