I already bought a 98 New Beetle TDI, primarily to commute in but also have hauled 4 people and luggage.  I don't worry too much about cornering fast anymore (yes I miss my Scirocco and the 1st generation was my favorite too); guess I'm closer to a soccer mom (though I hate soccer) than a sports car driver, so the New Beetle gets the job done for me.  I have 120 miles per day round trip commute - 50+mpg.  My Vanagons can't do that for me, otherwise I wouldn't have bought the Beetle and would be doing that daily trip in one of my Vanagons.  I actually prefer the Vanagon to commute in because of its height - I can actually see around some of the SUV drivers which seem to comprise the majority on the road during my commute.  If I get too wigged about the SUV drivers (or it rains) I drive my Diesel Vanagon which gets 29-30mpg.  My dream vehicle would be a TDI Vanagon! 

>>> Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ> 12/31/00 03:57AM >>>
No way! It's an ill-handling slug, a restyled golf with all of the Golf's
dynamic faults and in addition its own list of practical faults also. So it
looks funky...but just try to take a corner fast, or put a decent amount of
luggage in with 4 people...

Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin, New Zealand
VW & mollusc nut
1984 VW Caravelle (currently SVX engine; waiting for a Porsche trans)
1985 Mitsubishi Galant Sigma 2.0 (FWD), for sale
1986 CE80 Toyota Corolla 1.8DX diesel (extaxi)
1989 CE96 Toyota Corolla 1.8DX diesel wagon
1989 CT170 Toyota Corona Select 2.0 diesel (taxi)