Civic Coupe vs New Beetle

So I am half-searching for a car for my soon-to-be-16 year old daughter. The plan is to get something small, safe, efficient and cheap. Let her learn to drive in it and have her first few scrapes in it. I want to stick with an automatic, and a 2-door to reduce the number of people she drives around with. It's Pittsburgh and snowy in winter, so no RWD convertibles despite her love for the Miata. (Maybe later)

My brain immediately goes to a Civic. I love Hondas, I can work on Hondas, they run forever, and they are cute in 2-door form.

She seems to like the New Beetle, which is a Golf underneath, so how bad could it be? But I have never worked on them and I don't know their issues. Are they a German Civic?

pinchvalve wrote: She seems to like the New Beetle, which is a Golf underneath, so how bad could it be? But I have never worked on them and I don't know their issues. Are they a German Civic?

As much as you want an auto for your daughter.. get the stick. It not only teaches better car control (she'll need that with the Miata), keeps her hands too busy for texting, and limits any of her friends from wanting to drive her car

Get her the New Beetle. Make her service it. The experience might help give the world another future electrical engineer in the female format.

One advice, before choosing any car, call your insurance agent and price compare models and get a quote. On young'ens, the prices can vary greatly even on vehicles that appear should be the same.

Technically the new beetle is the Mexican Civic since that's where they are built.

But for teenage girl duties, they are very cute and seem as good as anything.

Run from the Beetle as fast as you can. Ze Germans still can't build a proper car.

Yep, sorry, I like VWs but I still would take the honda over the new beetle all day long.

If you want a Beetle, get it with a 2.0 and with as few options as possible. Avoid power options and factory upgraded stereos. Get a VW specific code reader.

It's all the little stuff that go wrong with VW's, the 2.0 is very reliable engine that it is pretty easy to work on.

Mechanicals aside, how hard is it to replace body panels? Because you know you'll be replacing those after close encounters with wildlife (mailboxes, fire hydrants, poles, etc) :p

Curmudgeon wrote: Run from the Beetle as fast as you can. Ze Germans still can't build a proper car.

Zee germans can lease a car out like no other though.

I just did a deal for a friend at the office on a base Jetta for 1200$ and 88$ a month. All service included. Might be cheaper in the long run.

In reply to wearymicrobe:

God help you with the cost of the full coverage required and a 16yo......

Wait. Buying her a car? Sounds like a family handmedown (older brother got a 63 Coronet 440 w/318 2-bbl and vinyl bench seats for a $1 from grandpa, hated that car but it got him around) and a job earning money to pay for gas, insurance, etc. while saving for something new is the real answer. If it breaks teach her how to fix it.

Anyway, if you're going to buy her her first car, it will be balled up in a few years at least so get something that is easy to repair and cheap. So the Honda is the answer (though a Miata with snow tires is still probably better than a FWD Honda on no-seasons).

yamaha wrote: In reply to wearymicrobe: God help you with the cost of the full coverage required and a 16yo......

It was for a daughter who was ~18 and the insurance was not terrible. I suggested the old civic route but the VW was orders of magnitude cheaper to insure for some reason or at least that is what I was told.

In reply to wearymicrobe:

Theft is probably one of the reasons.

A Honda will start every day giving it more chances to be involved in an accident.

In reply to Wally:

It also won't be in limp mode 40% of the time, so it'll be able to attain higher speeds for crashing more often as well....

In reply to pinchvalve:

Zee Chermanz are great mechanical engineers and horrible electrical engineers.

The Japanese are great mechanical engineers and great electrical engineers.

I dunno how cheap you're looking to go, but a first-gen Fit is also a great thought--and they're super safe--assuming you find one that isn't (weather seal/window) leaky.

Otherwise, the Civic all day. The reputation speaks for itself. No getting around it.

In reply to gamby:

I thought my friend had that window seal issue on her Fit when I noticed a small lake in the rear footwell......turned out she had just hosed the carpet for whatever god forsaken reason and thought the water would just magically drain away.

What year range are we talking? Brand new cars or circa the year 2000?

I am a fan of Hondas so I immediately lean towards Civic or Fit depending on finances. I also have to work of my mothers 1999 New Beetle and it is a royal pain to work on. They designed the outside shape for the concept car and then made the mechanicals fit. The engine is a pain to access in my experience.

I am talking about a $2000 - $3000 car, something that I will not cry over if she sideswipes a pole at the McDonald's her first time out. (Her mother did just that at 16) Here in PA, the problem with cars in that price range is rust, and Honda's are no better than anything else. I don't mind replacing axles and ball joints and brakes, and I have seen some that were in need of a water pump or alternator. Even an engine rebuild for the right car might be OK. I just don't want to deal with rusty body panels. And for that matter, electronics also kinda suck.

So the plan is to head south to pick up something high mileage but serviceable. I know that if I pick up a Civic, I can deal with any mechanical issues pretty easily. I have looked at Corollas, assuming that they are in a similar reliability class, but they are just not "cute" enough and will never pass the muster with her.

If she wants the Beetle I'd go beetle with warranty.

We have a 2002 new Beetle with the 1.8T, auto, and 56k miles. My wife's aunt bought it new, and other than the occasional cel (never left her stranded) it's been pretty reliable. Most of the issues she had revolved around a shady local euro car repair shop. Now I'm not saying these things are so awesome and reliable, but this one has not been as bad as the internet makes them out to be. I don't know how hard it is to work on because I've never had to work on it....yet.

pinchvalve wrote: and a 2-door to reduce the number of people she drives around with.

Bwahaha are you kidding yourself? Because you're not kidding anyone else.

+1 for Civic or Fit though. I've only heard bad things about the new Beetle.

You do not want a beetle of that vintage. There was a thread on here about a year ago talking about them and I came away not wishing one of those cars even on my worst enemy.