| OCR Text |
Show The Salt Lake Tribune Section D AUTOMOTIVE i CLASSIFIEDS D-2 FRIDAY, JANUARY22, 1999 Advertising supplement by the Newspaper Agency Corporation Newdiesel Beetle iss practical and fun to drive By WARREN BROWN (©) 1999, THe WasHiNcTon Post Almost any excuse to drive a new VolkswagenBeetle is a good excuse for me. And this one waslegitimate. By AL Haas gering $37 billion in debt. Addi- KNIGHT-RUDDER NEWSPAPERS tionally, the Asian economic meltdown has brutalized its home- Q. I used to doalotof repairs, ‘There arrived in the test fleet a 1999 Turbo Direct Injection (TDI) diesel tune-ups and other maintenance q Beetle. To make sure I wouldn’t use the wrongfuel, the people whodelivered work on my cars. Buttoday, as you know, electronics havetaken over the automobile. Cars are so complex that there doesn't seemto be , 5 a ¥ # the car left a big sign on the driver's seat that said “DIESEL.” And to makesure I understood the sign, the transport people told methatit said “DIE! and that “DIESEL” much room anymore for shadetree mechanicslike me. I feel kind of left behind. Do you feel that way? A. I doto a degree. Certainly, ) 4 meant “nogasoline.” some ofmy skills have become Having satisfied themselves that obsolete. My ability to work on their message was delivered and understood, they left me alone with selling briskly in the United States. All this meansthat Nissan might be ripe for a takeover. I don’t think it means you should tum your back on a perfectly good product like the Maxima. Q. I have a 1995 Honda Accord that I must park outside. How often do you think I should waxit 10keepit well-protected? A. Theideal would be touse a high-quality cleaner/wax on it distributors and carburetors is aboutas useful as knowing how to every three months saber-toothed tiger. And mylack dashboard, window sills, etc.? tainly keeps me from fooling around with moder electronic engine managementsystems. But the technocrats haven't takenit all away from the shadetree brigade. You and I can stil work on brake and exhaust sys tems, and install things such as spark plugs, shock absorbers, engineoil, andoil, air andfuel fil- the way they look. Personally, I Q. Do you recommend the use of fill a cavity in the mouth of a @ plastic protectant on a car's the TDI diesel Beetle, which was bright yellow with a blackinterior. It of$30,000 diagnostic tools cer- hada five-speed manual shifter and a responsive clutch, which worked well together. I keyed the ignition, anticipating the gurgling, gagging noises that accompany many diesels at start-up. The new VolkswagenBeetle TD! has superior fuel economy and Sealer driving performance. But those noises were muted in the new Beetle, which moved fromzero virtues. Chief among them wasa rapprochement between performance to 30 mph — we're talking neigh- and fuel economy. The car moved nimbly through turnpike and high speed highway traffic, never once 1999 Volkswagen Beetle TDI borhood driving here — in 4.5 sec- onds. Thatwas fast enoughfor me, espe- islandsales,and its products aren’t faltering orhinting thatit would pre- cially in my Northen Virginia com- fer a less demandingpace. Andyet, it did all of that work at an astounding 47 miles per gallon! munity, where the police are aboveaverageticket writers, Besides, who Head-turning quotient: Total eye candy. Smiles for miles, There is nothing, zilch, nada on the road t lookslike a newBeetle, especi ly inyellow. Estimated cruising range: Figure about 670 miles between fill-upson usable volume ofdiesel. I completed a 500-mile trip with fuel to spare. A. [recommend themif youlike don’t. The ones I’ve seen makethe surfacesreal shiny, and I prefer the manufacturers’ low-luster look. Q. 1 saw an ad recently for a used Bentley Mulsanne S. I was intrigued by that. What, if anything, does “Mulsanne S” mean? ters. A. The Mulsanne S$ is a tum in the road-racing course at Le Mans, France. In other words, while much about automobiles has changed, muchhas remained the same. And A. That's a vintage term for the doors on vintage cars that open Q. What are “‘suicide”doors? in acar of glowing yellow? There are. of course, some outstandingobjectionsto diesel engines, Asit happened, my first day with the TDI diese! Beetle turned into a tion type usedin the TDI diesel Bee. braking. Brakes include powerassisted, vented front discs and at the Union of Concerned solid rear discs with anti-locks model is $16,494. Priceas tested is standard atall four wheels. Capacities: Seats four people. $18,425,including a $525 destination charge. The optional fourspeed automatic transmission cost an extra $875, Purse-strings note: Excellent Cargo volume is 12 cubic feet. Fuel tank holds 14.5 gallons of people in search of a car that is rough sledding, there is no question about that. The company has ‘youthink is wrong? A. I think you probably hit a pot- ter is 4.8 quarts. fun todrive, years andis groaning undera stag- ofalignment. Have it realigned. inhis right mind would break the law including the advanced direct-inj day of freezing rain and snow. This tle. was disconcerting only because of Folks other motorists, some of whom believe four-wheel drive allows speeding onice. The front-wheel-drive Beetle, dri ven judiciously, did quite well in the Scientists, for example,still view the diesel engine as a dirty technology that will continue to undermine air quality andincrease global warming at the expense of cleaner technolo- mess noslipping,sliding or anything.! felt safe in thelittle car. gies, such as hydrogenfuel Drier weather brought longertrips, agree. They arguethattheir 90-horse- during which I discovered the TDI diesel Beetle’s more remarkable power, 1.9-liter in-line four-cylinder See BEETLE, Page D-2 But the people at Volks Ride, acceleration and han- Sound system: Six-speaker dling: Aces for ride and handling. AM-PMstereo radio and cassette Decent acceleration. Aces for installed by VW. Very good. Safety: Rigid roll-cage con- struction; automaticaily tensioning belts; dualfront and side air bags. Price: Base price is $17,900. Dealer invoice price on base value for the dollar, especially for diesel. Engine oil capacitywithfil- both economical to operate and there is still a life after computers andsensors for those ofus without Star Wars diagnostic paraphemalia, Q.I've beenthinking about buying a Nissan Maxima. I've also heard that the company is infinancial trouble. Is that true, and is that trouble serious enough to bear ona buying decision? A. Nissan has been having some lost moneyin six ofthe last seven toward the front of the vehicle instead of the back. The only sui- cide doors that come to mind on modemvehicles are the back doors on extended-cab pickups, and the driver’s-side back door on the new three-door Saturn coupe. Q. Recently, the steering wheel on my 1993 Escort started to vibrate around 55 mph. What do hole and knocked the front end out earl "°34,995 4X4, LOADED, ONLY apn 8X, CAB, 4X4, CD, LOADED, ONLY $27, $93,995 eee ENTIRE STOCK *300 OVER INVOICE Ohi .y 919931 fe) ume Omemahti Jeep Dealer... <_ DISCOUNT 1994 TOYOTA COROLLA 7 ri re Vas. SCRLal Deg AY PA RTATA Le UU wz. ee a ae) Eagle Plymouth Sat. 9am i Happen To Good 4355 $0. State, Murtay People Special Finance Program or Curtis ele See Jeremiah 264-9326 er 1-800-850-8796 |
