The New Beetle
 

One of the girls that works for my wife wants to get a used New Beetle. She is a little intimidated by the whole car buying process and I have offered to help her out. I always have a great time spending someone else's money :-).

Does anybody here have any experiences with the New Beetle - any known problems with any particular year?

I have just started to look for info on the car and thought I would throw out a post here and see if anyone has any experience or suggestions to share.

Thanks,

uhhg. I haven't owned one, but I worked at a car dealer for a while. I can honestly say that the new beetle is one of the worst cars I've ever driven. The quality is aweful, the handling is bad, the motors feel pathetic, the gearshift feels cheap and plasticky... I could go on, But seriously. The only thing those cars have going for them is the name and the styling. Of course this is just my opinion, ymmv... But can't you turn her on to something that's a little bit more of a car?

But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln - how was the play? :)

I've no direct experience either, but there's a place where people have put up comments: www.carsurvey.org . This site has lots of user reviews from owners, and seems fairly balanced (the new MINI takes a beating there, though).

Emanuel

There's a reason they only warranty them for 2 years.

My Galfiend just bought an '03 GL. The motor is a bit anemic, the "monsoon" upgrade does NOT include a CD player, it's twitchy on the freeway (wind makes it nervous) and the front wheels are unbalanced.

She loves it. What can I say, at least it's German.

VW may be German, but the New Beetle is built in Mexico...

Isnt the new Beetle just a Golf with a different body? Personally i really dont like the way they look. They look like Fisher-Price designed them I jsut hope they come out with the new Bus concept vehicle. That thing was WAY cool looking.

Thanks for the responses. I have found a lot of other non-favorable information regarding the New Beetle. I don't think that this would be the car for her.

I know she likes the look of the Beetle, but she also is looking for something that is reliable, gets good gas mileage and looks good.

So.. what about those Honda's and Toyota's out there? Anybody have a good recommendation? She wouldn't be able to afford a new car at this point and I think we should look for something in the 1999-2001 range. Might be able to find something that still has some warranty left.

Hard to beat a Honda Civic...

I always kinda liked the Del Sols, especially with the V-tec motor. Ex-girlfriend had one, fun little car, fast, plus a targa top!

If she likes VWs, I'd try a GTI.

My mother just bought the third one in the last 15 years and she just loves them.

Paco, a girlfriend of mine in Germany, her mom has one. What a great car to go traveliing around Europe in - fast! Are you back home in Madrid yet? How was Brazil?

Quick sidenote on the Civic - if she lives in a larger metro area she may want to reconsider - They are apparently easy to break into. ie - mine has been broken into 3 times and stolen once (recovered) in the last 3 years. It's reliable, great on gas, etc, but I'll never get another one.

Regards,
Andrew M

Bill,

Still in Brazil but going back in 10 days :D

I used to "borrow" my mom's GTI and it was a blast. Then I bought a Civic... and continued "borrowing" the GTI.

Then I bought the 911 and her last GTI is a Diesel (but still an amazing machine), so no more borrowing.