VW Beetle convertible 2003 black - very repairable or for spares

Garethjenkinsit · July 13, 2018

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132701450814 Happy to take any offers on this car - just send on through!

Selling because it just failed its MOT. However we were very much undecided whether to fix it up or give up on it. Apart from the issues listed below, the car is in a good state. She's never broken down on us once and has been driving brilliantly. The interior is a bit worn, but in line with her age.

The failing points from the MOT are below:

Nearside Front Brake disc significantly and obviously worn (1.1.14 (a) (i))
Offside Front Brake disc significantly and obviously worn (1.1.14 (a) (i))
Nearside Rear Brake disc significantly and obviously worn (1.1.14 (a) (i))
Offside Rear Brake disc significantly and obviously worn (1.1.14 (a) (i))
Exhaust emits excessive dense blue smoke during acceleration (8.2.1.2 (g))

Getting the brakes fixed was estimated at about 300. Our main concern was the exhaust emission / engine burning oil. The garage wasn't sure what it was. They offered to run diagnostics on it but said they wouldn't be able to tell what the issue was until then and with the other issues listed below, we took the decision not to proceed and sell on for spares or repairs instead.

The main other issues with the car are:

1: Drivers side electric window motor has gone. Needs new one. Because of this, the roof isn't currently going down, but we've had this checked out at the garage and they confirmed that the only issue was the drivers side window - this needs to go down before the roof mechanism can then retract. Estimate for parts and labour to fix was 400, but if you can get spare motor from elsewhere / scrapped car then should be easily fixable. If car has passed MOT, we were all set to get this repaired immediately.

2: Slow puncture on right rear tyre. Just needs new tyre. Others are fine - all tyres were replaced just last year.

3: Drivers seat has a split in the upholstery, as can be seen in the photos above.

4: Passenger side door - the mechanism that holds the door open has weakened so it oftens closes itself.

5: Boot hatch - works fine but doesn't stay fully upright when opened - the mechanism has weakened a bit so it drops a little from the fully open position.

6: Interior - felt under the roof mechanism has come loose. Plastic part inside rear that lifts to make neat seal when roof is down has come loose - we still have it but needs reattaching.

7: Engine management warning light stays on on dashboard. It has sporadically gone on and off, but seems to be on more than off at the moment.

Other than these issues though, we've been very much enjoying driving her. The engine has seemed fantastic to us - we've taken her on many drives across the country, such as from South Coast to Wales and back, to north of England etc. Never any problems at all and the driving has been smooth, with good acceleration.

We were absolutely all set to repair the window and tyre and hoped to have her for a few more years yet, but the MOT results has swung us towards just buying a newer car now instead. If you know what you're doing though to fix the engine (perhaps just flushing the engine through might be enough!) then this could truly be a great bargain of a car!

Car is currently parked up on a road near us where parking is free. Obviously with no MOT we can't move it so you'll need to be able to come and pick her up. The place where she's parked is very easily accessible though to tow her. Otherwise she starts and drives brilliantly still, so if you're in effect taking her to work on her and MOT her, I think maybe you can drive her there even though she doesn't have MOT (you'll need to check the law on this one)..