2001 Volkswagen Beetle

TDI (turbo diesel) Hatchback

1.9L 1896CC 116Cu. In. l4 DIESEL SOHC Turbocharged

Automatic

3VWCP21C81M477087

Clear

Diesel

Background: This auction is for my wife’s 2001 Volkswagen Beetle TDI (TDI means it has the turbo diesel engine). The car is light green in color with a beige cloth interior. The vehicle is currently legally licensed, registered, and insured in California and has a clear title with no liens; we have the State of California Certificate of Title in hand. We purchased the car used in 2004 with about 75,000 miles on it. The car now has just under 170,000 miles on it but runs mechanically quite well. In fact, I just got back from a 200-mile driving trip and it got 39 miles per gallon while I was driving about 75 mph the whole way. Also, since it was 95 degrees outside I had the air conditioning running almost the whole way, so obviously it gets very good gas mileage. When I’m willing to drive 65 mph on a highway trip, I get well over 40 mpg. Mechanical: This is the car’s greatest value: it starts every single time on the first key turn and will run all day long getting great gas (diesel) mileage. Even better, it is cheap to buy, insure, run, and maintain. My wife has had the oil changed about every 5,000 miles, and aside from that and brake jobs and tires when needed, this car has required essentially no exceptional maintenance with the exception of one incident very soon after she bought the car. Someone had mistaken the oil drain plug for the transmission fluid drain plug and drained the transmission fluid. Of course, it wasn’t too much later before the transmission was ruined. We replaced that original transmission with an original VW Beetle unit from Volkswagen and it has run perfectly ever since. So now, the engine and transmission simply work without any problems. The car also has two fairly new tires and two brand new tires (less than 1000 miles on these two), so you won’t need new tires for quite awhile. Interior: The cloth seats have been covered by seat covers since the day she bought it and so are in fairly good condition (no rips or tears). As you’ll see from the pictures, there are some stains on the back seats, but we have always covered those seats with aftermarket color-matching seat covers, which you can also see in the pictures. Those seat covers will stay with the car when it is sold. You can see the same color-matching seat covers on both front seats where you can also see a six-inch long tear in the driver’s side seat cover. The front seat covers are somewhat difficult to take off so I left them on for the pictures as they will also go with the car when it is sold. Exterior: The car is light green in color. This makes it quite easy to pick out in a crowded parking lot and also makes it much more easily visible for added safety on the highway. The paint has some minor chips, but for a vehicle with almost 170,000 miles, the paint is in very good condition (as you can see in the pictures). One reason for this is that the car had, when we purchased it used in 2004, a protective plastic coating across the front hood and front-side bumpers. This plastic has protected the paint from discoloration and from road wear. We just removed this plastic coating and the paint underneath is like new. You may be able to see in the pictures that the paint that was not under the plastic coating has faded more and so there is a line across the top-middle of the hood where there is brighter paint below and more faded paint above. There is also one “slice” in the paint just behind the driver’s door that is about 2 inches long and less than 1 mm across. It’s like someone took a razor blade and made a short slit in the paint. This blemish has been there for years and has not grown any larger in length or width, so we just ignore it. Options/features: It has the following features, power options, and/or equipment, that all work correctly (aside from those noted in the “Flaws” section below): · Anti-lock brakes · Dual airbags · Power windows · Power locks · Dual power mirrors · Cruise control with set, coast, accelerate, and resume · 6-speaker AM/FM cassette stereo · Dual heated seats (both driver and front passenger) · Remote key fob with driver’s door lock release, all door lock release, trunk release, and panic (this key alone is worth $275) · Valet key · Remote trunk release · Remote fuel door release · Three 12v outlets (including one in the trunk area) · Color-matching original Volkswagen floor mats with snap-in secure locks · Dual adjustable-height, forward/backward, and tilt angle seats · Dual adjustable-height seatbelts · Center console armrest with storage bin · Center-front overhead dual sunglasses storage bin · Center-front overhead time and temperature display · Dual sunvisors with lighted mirrors · Tinted side and back windows · Glossy steel rims with anti-theft locking lugnuts · Windshield wipers with delay · Front console swivel dual cup-holder · Dashboard display dimmer · Map pockets in both driver’s and passenger’s doors · Bud vase (complete with good-looking fake white rose!) Flaws: The LCD stereo display has mostly clouded over and cannot be read although the radio does work correctly. It tunes properly and all stereo controls (volume, treble, bass, balance, and fader) work correctly. Due to the clouded display we use a satellite radio. The satellite radio will NOT come with the car when sold. The two front bumper fog lights are broken. We fixed them once, but as they are quite low to the ground they broke again quickly and we haven’t bothered to fix them a second time. The “check engine light” has been on for several years but the car starts every time and runs and drives properly. There has been absolutely no apparent impact of this warning light being on. The airbag light has also been on for several years but we’ve fortunately not had to check the validity of this issue. The driver’s side sunvisor mirror is broken (but its light does work). The rims have some curb rash but look good at a distance. There are some plastic bits and pieces throughout the car that have broken, but none of these impacts the drivability of the car. Disclaimers: The vehicle comes with no warranty expressed or implied. The car is for sale locally so I reserve the right to end the auction at any time as the vehicle may no longer be available for sale on eBay. I don’t imagine that the car is worth enough to have it shipped anywhere, and in any case we will not pay for any shipping costs. We will, however, work with the buyer’s shipping agency if needed. If you are a local bidder (near Pleasanton, CA), feel free to come by and drive the car. You can also take it to a local mechanic and have them check it out prior to the close of the auction. Finally, this auction will run (as all eBay auctions SHOULD) with no reserve and a $1.00 opening bid. At the end of the auction, we’ll all know just how much a 2001 VW Beetle TDI with 170K miles and in decent condition is worth. Good luck, bid early and bid often!