Had a 74 Beetle and drove it for 10 years with no air conditioning. Recently purchased a used, 1 owner, 2012 Turbo, 4 Cylinder Beetle and I cannot believe how well this car handles the road. It has everything I’ve ever wanted in a Beetle. Very, very happy customer I am.
M Prim, my wife. She's more upset than I am at this point. I'm just becoming more and more disappointed with VW with each passing day. My 25yr love affair with them is dwindling. Yes, the windows when it was new, was something I lived with. I truly loved the car. Besides who rolls down windows in Houston, TX during the summer? The Beetle has been awesome fun to drive and I even cherished washing her. At the 80k maintenance, i had to have a valve cover gasket and another gasket replaced because she was leaking oil. Ok, another $750 to the already expensive 80k. 2 weeks later and I'm having to get the water pump replaced for another $1000. I know tires are part of owning a car but I just, 2 days ago, dropped $800 on new rubber. I'm trying to keep a cool head and not just sell it. I really wanted to get 300,000 miles out of this car.
We dealt with the window recall issue when first buying it, took a few months for them to get that fixed. In the past month we've spent close to 4k, coolant system, gasket leak in engine and today it's the water pump that is out and left hubby stranded after work. Yes, he LOVED it at first but a car with 80k miles should not be falling apart like it is. Sooo very disappointed in VW and we will never ever buy another one. Other issues, paint peeling above the door, latch on hatchback has been repair a few times by the dealership and it still doesn't function properly all of the time. Have to agree with some of the other reviews, the Fender sound system is the best part of the car but then again it wasn't actually made by VW so perhaps that why it works so well. 2017 update: Just paid it off and had to sink another 1200.00 into it. Not reliable and it's never a 200 fix. Always runs close to 1k. Pretty sad as my husband loves it...when it runs.
While up until a few days ago I would have said I loved my car, that has completely changed. I have been plagued with issues with misfires for 2 years. First an ignition coil, then another ignition coil, then a fouled spark plug (they have just been replaced with the 1st ignition coil), followed by a purge valve. Now the engine that has been properly maintained per manufacturers recommendations has suffered a catastrophic failure at just over 100k miles. $5k-$7k to replace the engine and possibly the turbo. No assistance for VW whatsoever. This was my 1st VW, and will be the last. Stay away from VW, they obviously don't build a reliable car!!
Today I was so close to tears with my Red VW Turbo Beetle. I had all the problems stated from the reviews below... from the windows having a mind of their own the moment I got them from the dealership... up to injection fuel pump issues and being stuck only to have the same problem all over again in a week, after it's supposed to have been fixed... and some loose screw coming out of nowhere under the hood... Too many problems, if you ask me, from a supposedly brand new car. CRY !!! It's almost like being bullied by all these issues...by my own car.
I head to leave my car in the dealership for a whole month (or more)... and this was with the car being less than 3 years. Also, my car has this odd stink coming from the vent... could it be me ? I dare not admit. Even the media jack inside the glove compartment had issues right from the beginning.
This is my second VW Beetle and I am switching to another brand. The only thing that I enjoyed was the Fender sound system...