VW New Beetle (1 Viewer)

[BrettB]

The wife is set on a New Beetle. I'm not exactly opposed. It's the wifes car but she herself has decided to go with a more conservative color (black, silver or gray) which helps limit the 'cute' factor. Anyway, wanting opinions on the NB.

Engines: The MPG on the TDI is very tempting however I don't like the 100 HP especially when the much cheaper base engine has 115 HP. Also, since when is diesel fuel more expensive than 97 unleaded? Hasn't it always been cheaper? Is diesel fuel going up at a quicker rate than unleaded? I don't know anything about diesel engines. The dealer is saying that they are more reliable. That 150 HP Turbo is tempting as well.

To save some money I think we might get a 'Certified' used NB. Anyone have experience with VW's Certified program. Seems like a pretty good program.

Any and all opinions greatly appreciated.

 

[NickSo]

well i do know that diesel engines though low HP have loads of torque, which would be more noticeable when going from a standstill such as leaving a traffic light. if its being driven in lots of city, stop and go traffic, then i dont think the lack of horsepower will be THAT noticeable as it'll be offset by higher torque

 

[CRyan]

I think the 100hp is going to be fine on that car. Not going to be racing it...

Take a look at the beige. I really like that color and it looks elegant I think and not your basic black or grey. It is an original color from the original beetle as well.

They are really small inside and the dash is huge, but all the lights are pretty inside! I assume she has been in one. It is certainly an A-B car. I would not want to travel in it.

I still want a convertable just so I can sit it next to my original '71 super vert.

Have fun.

 

[Alf S]

As long as you and her are willing to accept that VW has a really poor reliability ratings (Consumer Reports) and you can deal with recalls on them..by all means grab one while you can!

CR cars to avoid:

 

[BrettB]

No beige on the NB. (edit: the link didn't go to the colors, you'll have build a Beetle to see the colors)

Although it will primarily be to-work-and-back (we don't travel by car too much) I'm curious, Crappy seats? Claustrophobic?

 

[Ted Lee]

the vw's are diesel engines?

even taking into consideration what nick said, a 100hp sounds kinda low? heck, my honda has 140hp and i think it's a slow boat. have you driven it yet?

as for fun factor, i don't think they can be beat. i do think of them as "scooter chick cars" (but that doesn't matter in your case brett).

i've also heard that vw's aren't very reliable ... especially in the electrical dept ... but i don't know if that's changed.

just be sure to buy those wheels that look like daisies ... that'll really set ya apart from the crowd.

 

[Mark Paquette]

Don't let the 100hp in the TDI fool you, this engine will move that car better than the 2.0 litre 115 hp base (a.k.a. 2.slow). Take a TDI model for a drive, you'll be suprised at how powerful it feels. You can't beat the gas mileage with a stick either. As other have said the New Beatle has had more than its share of problems. Do yourself a favor and check out vwvortex.com and post your message in the New Beatle forum. Someone over there should be able to give you a heads up on what to watch out for, especially on a used model.

 

[Matt Stryker]

I will echo others comments about the TDI. I never really believed the people that said "you buy horsepower, but you drive torque", then I bought a Jetta TDI. The power really is unbelievable, especially during passes at speed...its almost video-game like, you press down the throttle and the car would accelerate effortlessly from 60 to 80. There is a great VW TDI site that can give you all the info you'd ever want on TDI VWs:

http://www.tdiclub.com/

I actually live in the town in Mexico where they build all of the NBs, and they are everywhere here, but no diesels. I beleive the beige is only available on the convertibles, that may be why you don't see it on the normal NB options page.

To answer your other question on diesel fuel prices, it really depends on the state. in GA, diesel would hover between the Plus and Premium price, in NC it was more than Premium, and during a visit to Utah it was as cheap as regular. So it just depends on how your state taxes fuel methinks.

 

[Jimi C]

My neighbors just bought a tan beetle convertable, its not too bad looking. 100hp and 177lbft of torque is good for a car that small. My Taurus is a boat and it only has 155hp, 186lbft torque. It is soooooooo slow.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

mark is right on the money here. don't go by the horsepower number alone. the tdi will be faster than the 2.0 motor. couple that with a 5 speed manual transmission, and you get 50+ mpg on the highway, something that rivals even some hybrid cars. get the tdi.

CJ

 

[CRyan]

Aww man. Sorry 'bout that. Did not realize the beige was vert only.

Actually, the interior on these cars feels top notch in my opinion. It feels as though it has less room than my original VW. It probably does have less. It just feels as though there is not a lot of room to move around in. Of course this is all my opinion, and if I had the money for a third car, I would be seriously considering the beetle.

It is a fun drive!

 

[Matt Stryker]

Although it is somewhat of a constant arguement between the hybrid vs diesel camps, in real world tests at highway speeds the diesels usually beat hybrids:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...s-hybrid_x.htm

However, if your driving is more in traffic, the hybrid may edge out the diesel by being able to cut the motor.

 

[Keith Mickunas]

I had an '01 Jetta and can vouch for some of the problems. I had a window regulator break while under warranty, but some people had issues with those failing repeatedly just outside of the warranty and getting screwed. They also had issues with the rear brakes being rather soft and getting used up within 20k or so. It took some arguing but they replaced them for free. I can't remember what else there was, but I know there were a few other recalls, and lots of owners had to raise a stink and file suit before some of the recalls were made. So don't believe that VW stands behind their cars anymore than anyone else. Even after VW changed the design of the window regulators they continued to deny the problem until around the time the class-action suit was started. Also, the Jetta is the only one of my cars, all the rest of which were GMs, which stranded me. I had a faulty fuel sensor or something, and I ran out of fuel with no warning. Fortunately I was right near a gas station, but still quite annoying.

The NB, Jetta, and Golf/GTI as well as the Audi TT and I believe Audi A3 all share the same frame and some similar parts. I thought the Jetta had a really good ride and was a well built car for the most part. But the 2.8 VR6 sucked up the gas far worse than my current supercharged 3.8 V6 in my Grand Prix. The VWs are heavy for their size also. I am considering buying one of the new A3s, there's just something to be said for German engineering. So problems aside, I would go back.

I do think the TDI is a good deal. The mileage is hard to beat. Europeans drive a lot of diesel cars, and I'm pretty sure VW's are good. I would be cautious of the year you get though, and definitely look to the newer ones. I believe in '02 or '03 they changed to a 48 month/48,000 mile warranty, which was much nicer than the 24/24k one I had. Blech, that was just too short.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

i get a kick out of the hybrids sold in the US, when they advertise "the best fuel efficiency in the world" or something like that. their target audience must not know any better, because the vw lupo tdi has an advertised fuel efficiency of 78.5 mpg, and has set a record for the best fuel economy used in a trip "around the world", and also traveled through 20 european countries with a fuel efficiency of 101.6 mpg. nice try, honda and toyota

CJ

 

[Eric Kahn]

I owned a TDI new beetle for almost 4 years, just traded it in on a passat TDI wagon

Mine was the older 90 HP TDI and it was as good as the 2.0 gasser for drivability and had better acceleration on the highway

Mine was a 5 speed and I averaged 40 MPG in the city without trying, rinning the AC most of the time (do not like driving with the windows down)

you should test drive the car, I think you will like it, make sure the dealer shows you how to adjust the seat for height and the steering collum so you get it where you want it before driving it

 

[Mark Sherman]

Being a VW Owner for the 2nd time I love my Jetta GLI. I would get the BUG with the turbo and get that baby Chipped asap. The power goes from 180 to about 225 and it is just awesome. I did it in my jetta and all I can say is WOW. The looks on some of the faces of the BMW owners are priceless Do it in a BUG it would be even better.

 

[Arthur S]

I just don't understand why anyone would buy a car with a serious history of unreliability.

Ancedotal stories of good luck are useless in picking a reliable car. Consumer Reports uses surveys from acutual owners. They received 800,000 surveys from their 4,000,000 subscribers.

Why anyone would be concerned about fuel mileage when they are going to be dealing with frustrating repairs, recalls, and the inevitable electrical problems is beyond me.

If issues like that don't bother you, and it is all about cute and fun, you might as well get the one that is the most fun, the 150 HP gas turbo.

And buying a used one? That is simply asking for trouble. Certified means something only on the day you buy it. After that, look out.

 

[BrettB]

Thanks for all the responses.


1. Feel free to provide the CR info if you have it. Last time I checked they wanted my money. The reliability ratings at MSN didn't look bad.

2. My wife thinks it's cute.

 

[Arthur S]

It is hard to summarize but I will give it a shot. Horrible record of electrical problems. Almost as horrible record of problems with power equipment. Awful record of problems with body hardware. Bad record of problems with body integrity. Bad record of problems with fuel delivery. Not so hot with brakes.

Public libraries usually have the magazines, but with the price of gas, you just might want to spend $4.95 for on-line access and then quit within 30 days. Might be the best 5 bucks you ever spent.

 

[Jason Smalley]

When my 1984 Tempo was totaled on my way to an early morning class in April of 2002, I was fortunate to have enough saved up to get a 2002 Silver New Beetle GLS 2.0. I love this car.


The Beetle handles wonderfully in normal settings for daily driving in and around the city. There is a shocking amount of space in the interior cabin for the people in the front seats. The ride isn't quite as nice in the back.


In my first year of ownership, the little car got quite the work out. I spent the summer the Mountains of western Montana, but to get there, I had to go through the Badlands.


Once in the mountains, the so-called "puny 2.slow" engine aquitted itself quite admirably and never once suffered any performance anxiety. Steep grades, gradual grades, this little engine could.


The next summer after our mountain adventure, fortune favored the foolish once again and I found myself living at Walt Disney World for 7 months as seen in this picture of the NB in the Imagineering parking lot at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Moral of the story: the first three years of owning my New Beetle were quite stressing on the car. 9 trips of 3500 miles each. Mountains, rain, wind, beaches, Atlanta traffic, Disney traffic, tree sap, and one Ford Explorer later, I haven't had any major issues with the car besides one blown fuse, a wry sensor, and a burnt out tail light (from the Ford Explorer rear ender in Orlando).

Fuel mileage isn't near the original super Beetle largely due to the hugely round design of the car (bad coefficient of drag). But it is serviceable.

As for the reliability ratings. A 22% response from one's readership indicates to me that you would get an overwhelming bias toward negative experiences because people always want to complain. Empirically, the majority of Beetle drivers (myself included) adore our cars and don't really see the point of many other cars. Whenever I see Carabidae (a really cool species of beetle and my car's name), I smile. Not many people can say that about their cars.

Finally, the more telling statistic is that whenever I get a new car, I will most definately look for another Beetle to call my own.