[s-cars] Kid's cars

[Taka Mizutani]

Matt-
The design has not changed even with the 2006 facelift- the Beetle has large
c-pillar
blind spots that make it tricky backing up and merging in heavy traffic. The
car also has
huge A-pillar blind spots that make cornering in tight spaces tricky until
you get familar
enough with the car. I rely heavily on the side mirrors and additional
convex mirrors to avoid
some of the blind spots.

In terms of as a first car, the reason I put forth the Beetle and its other
MkIV brethren is because
they're pretty safe, good handling, good braking, fairly economical (but
nowhere near the top in
fuel economy unless TDI), solid feel, lots of safety features- front
airbags, seat-mounted side airbags,
side curtain airbags in the later Golfs and Jettas, standard ABS, ESP is
available in the later cars.

Also a good aftermarket- repair and maintenance parts are easily available,
service manual is
available, the excellent VAG-COM diagnostic software, etc.

The Beetle wasn't my choice, I would have gotten a 4-door Golf TDI if it
were my choice.

Taka

On 10/12/05, matt ludwig <matt.ludwig2 at verizon.net> wrote:
>
> Just wanted to chime in on this,
>
> not that i have children and am arguably the youngest (in years since
> birth :) on this list. What do you who drive that Beetle think of
> it's blind spots?- especially for a new driver? I have driven a veery
> good friend's Turbo S version (in philly, Taka) and it had possibly
> the biggest most dangerous blind spots i have ever experienced in a
> car- particularly a german make. my friend also said it was the one
> thing he hated about the car and why he would not recommend it.
>
> I know there are trade offs in every dynamic w/ this decision, just
> thought i would bring it up. the design could have been changed by
> now for all i know as well.
>
> matt ludwig.
> 1995.5 S6 Avant
> Lima, Peru