VW New Beetle (1 Viewer)

[Keith Mickunas]

That's what I was thinking. Arthur, you say the anecdotal good stories aren't important, but the reports you cite could be just the same.

There are issues, with the VWs, but from people I've known that have had VWs as well as my own experience, they aren't nearly as bad as CR is reporting. The Jetta is, or was, the best selling European car in the US, and the Golf was for a long time one of the best selling cars in the world. There has to be a reason behind this.

People with problems tend to be far more vocal than those without problems. I should point out that while I had some issues with the dub, they were taken care of under warranty, and the brakes were covered also and my service experiences were pretty good. Heck, one of the local VW dealers keeps their service department open til Midnight. How many dealerships do you know of like that?

And in fairness, my '04 Grand Prix recently spent a week in the shop getting some transmission work done, a hub bearing replaced, and part of the steering replaced. All under warranty and I was given a rental, but that's the longest I've been without my car excluding times I was in an accident.

 

[Philip_G]

I would certainly go with the TDi. Ditto the torque comments, but you can also put in larger injectors and reprogram the ECU for GOBS AND GOBS more torque, you'd have to check the TDi forums, but I think the thing could be ALMOST quick. And still get 50whatever MPG when your foot isn't in it.

 

[Matt_A]

I've had a Golf TDI for 4.5 years now, and it's been super excellent. Problems have been minor, and I've put over 100K miles on it. it gets 45 mpg, and has a great ride.

Don't put too much stock in what CR says. Remember, that a huge recall (coil packs anyone?) can bring down the reliability rating of a brand in their eyes. Plus, the "people like to complain" factor makes me never want to believe them.

The TDI is definately superior to the 2.0. It's the most advanced engine I've ever seen, let alone driven. It makes more power per gallon of fuel than anything else on the road. You can go 700 miles on a tank of fuel (14.5 gallons, or a squidge more).

Plus, the turbo sounds cool.

 

[Arthur S]

You can find as many reasons as you want to disagree with the findings of CR. If you feel that the ancedotal stories of a hand full of people is more valuable than the experiences of thousands of owners, go for it.

My niece owned a Jetta. She had a ton of trouble with it.

There are several real good reasons that the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord have been the best selling medium size sedans in this country for years. One of the biggest reasons is reliability.

Good Luck

 

[Alf S]

Consumer Report OVERALL reliability issues rating for all model years of the Bug received the dreaded black X which is "Worse than average" ..Note:..250,000+ folks respond to these owner reviews of reliability etc.

I subscribe to their website, but they won't let me copy the data coreectly from the site.

Horrible electrical problems, Body hardware problems, and power equipment..All those categories have solid black (the worst) ratings.

One upside..it does good in crash tests.

 

[Ken Chui]

For those interested, J.D. Power & Associates offer comparison charts of automobile ratings (by year, make and model); here is the link.

Keep in mind that their 2005 Vehicle Dependability Study is based on 2002 model-year vehicles; taken from their website:

 

[Kevin T]

i own a 99.5 jetta gls. i have about 160,000 miles on it. thus far, only major repairs have been replacing both front axles. i replaced both O2 sensors myself which cost about $60 for both sensors. i had a plastic valve break and it emptied all my coolant. i was less than a mile from the dealership so i didn't overheat the engine. that cost me $175 for a $12.00 piece of plastic, flush and fill with coolant, and labor. i've probably spent about $700 in repairs since i purchased the car used in 2002.

vw's are definitely quirky. my door locks will occasional relock when the door is open and thus set off the alarm. the window regulators are known to fail causing your window to fall into the door (happened to me - fixed for free due to a 7 year extended warranty from vw). the trunk micro switch goes bad and thus your light won't come on.

if you are considering a vw, i highly suggest that you buy a bentley repair manual and good set of torx bits once the warranty expires. also, locate a good local foreign auto mechanic as the dealership charges INSANE amounts for repairs. i had both my axles replaced for $430. the dealership charges $800 per axle. when i called about a tune up (spark plugs, wires, fuel filter, and air filter), they quoted me a price of $400. needless to say, i did it myself.

despite it all, i still love my little jetta. for the bettle, i'd skip the daisy rims and go straight for the teddy bear rims:



kevin t

 

[BrettB]

Haven't seen any of those teddy bears in a while. If we get a NB I just need to make sure she never sees these.

 

[Aurel Savin]

Brett, not to hijack the thread, and I am not sure where you live ... but have you looked at the MINI Cooper.
One upside besides the fun factor is that MINI also gives you 3/36 full maintenance on the car + resale value is ridiculously high.
I have one for 2 years now with zero problems and I beat on it daily in NYC traffic.

the base 115hp version is about $17K ...

 

[Matt Stryker]

That or check on TDIForum or VWVortex and see if someone in your area has a VAG-COM, which is a computer interface to the VW computer inside the car. Much more advanced than just an OBD interface, the VAGCOM can tell you all sorts of stuff about what is wrong with the car, you can change a lot of the engine settings electronically, and also change performance characteristics. The unit costs about $200, but if you live in a decent sized town someone close to you probably has one they will scan you with for free.

The big TDI problems for my (2000) model year were window regulators (I had manual windows, so no problems there), the dreaded Mass Airflow Sensor (it gets gunked up from diesel residue, but someone with a VAGCOM can change the way the engine delivers fuel so it doesn't happen hardly at all), and glow plugs, which I had to replace the plugs and harness. None of these repairs were over $200, and I could do all of them myself with a minimum of tools.

 

[Philip_G]

the guy that sells one of the vagcom knokoffs maintains a list of people willing to scan your car for you, I just can't remember the URL

 

[BrettB]

Aurel, the MINI was on our short list but we started focusing on the NB before we ever went to check one out in person. One issue was the size.

I went and drove both the TDI and the 150 HP 1.8 the other night. The 1.8 is fun.

A lot of love for the TDI in here. It did seem really peppy at lower speeds, not so much at higher speed. I guess my big worry would be the noise. Do you just get used to it? Crank up the stereo?

 

[Mark Paquette]

The 1.8T engine is fun to drive. I have one in my Passat and it does a decent job of getting that car moving so I can imagine what it does to a NB. I usually average 30 mpg with a 50/50 mix of highway/city driving. I wonder what the 1.8 in the NB gets? It's been a great engine for me. 65k miles and all I've done is change the oil every 5k miles. I've never driven a NB, but did drive a Jetta with a TDI. I don't remember it being any noisier than a gas engine, but that was a long time ago. Maybe the cabin noise is just higher in a NB or maybe I'm just going deaf. Definitely option #2, I'm going deaf. I wish I could have found a Passat with a TDI when I bought mine. With the price of gas these days I could definitely tolerate a bit more noise. One big minus though, it seems that all of the diesel pumps in my area are nasty. All kinds of spilled fuel, etc.

Good luck with your decision. BTW, what does your wife think of the car after driving it?

 

[Aurel Savin]

hmm ... size wise there is about the same interir room in the MINI as the NB ... I am 6'7" if that says something to you

you definetelly owe it to yourself to test drive one before making a purchase ... or maybe not ... becuase the go-cart ride will have you hooked for sure.

 

[BrettB]

At 6'-7" I guess front leg room isn't an issue. (although I couldn't find that stat at the MINI site)

NB Front Leg Room - 39.40 in.

The size issue is as it relates to safety. The MINI rates well in the crash tests but there's no denying it's size. Less car between my wife and bad stuff.

Cooper BaseNew Beetle GL 2.0L
Curb Weight - Automatic (lb.)25572780
Curb Weight - Manual (lb.)25242743
Wheelbase (in.)97.1098.70
Length (in.)143.10161.10
Width (in.)66.5067.90
Height (in.)55.9059.00
Track Front (in.)57.4059.40
Track Rear (in.)57.7058.80
Ground Clearance (in.)4.504.60

Perhaps it's an unfounded worry.

She's only driven the 2.0. She didn't have any complaints, but she's not really into cars. As long as there are no ergonomic issues, it moves forward when the gas pedal is pressed and it turns when the steering wheel is turned she's happy.

 

[Shane Martin]

Or push you away.

 

[Arthur S]

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

Several posters have provided considerable evidence of the unreliability of most VWs.

On second thought, I can understand it. Many purchases are not made for rational reasons, they are made for emotional reasons.

I guess I just hate car trouble too much to buy a car that I know is going to be trouble prone.

To each his/her own.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

I've owned several cars over the years with abysmal reputations for poor reliability and gotten excellent service from all but 2 Ford products from the mid-80s.

It's mostly a matter of getting to know the idisynchrasies of the particular car and learn to spot minor problems before they get huge, and it doesn't hurt that I'm an auto mechanic by trade.

My first car was a 1962 Corvair Monza coupe, purchased used in 1968 with 43k miles on it. I kept it 4 years and traded it in in 1972, by which time it showed 114k miles on the odometer. One had to change the fanbelt yearly, whether it needed it or not, and replace the oil pressure switch every couple of years, maintain the factory recommended tire pressures and the oversteer was manageable. This little beast had a 2 speed powerglide and 102hp engine, and if I could get past one of the muscle cars so popular at the time on a winding road I could easily lose them.

All that being said, for most drivers the car would have been a disaster.

It seems that those who are disregarding the poor reliability reports on the VW here are VW enthusiasts and/or quite mechanically inclined. For them the niggling problems are minimized by their enjoyment of the car's driving characteristics and they are willing to do the research and probably more than a little of their own maintenance and repair work in order to make ownership a good experience.

For the average car owner, who just wants something to go from A to B with minimal problems there are much better choices.

The NB is reviled in Europe, too big and heavy for it's interior accomodations and they consider it's retro beetle styling to be a reminder of difficult postwar times.

If you need a reliable, cheap to buy and cheap to run automobile with retro or unusual styling forget the NB and buy a Scion XB, tons of interior room (more rear legroom than most full size cars) with great mpg and Toyota reliability.

The mini is one of the least reliable cars on the road, again relying on retro styling to sell mechanical crap, but at least it's a lot more fun than the overweight NB>

 

[BrettB]

Thank you for your input Steve but this


won't be happening. The styling of this shoebox on wheels makes me want to do mean things to cute fluffy bunny rabbits. It's not that it's ugly. Ugly isn't the word. It's stupid looking. It's without a doubt the most idiotic looking car ever designied. It is an abomination. When I see one of these I look away quicky for fear of being blinded. Aint happening.

 

[Aurel Savin]

MINI unreliable ... I think about 99% of the owners beg to differ. The car has never let me stranded in 2 years and I beat on it mercilessly in NYC rough roads.
The reports you are reading are based more on early models having quirky problems, like easily scratched interior surfaces, a clutch problem on the 5 speed model and such.

Remember, enhusiast cars like the MINI always have owners that are more likely to be picky and report even minor defects to the dealers and JD Power.

But "unreliable" is definetelly not a word I would use.

http://www.thecarconnection.com/Indu...192.A8819.html