Seeking info on the VW "new" Beetle

[BF]

The wife says she's sick of her old Honda Civic coupe (it is getting kinda old and tired.....the car, not the wife  ).  She thinks she wants a convertible one of these......





Anybody got any good first hand experience with the VW Beetle, especially the convertible model?  I know, I know....a convertible.    I'm aware of the inherent problems/issues that can accompany a convertible top, but I'm also wanting to make the wife happy too.   

The going prices for these used, even with low miles seems to be reasonable enough....I just don't know anything about them or know anyone that has one, or has ever had one.  See them all over town though. 

Anybody have or had one of these and know of any problems with them...the trouble spots....any engine problems...tranny problems....or what to look for when shopping for one, etc?

Thanks in advance.   

[Lyn-Del]

a friend of a friend had one and loved it.  She moved to Tennessee and took it with her.  I assume she still has it.  Not a convertible though

[Serk]

We had one for about a year, and were VERY happy to give it back (It was on long term loan from the wife's father after his wife died.).

We had the convertible with the power roof. For a convertible, the noise wasn't bad.

While it was fun, and cute, it was mechanically a piece of garbage, something was always breaking, and things were designed in the most... convoluted manner possible.

(Example, to change the headlight requires finding a tiny knob and using an extension on a socket set to rotate it 45 degrees. 46 degrees and you'll break it... 44 degrees and it won't let go. Then you need to find a hidden metal tab that you need to hold down with a tool in your 3rd hand while your other two hands are prying the headlight bucket out.)

So... If you're shopping with your head, avoid... If you're shopping with your heart, go for it...

[gregc]

They are horrible to work on, Like was said above. If there is a tough way to take it apart, that isn't good enough, they made it harder. They have all kinds of electrical gremlins, some require that you must return to the dealer to reflash the ECM.  Go to the bug forums and read about the stupid stuff that goes wrong.  I speak from the experience of my coworker who has a 2001.  His has the imobilizer problem,  goes into thinking it is being stolen, and shuts down about 1 second after it starts, blinks a little light to tell you to see the dealer.  Dealer doesn't have a fix, short of changing the dash cluster, key, and ECM,   2500 dollars.

[Titan]

This may be too old to be of any value to you but we bought (leased) two of them in 2000 for my wife and my daughter. I was glad when the lease was over. They were full of electrical gremlins as somebody before me posted. I think about 75% of the knobs fell off at some point or another. The workmanship inside was a joke. Both were in the shop many times and both at least three times for AC problems.

I didn't have any engine or transmission problems. The car always started and ran as it should.

[hubcapsc]

Maybe she really wants a Mini? 

Mine's been bullet-proof for 100K, nothing could be
more fun... they have some cool new ones...

-Mike

[Jess Tolbirt]

the 2012 vw beetles have a longer hood and look a lot like a mini,,,

[fon1961]

wife's co-worker had nothing but problems with hers. top didn't function properly, transmission problems, according to her it was hard to find anyone that would work on it besides the dealer.  she has recently sold it.

[RoadKill]

They are no worse to work on than a Honda, Just totally different engineering than the Asians.  Find a mechanic that knows them and you trust (NO STEALERSHPS! ) would be the most important step. Do that BEFORE even thinking about one. I'd pop the extra $ for a TDI diesel. More economic than a Prius! Convertibles have some specific issues with position switches for the top and the doors wont open unless the windows roll down (All electronic/sensors and switches). Also keep it maintained 100% and I dont mean just oil changes,IF ANYTHING is not right FIX IT! Many of our customers have 300 to 400 k miles, but only the ones that maintain meticulously.  

[RoadKill]

Maybe she really wants a Mini? 

Mine's been bullet-proof for 100K, nothing could be
more fun... they have some cool new ones...

-Mike

The supercharged Mini's will sure surprise ya! But its still a Beemer!

[eric in md]

brother had one blown head gaskets ... its gone to... bought a deisel jetta sweet ride it is.. 46 mph and awesome power ..

[Dogg]

If you are serious about a beetle, stay north of 05. Then you won't have any issues. They had their problems early on, first production years are hard on any car manufacturer. 05 and up are solid as a rock...

[vanavyman]

  We compared the VW Bug, Mustang (V6), and Toyota Solara 3 years ago for my wife.  The VW rode nice but every review I read mentioned things that have already been posted here.  I wanted the Solara for the Toyota reliability but we ended up with the Mustang since it is the wife's car and she loves it.  Will be in our garage for a loing time.  The Mustang converible is not so bad as long as you have another car available for bad weather.  Suprisingly all three of these can be bought fairly cheap on the used market with low mileage.

  My sister has had a 2002 VW bug diesel for 4 years and they have over 170,000 miles on it and get 50-60 mpg they claim.  They have put some expensive maintenance in it too.

Dan

[BF]

After I posted the question here, I searched the net for some Beetle forums.  Seems that most have expressed what you guys are saying here.  There also seemed to be alot of tranny problems....especially the 2005 and under Bugs.  Dogg might be on to something. 

Maybe I can get her to think Mustang convertible.....although I doubt it.   

[BF]

  The Mustang converible is not so bad as long as you have another car available for bad weather. 

Does the Mustang have leakage issues?  For that matter, does the Beetle have any leakage issues too....or is it weather tight in the wet stuff?

[The Anvil]

I never liked the "new" Beetle until this year. The one with the chrome domes is very cool looking.

[vanavyman]

  We bought an 06 Mustang Convertible three years ago and I made sure I bought an extended warranty since my experiences with Fords was not always good.  Haven't even had to use it at all.  We've owned Honda's and Toyota's since our last Ford, but we bought the Mustang with 12,000 miles on it and have 62,000 miles on it now and it has been great. Doesn't burn or leak a drop of oil and I've been real impressed with it except for the plastic levers for moving the seat forward on the back of the seats which broke right way.  We bought after market crome ones and they hae been great.  The Mustang is larger than I thought.  It takes the same amount of garage space as my Honda Pilot.  If we had to do it again the only thing we would do different is to get duel power seats.  The shaker stereo is nice.  I won the arguement about getting a GT.  Wife has a lead foot and the V6 saves me some ticket money.  The GT convertible holds its value better than a V6.  One other thing I insisted on was to get leather interior.  If you have a convertible it isn't if you will get caught with top down in the rain but when.  Leather is easier to clean up when it gets a little wet.  We purchased nice seat covers to coverup the leather seats so wife would not stick to them and a wind guard that mounted over the back seats to stop some of the wind from the back.   Still want to put in a roll bar but haven't yet.  I don't consider it really safe in a role over situation and we will put in a roll bar soon.

Dan

[Spirited-6]

Wife has a 2010 bug and loves it. Only 7,600 miles on it so far. Not a conv. 6 speed trany is real quick and larger tires make the little car  act like a sports car. Fuel milage is not good, best ever was 28 mpg. Most of the time 22 to 24 mpg. She loves the heated seats. Easy to find in parking lots, Sunflower Yellow. 

[Serk]

After I posted the question here, I searched the net for some Beetle forums.  Seems that most have expressed what you guys are saying here.  There also seemed to be alot of tranny problems....especially the 2005 and under Bugs.  Dogg might be on to something. 

Maybe I can get her to think Mustang convertible.....although I doubt it.   

Ours was an '08... Just saying...

As to the leakage issues though, even in torrential downpours we never saw any leaks with it.

(I still wouldn't own another one if ya' gave it to me though... )

[R J]

My cousin's wife has a Bug, late model one with the flower vase.   LOL.

She just rolled up 400K the 29th of December.    I know she has had a lot of tranny problems, but I blame that on the way my cousin drives it.   The wife part, she rides the clutch, so the disc doesn't last too long.

She sent a text to the wife earlier today saying they just ordered a new Passat,  no firkin convertible she said.  Not sure the Passat comes in a rag top anyway.   Think they are only 4 doors.   Well, you can see how much I know about the VW's.  Her major complaint there was wind noise.

[scoot]

My wife was wanting a VW rag top as well. In our neck of the woods they hold a very pricey tag even used. I looked at a lot of them both newer and older, high miles and low miles. The low mile rides were nice. The high mile ones were well high mile. I didn't care for the mass of the A pillar and the way it was in your line of sight. (I can see a lot of motorcycles not being seen). I also didn't like when on the freeway it seemed like they weren't sure what gear to be in around 70 to 75 mph. I also noticed that the top in the lower corner of the C pillar all had a wear spot about the size of a quarter. Some actually had a small hole there.
 We ended up with a Nissan Cube instead. We got a new SL for the cost of an '06 VW ragtop. We had her Hyundia Elantra for over 12 years, so I'm hoping this will last as long.

[hubcapsc]

That Cube is cool looking (I like funny looking cars)... is it fun? Fast? We pulled up next to
one of these things when we were in Greenville over Christmas...



Like the VW and the Mini Cooper, Fiat had a "500" back in the 50s and 60s... now they're
"making them again"...

-Mike

[Tundra]

I never liked the "new" Beetle until this year. The one with the chrome domes is very cool looking.

Agreed, the "new" Beetle looks more like the "old" beetles, even down to the old style hubcaps. I had a '71 Bug and a '79 Super Beetle. They were slow and freeze your arse off in the winter, but put some studded snow tires on and a fun car in the snow. Never got stuck

[Robert]

I have a few customers with them the engine is solid and yes they do have their quirks to work on. The headlights being one of them the other is you have to remove the whole front nose to work on some of the things on the engine. It does come off easy and really allows you better access also. The battery is a bit of a pain too. The oil changes are a hassle as they have a pan under the car that covers the oil drain and the oil filter. The pan is made with a x pattern and really makes you wonder why they couldn't have made the holes in the x under the oil drain plug. If you dont remove the pan it fills with oil and you cant wipe it out. They are fun to drive and have allot of room and most I have seen have had few problems. As for all cars you had better get used to new cars being harder to work on. The manufactures are giving less importance to maintenance and more to the bottom line and to tighter under hood clearances. As for the electronics that is also a wave of the future if you think VW is bad look at the 05 04 BMW forums and be afraid. The new transmissions some are in the 10k range to rebuild the computers are not transferable and the dealers are making it harder and harder for independents. Just the general move of the industry that has seen many changes.

[art]

For the same price you could get a real nice 65-68 mustang v8 an have something worth the money an get you money back after ten years of owning it.My daughter has my 66 an she loves it an I miss it.Very easy to work on without all that junk under the hood.

[junior]

atleast with the new beetles you can get laid in the back seat. the down fall of them is that they dont have the straps between the front and back seats for her to put er legs,and to can fit 7 tigers in them now.............

[Tundra]

Black is nice
They made it look like the classic bug, only nicely done, nice fit and finish

[Thulsa Doom]

A lady in the front office at work has a yellow convertible. she loves it. No known problems though she never drives far.

[dragon_slayer_129]

Can't tell you much about the VW bug but I can if you are considering a mustang convertible.  Mine is an '06 "pony package" V-6 with an automatic (5-speeds are hard to find in a V-6).  I bought it in '08 with 5300 miles on the clock (as close to new as I'm ever going to see) for right around 18K.  It has just over 34K miles on it now and really haven't had any problems with it till this week......the stepper motor on the window threw a fit and doesn't come back up the 1/2" after you shut the door (still seals out water just not against wind noise).  The pony package gives you a few options that the standard V-6 doesn't have like the carbon fiber dash panel and silver wheel and shifter (standard is all black there) and the pony tri-bar badging on the fender.  The pony package also comes with the 17" 5-spoke wheels and the fog/driving lights in the grill.....standard comes with 16" wheels and no fogs.

You'll notice that the mustang has a 2 layer top that is very quiet going down the road.....unlike my old cj-5 jeep that sounded like a trashbag in the wind while driving it.  As far as fuel mileage on the V-6 I'm getting on average 24 just goofing around town and short trips but out on the highway when we went to Pigeon Forge last year we got right around 30-32.  The 4.0 has plenty of pick up and go for me.  Would I liked to have a GT droptop with a 6-speed......YES but the price difference when we were looking and the insurance difference made my decision a little easier.  The only thing I like better on the GT over the V-6 is the leather interior.  In the GT it's perforated and the V-6 isn't and does get a bit hot in the summer (my interior is black) but a towel thrown over the seat when you get out is all it takes to get rid of that problem.

The radio is pretty awesome (shaker 500 or shaker 1000 in the GT) as it's a 6 disk indash changer that plays mp3's.  With the shaker system in the drop top you have subs in both doors as well as 4 other speakers......radio can be heard easily over the road noise at 65 with the shaker system.

Sorry for the long post but you said you were possibly looking at a mustang drop top and wanted some advice and experience with the car.

Here's my '06 drop top on vacation in Maggie Vally, NC:








Dragon Slayer 129

[MartinT]

Bought one for my daughter a few years back. Nothing but trouble, was glad to be rid of it. I have owned four VWs during the last 15 years, and although i liked the handling and performance for the price, they were all at the shop way too often. Switched to Hondas a few years back, problems solved. I miss my 98 VW PAssat V6 though...

[big d]

Since my '97 jetta I have had a vw. Two passats and a 1999 vw beetle which I used for work.  I currently have a 2010 deisel jetta. Bought the bug used with about 80 k on the odo and loved it. Ran it to 190 k and sold it cause I was tired of driving it.  (After 2.5 years, five days a week).The bug handled like a sports car and with four snows I accidentally outran the police one winter when there was a driving ban due to excessive amounts of snow on the roads. When he caught up to me after i reached my destination he said he thought it would be ok since he couldn't catch me. Like any car you will find someone complaining about it. I would complain about any gm car. I am a ford man. Going back to vw beetle, would definitely get another one for work in a heartbeat. By the way I average between 60-70 thousand miles a year in my work cars. I need reliability. With vw the harder you drive them the more they like it