Volkswagen Beetle Reviews

Purchased 2001 Beetle for cash brand new. Shortly thereafter, electrical system died. I took it back to dealer in Glendale, CA and he informed me that there was nothing he could do. It has been sitting in my garage for years now because I can't find anyone to fix it. Please help.

2002 bug - had it for 8 years nothing but problems, have replaced every major component water pump, fuel pump, injectors to name a few. Dash lights always on for one reason or another especially air bag light. It's 2 to 3000 every time gets to shop. Why kept it so long? Wanted to keep till it was a classic. Lol, I should of bought it and parked it..

I purchased my dream car, a convertible bug, on 7/9/14. I was terribly disappointed when five days later I saw rain pouring into the closed top. After 6 trips to two dealerships, the problem was fixed. Quite a headache and not very encouraging for a new car, but since vw did finally fix the problem I am thrilled with the car. I haven't had any other problems, but I have to admit I cringe every time it rains. I just have to remind myself that leaks don't matter when the top is down and hope that nothing else goes wrong. I can't say that I would buy another vw but I also won't say I won't.

1999 VW Beetle. What do I even say that everyone else hasn't already said about Beetles. ABSOLUTE WORST CAR EVER MADE! I have put far more money into the car to keep it running than what I paid for it. (about $6000+) Starter, air compressor, clutch, alternator, o2 sensor X4, transmission, catalytic converter, every electrical component... you name it, chances are I fixed it. The first words my mechanic uttered when learning I had purchased a beetle were "The best advice I can give you is get rid of this car immediately." Did I listen? Nope. Now yet again, my car has left me stranded. Damn you VW, why can't you just make a decent damned car? Man up and take these heaps of junk off the roads. Admit it, you effed up. Do not buy anything VW ever! If you do, prepare to shell out a pile of money over and over again.

Bought a 2005 VW new Beetle convertible with 78,000 miles on it and drove it for 10,000 miles and the transmission starts to slip, we take it into the VW dealer and they tell us it's going to be $6000 for a new transmission on a car with less than 100,000 miles on it, ridiculous!!! I will never buy a Volkswagen again!!!! Hopefully my VW Routan doesn't start to act up! Used to trust this company, not anymore!!!!

Driver’s door has fall off its hinges. A/c system has been replaced 3 times. Headlight constantly fall out of car while driving. Leather seats are plastic and started cracking within first year. Car smells like a burnt crayon no matter what you use to cover smell. Transmission replaced at 40,000 miles. Plastic console broke within first year. Aux cable fell into dash first time used. Tail lights pop out while car is parked. Multiple buttons on radio have stopped working. Plastic straps on convertible top have all broke. I really cannot think of a single item that has not broken or had to be replaced. Car has been in shop 42 times in 2 years. All parts are expensive and are made in mexico or brazil. Looks nice but is absolutely horrible. I am in constant fear when I drive my plastic lemon.

I purchased a 2003 Volkswagen Beetle last year in May 2014 and ever since I had it been giving me problems. Like when I come to a complete stop it starts jerking so bad I have to put it in park and when I do that it's cut off and won't start unless I sit there for awhile and have to quickly put it back in drive and pull off real fast. Most time I'm in traffic and it's so dangerous because someone can easy reel end me in the back.

I have a 2001 VW with 205,000 miles on it. The last 141,000 miles the check engine light, airbag light, EPC light have been on. Quotes from 1240.00 dollars to 3000.00 to fix upstream and downstream O2 mass airflow and a myriads of others. It's the ground that meets at the transmission. They get oily, dirty, grimy-- clean it and all problems for free are fixed. Check ohms of resistance to the contact point. Use contact cleaner after disconnecting the battery shine it up and the lights will go out and your stress will go down. Or drive it and forget it. Check engine light is emissions related. Who cares. With all lights out. 26 miles to gallon. All lights on 33 miles to gallon gas is 4 bucks air is free. Greatest car ever.

Reading some these reviews I swear they were driving my car, I fell in love with a Beetle since Herbie the Love bug! I bought my 2003 VW convertible Beetle in 2004... Only 1 1/2 years later, I started having trouble with the transmission. It only had 38,000 miles on it. Thank God I bought an extended warranty! 6 months later the driver’s side window regulator broke. Since then, I've replaced 4 of them. The glue on my top has come apart from the rear window. I've kept up with all the normal up keep of my car, but every time I turn around there is always something else. I check every now and then to see if there has been any recall on any of my issues... aawwh NO! Does anyone have any ideas what to do?

2004 New Beetle convertible top - Well had this year and half now. I had replace the transmission, head gasket, water pump, and the air compressor. Now the convertible top is leaking and needs a head o steel which is another 750. Also the back leaks around the edges. Then all the sides are coming unglued and sticky.

Transmission issues, oil leak issues, power window issues, heat issues, controller box issues, shifting issues...there is more. Will never buy another VW car again.

2002 New VW Beetle. Total mileage 54.000 average use 450 miles a month. Construction and reliability the worst of any car other than a Jeep Cherokee that I have owned. Three window regulators required replacing, water pump failed at 40,000 miles, glove box door latch broke (plastic), rear ash tray broke off (plastic), convertible top rear window has separated from the canvas, drivers side air bag warning light is on, both drivers side and passenger side interior door trim fabric has fallen off. The glue has failed. The transmissions is causing intermittent slips. The fuel pump failed spilling gasoline into the interior of the car and ground, this occurred at 51,000 miles. This cars interior and options are very poorly constructed and unreliable. I will never buy another VW of any type and tell that to anyone who will listen. I have a 2006 Honda pilot with 164,000 miles and had to do nothing other than normal maintenance, what a difference a commitment to customer satisfaction makes.

2001 Volkswagan Super Beetle - I can't believe this is a German engineered car. Started having brake and transmission problems in first year. Got that all fixed. In 2007 the interior started falling apart. Both door close handles broke loose from the top. The headliner came unglued and is sagging all over. In 2009 the dash and all interior plastic covered parts turned so gooey and sticky that the goo rubs off on you. In 2013 the tiny remote control mirror knob broke off (it's plastic). The car runs great, that's why I keep it. But inside now, it is a piece of pure junk. Does anybody know how to get the goo off the dash?

As long as I can remember, I have always wanted a little VW beetle, silver, royal blue, with flames on the sides, or Kermit the Frog green. Any of those would have made my day. So to my eternal surprise on my 33rd birthday, I got a silver one as a gift from my then boyfriend. I took over ownership of the car about a year ago and the car has sadly been a pain ever since the first summer I have had it. I have had the coolant system flushed and all small plastic parts, hoses, and sensors associated with that replaced.

ABS light and signal came on, radio went off and when I turned it off it would not turn back on. I attempted to jump it but it would not hold a charge. Had it towed and mechanic claims the fuse box melted down and he is trying to find out why and how to fix it. I have found out the cost of remedy or cost to repair. In doing research now I find that this is a common problem with VW? Why has there not been a recall? I love my car and will keep it. Just feel that the manufacturer needs to be held responsible.

I was in an accident and the airbags didn't deploy.

2000 VW Turbo - I just took my VW to the garage because of ABS light on. It wasn't a brake problem, it was a assembly defect that caused my fuse box to melt. It seems to be a big problem with Volkswagen "melted fuse box assembly". I am a 74 year old single woman on a small fixed income. I feel VW is responsible for my bill.

Damn, how do I start...I bought my 2001 VW beetle turbo charge 1.8L two years ago. SO MANY THINGS happened. Well let me start this off, I spend 7000 ** dollars on it. I thank to my uncle he could help me with this. When I first got this car, yes it was more than amazing, it was beautiful to my eyes. I loved the way it ran, had a lot of power. Pretty much, it ran GREAT. A bit more than a week after I got it the engine light came on, not just that, it flashed!!! Well bad for me I did not get a warranty on that. I knew nothing about cars, this was my very first one with my own money. The mechanic told me if I'll pay 100$ he'll solve this. Sorry but I don't really remember what was the problem. Well it came on and off. I got to another mechanic (my uncle's friend) which instead of paying 95$ an hour, I paid 50...Still a lot for a worker who gets less than 9$ an hour, but I got help with all this. So with about 5000$ worth of fix, I gave up. I could not afford this no more. I did not want to solve it, but I thought to myself, after all of this money you are going to trash it. So I kept it.

Over the past month, I have noticed a strange, plasticky smell that seems to come from the driver's area somewhere. It's like melting plastic. I changed perfumes, thinking it was me... but it is getting worse. Every time I turn on the A/C or now the heater, there it is. Thankfully my friend Bob could smell it yesterday and said it smells like an electrical issue. I already have an appt with VW to look at it.

2005 turbo with 59,000 miles on it. While driving transmission goes into neutral by itself and shifts gears rough. Has happened several times nearly causing accidents. I called the VW headquarters and they said that it was 4 years past the 5 year warranty and even though it's under the mileage, they could not help me. I never received a letter about a problem and extension of the warranty due to the class action law suit. VW should be responsible for fixing this problem with any car that was built with this transmission no matter what the year or mileage. They want $6000.00 for a new trans and the car's not even worth that. Never buy VW vehicles!

2005 VW Beetle Convertible - Headliner has fallen/pulled away from the back window. Feels like the liner has a metal bar inside of it that must have snapped in around the window. For anyone who has had this problem, have they had it fixed and if so has the fix worked. I've owned the car four days. Reply is greatly appreciated.

I purchased my 2013 Beetle in September of 2013. It's a 2.5 L 5 speed. I had the same problem as many others where my window would not come back up all the way after being rolled down. Also, the automatic window would not work. I had to hold the button down the entire time. Now that it is warmer, this does not happen. I still think it's odd that a brand new car with 3 miles on it when I purchased it had that happen to it! Now I am having the issue that my car will die while it is in neutral. It has died 7 times in the past 3 months and both Puyallup Volkswagen and Auburn Volkswagen have not been able to find the problem. I have not seen anyone else with this problem either. It is very frustrating for this was my first brand new car!

I really loved my 2005 Beetle convertible. Loved driving around with the top down and the wind in my hair. But alas, it's the crappiest car I've ever owned... and I have owned a Vega and a Datsun b-210! The interior of the car has been a joke since day 1. The automatic windows broke so many times the mechanics fixing it broke the door panel screwing it back in. But the dealership (Dwight Harrison in Snellville, GA) wouldn't take ownership of that because I didn't notice the big crack in the passenger side before I drove it off the lot. And how embarrassing that the paint is peeling off the door handles every time they are used. But even that I could have overlooked.

The fuse box on top of my battery has burned up 5 times since my purchase of the vehicle 6 years ago. The mechanic now tells me because of the extensive damage caused by the continual burning of the part.... it has done such extensive damage it cannot be fixed without replacing the alternator and other major electrical parts. I am so mad I can hardly stand it. I have read hundreds of the same complaint and am not sure why there has not been a recall on this car.

Purchased a 2009 Blush New Beetle, top of the line, paid over $30,000+ for the car mainly because of its appealing looks. Nothing but problems, problems, problems... Problem 1: Shortly after receiving possession of the car, the steering column repeatedly locked up. Car repeatedly had to be towed by AAA back to the dealer. Five repairs to key lock cylinder, Service Manager advised problem existing is known to Volkswagen Corporate Headquarters staff and to alleviate problem, car must always be parked on flat level ground. No other known remedy for problem. Is condition existing in my ownership of a Volkswagen car acceptable, I think not!

The inside plastic has developed a sticky residue that cannot be removed. The inside door handles fell off leaving no way to close the doors. The inside door panel coverings pop out. The aerial broke. Recently the plastic panel holding the glove box cracked and the glove box and panel had to be removed. The headliner also needs to be replaced. Mostly every plastic part inside of the car breaks very easy or crumbles.

My daughter just had to have a VW Beetle. I told her I was suspect of their practices related to design for failure and high service costs to follow. Having been in the auto repair and racing business for years, I knew they were guilty of making their cars very hard to diagnose or work on, no company does that by accident. In three years my daughter could not afford to keep fixing the constant $300 to $600 bites it was taking out of her income. We dismissed VW forever. Then I married a lady with a 2008 Beetle with 100,000 miles on it; she claimed to love it. After a water pump, a/c compressor, brake failure, electrical problems and the constant drain of her money for a myriad of minor to major ailments, NOT SO MUCH NOW!!! She let it sit for a month while we were vacationing.

Going down interstate, speed limit 65. Doing speed limit with Semi truck behind me. Beetle lost all power at 65 mph. Took about 5 seconds for Beetle to regain power. Almost got rear ended by Semi truck while beetle lost power. Pretty Scary. Also having problems with driver's window going up in car. It sounds as if the motor is on its last leg. VW states car is fine, However I drive this car everyday. Their only in the Beetle to go around the block. They bring Beetle back & say Beetle is fine. Well, something is wrong & it should be address. A fix for everyone should be mandatory, not bushed under the rug.

The transmission on my 2004 VW convertible Beetle started malfunctioning 14 months after I bought it in 2010. The VW engineers have designed it so you have to buy the exact one for that year and it has to be for the convertible. Most mechanics are not familiar with its sensitivity. It is best to replace with a brand new one and have the dealership to do the job. I would never recommend this car to anyone. It's a money pit and VW needs to man up and do a recall on all Beetles.

I have a 2007 Beetle which is a very cute car, but beginning at about 55000 miles we noticed a problem with the automatic trans. At the time the dealer and the car mechanic said just use high grade gas - will be fine. We are now being told this year that the transmission must be rebuilt at least at the cost of $4000 and that may not resolve all the issues. The car had EVERY correct maintenance at the exact time. We took excellent care of it. This year and others are now part of the LEMON LAW and are part of class action suits. It is really too bad - VW should own up to the problem.