Rent, Lease, Sell or Keep: 1998 VW Beetle TDI

Back in the late 90’s, the VW Bug was the queen of cute and the dominant purveyor of ‘retro’ car design.

You couldn’t get away from the painfully hip commercials. The fake yellow flower with the vase. The adorable exterior that seemed to attract women better than a Prada purse giveway.

Then something happened. The designers and engineers of ‘Das Bug’ met a penny pinching force of nature called José Ignacio (“Inaki”) López de Arriortúa. A former head of purchasing for GM. Inaki decided to drive down costs at VW using the same strategies (and sources) he used at GM.

13 years and $1915 later… I get to invest in what can only be called a ‘VW money pit’.

Rent: There are three ironclad rules I have for all my rental vehicles.

1. No stickshifts (Renters always screw em’ up)
2. No European cars (They break and are expensive to repair. Old Volvos are exempt, but nobody ever rents them.)
3. Absolutely, without any solitary shred of a doubt, no diesels (I thought this car took gas?! Why doesn’t it start?)

Finance: In order for me to finance any vehicle, I have to be assured that it will last for the customer. Many of the folks I deal with simply can’t afford to pay for breakdowns. So when a repair is needed, I foot the bill and put it in the back of the loan at no interest.

What frequently goes wrong with a 1998 VW Bug? Let me give you the short list.

Ignition switch, window regulators, starter, alternator, evap leaks, compressor, interior light malfunctions, really anything remotely to do with electricity, trunk release, sagging headliners (that are always stapled back up), leaking sunroofs, automatic transmission and/or torque converter (depending on whether the year is odd or even), taillights, turn signals, suspension squeaks, shift nob pops off, door panels scratch/fall off, engine relay, intake manifold, mass air flow sensor, motor mount (has to be removed to change timing belt), oil pan cracks, electronic control module, oxygen sensors, vacuum hoses, seat adjustment knobs, and most of all anything that is touched or given an evil eye at a VW dealership.

There are only two things that will last in this VW Beetle. The plastic flower and the TDI engine. I would love to finance them instead of the rest of the car. But I can’t.

Sell: $2995. Why so cheap? Because the check engine light is off.

At the auctions, a late 90’s VW without a check engine light on is like an old Mitsubishi without a smoking tailpipe. Even in the most extreme examples of maintenance and care you will still get that dreaded ‘CEL’ and have to pull out your diagnostic tool.

You can always tell the buyers of VW’s at the dealer auctions. They’re the ones holding their diagnostic tools in their hands instead of in their jackets.

Keep: If I had the time to make my own biodiesel like Chuck Goolsbee. If I did tons of interstate driving. If my wife even had a remote interest in driving a stickshift. I still wouldn’t consider it. Not even if Inaki gave me a years worth of his ‘Warrior Diets’ would I keep this vehicle… and I do like old VW’s.

Why? Because despite this representing a high point of VW design, the 1998 VW Beetle was a horrific creation. The material and workmanship of a 1998 model may represent the absolute lowest point of quality in modern automotive history. The only thing that kept running when these things were being sold was the VW parts and service departments… and later the junkyards.

VW lost nearly 90% of it’s sales in the United States due to cars like this. So I know what I’m going to do. The question now is, “What would you do?”