Oh come on Duke88! That was as watered down as I could make it. I didn't say anything bad about the LA series, just that I wouldn't recommend it. No my foot was never run over by an LA series, but my L100-wheeling neighbor did cut two feet into my front lawn one time while trimming around a mutually owned tree, scalping the heck out of my Bermudagrass as the edge of the mower dipped in the turn. Maybe that was the root cause. I don't much care for VWs these days either, but seven years ago I did, and I just can't seem to wear that Jetta out. Seven years and 100k miles of running it through the gears to redline, and the clutch is still tight, lifters don't make any noise, still rides like it's on rails. Basically the only difference between that car when I bought it new and now is a couple of scratches and a broken hinge on the center armrest--oh, and a small indentation roughly the shape of my left buttcheek from when I fell off my workbench and landed on the C-pillar. Don't ask why I was standing on my workbench; let's just say I didn't think that one through. I guess having Mobil 1 since 1,001 miles and always being garage kept has helped a bit, but it's a good car. And you've got to give props to the Germans for getting 150hp out of a 1.8L engine (the 2002 model put out 180 with a slightly larger turbo) while still maintaining reliability. By that math, my Yukon should be putting out 530hp! ***** I have to kind of agree with Metal... Unless your husband's been talking about buying a mower, and you have a really good idea what he would like, suprising him might not be the best way to go. My neighbor's wife bought him a new-style Mustang as a welcome home from Iraq gift (with his money--she doesn't work). It was a lime green six cylinder automatic. He absolutely hated it.

I assume you mean the current Beetle, not one of the old air-cooled ones. If so, ... For 2006, there are only two engine choices: a 2.5-liter gasoline engine and a 1.9-liter diesel engine. The Convertible does not offer the diesel engine. Unless you really pile on the miles, the 2.5-liter engine probably is your best choice. Depending on where you live, diesel fuel may be hard to find and diesel engines don't handle short-hop (under 10 miles per trip) driving as well as gas engines can. On the other hand, the diesel will give you half-again the mileage on fuel that costs about the same as regular unleaded gasoline. And, at around-town speeds, it's as fast as the old 1.8 Turbo. Not noisy or stinky, either. (BTW, I own a diesel VW Jetta and would not trade it [or my mileage] for anything.) Previous Beetles offered a choice of three engines: a stock 2.0 liter, a turbocharged 1.8-liter, and a 1.9-liter diesel engine (again, no diesel on the Convertible). The 1.8 offers good performance, but requires premium gas. The 2.0 liter is often referred to as the "2.slow" but it is adequate. It could be more powerful, it could be quieter, it could get better mileage. But it gets the job done. The diesel I've commented on above. Bear in mind that, if you want a diesel Beetle, most dealers will not give you any kind of break on the price. These cars sell as soon as the transport truck arrives and the dealers know it. With fuel getting expensive and staying that way, getting 35 mpg no matter how you drive (and up to 55 if you're careful on the highway) is mighty appealing. Hope this helps....

VW's "VagCom" is just their own version of a scan tool. I've never had one in my hands so I don't know exactly how much it really does. FWIW, I'll never own one either. I do have a VeDis scan tool which is one of the strongest aftermarket European scan tools available but it is still an aftermarket tool, and I just don't expect it to be 100% complete. But it's the best I can afford. (5K+ there are others that are over a $20K investment, they do more than my VeDis, but imagine spending that kind of money and in a years time not expect to even get $1000 in diagnostic labor money back while using it) It's really tough fixing cars these days when it comes to tooling and equipment. I can justify (to a degree) owning O.E. tools for some 90% of the market. (GM, Toyota, Ford, Chrysler, current model years and Honda through 2004) But even with Honda I cannot justify staying current with the O.E. tool, because at $9,000 for just Honda's since 2005 I don't see enough of them to justify any greater expense in supporting them than whatever I can get through my VeDis Asian, or Snap-On scanners. But back to doing the diagnostics on this TAC problem. Even the VagCom does not actually tell the tech what is wrong. The cars are not sophisticated enough to do that. When a problem is determined by the system, say an open in one of the circuits. The system is good enough to flag the circuit affected, and in some cases might have a code that is accurate enough to say that the circuit was "open", although most of the time it will be more like circuit open/short. The problem with intermittents is the circuit is going open/short at any point through that entire single circuit, but the diagnostic system is not capable of saying where it occured. Likewise a scan tool, displaying serial data will show what the microprocessor shows that a particular sensor circuit is reporting, but it's up to a technician to figure out exactly why a given sensor is reporting incorrectly when/if it is. Many events we deal with have a circuit that has a problem, the computer stores a code, but the circuit then just happens to operate correctly when the vehicle comes in, and we end up in a no-problem found situation. redpennies car at this point appears to provide a challenge to any technician because it is not broken all of the time. Combine that with her frustration from the expense of both related (potentially) and unrelated repairs and the fact that in a flat rate shop the techs quite often don't get paid correctly to take whatever time is required to get it to act up and diagnose it and you have a perfect example of just what fixing cars can be like for a technician as well as the public. In every real sense, my getting involved with any of these threads is time spent at work, that I don't get paid for. The techs at the VW dealership when they work on her car now in all likelyhood don't get paid for their time either unless they can justify replacing some part, that redpenny pays to have replaced. It looks like such great customer service to not pay anything to a customer when they have a complaint, but it's actually decades of a robbing Peter to pay Paul situation. The price of which is starting to finally become obvious. Could I diagnose and fix red's car. Yep, no doubt. Would she really be happy if I did? Hard to say......

No great words of wisdom for you, but a couple of thoughts. For my older boys we bought the older one a subaru wrx and middle one a used saab 9-3. While they both have been amazingly trouble free, when they do need work the things that are wrong need to go the dealer and it's been expensive. In particular with the Saab - they don't sell them anymore so parts are pricey and hard to come by - some impossible. That said, son #3 now has his temps and I've decided he can only buy American or Honda or Toyota. Looking at a several year old Ford Escape with AWD - not real sexy, but safe and functional. I personally love a new car, and have leased my last two vehicles. I drive them three years and take them back! My DH is a drive to the ground guy, actually takes pride in how many miles he can get out of a car. I believe BMW includes all the maintenance on their cars so you have to factor in those fees you'll also have to pay on a different car that probably will need some work. I'd keep the BMW, cancel the collision insurance on the Jeep since it's so old, and buy the girls a decent enough car that it will last at least 6 years. I think the 2010+ Fords are all good quality, and reasonably priced. I like the Ford Fusion. I also am a huge fan of Honda Accords and Civics. You should be able to find a fairly decent one for under $10,000. Goodluck, teen drivers are not for the faint of heart.