Love it, makes me young again
Turbo quit at 70000 miles.
The leather driver's seat is showing wear at 50000 miles.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 25th January, 2011
Best car available
I've had to replace the clutch after my mom let it slip while sitting in traffic.
I had to replace the timing belt at 180,000 miles.
This is by far the best car available on the road. The only flaw I can point out with it is that there isn't enough rear leg room.
I've had this car for 7 years now, and have put on 210,000 miles, I run it on synthetic oil, which I change every 8,000 miles. Other than that, the only other maintenance I've done to the car is changing the timing belt once, and replacing the clutch, and I think I've only changed the headlights and tail lights once. I've performed all of this myself with parts I've ordered offline, so I haven't had to go to the dealership.
You really can't beat the performance either. When I replaced the clutch, I put on a sport clutch and had a performance chip put in. I still get 44 mpg city, and I'll get anywhere from 50-60 mph highway, depending on speed and if I'm drafting. And even though it's a heavy car, it will do 0-60 in 7 seconds; that's better than the new TDI's, which have more horsepower and get less gas mileage.
After owning this, I really don't want to get a new car, there's nothing available today with the same kind of gas mileage or that kind of durability.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 3rd January, 2011
Diesels are known for their gas mileage, it's rated at 42/49, I get better than that. And no, my parents have one, an automatic with 220,000 miles on it and have never done any maintenance but change the oil. I also have 2 friends with Jetta TDI's with close to 200,000 and no issues. A lemon is a car you buy thinking it's good, but breaks down right away. I've put over 200,000 miles on it, how does that qualify as a lemon. And seeing as how I perform the maintenance myself and have never been to a dealership, why would I care about violating their maintenance policies?
Horrendous
Sunroof leaks, windows stopped working, sunroof stopped working, transmission gasket failed, brake switch failed, door handle came off, window motor spool unwound.
There is no attention to detail, no craftsmanship. I abhor this car. I will save thousands if I give it away. Thankfully I kept my old car, made 12 years earlier, and it's not falling apart.
This car is a piece of trash. I will never own another VW. I used to like air cooled VWs, but I even hate the logo now, and will not support any of their products. This company should not exist.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 24th November, 2010
Fun and very dependable
Nothing. Routine maintenance has kept this car running like new.
The car is fun to drive. I live on a mountain, and drive it up and down the mountain daily. It takes the curves well and has plenty of power.
The backseat has little room.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 26th September, 2010
This was a good car, except the repairs are costly and the dealer is not the place to have them done
The window switches on both doors broke within 3 years.
The engine light has been on since 50000 miles, and I learned to ignore it because the car ran fine. The dealership replaced the glow plugs once for me, and said that was the engine light problem, but it wasn't.
The headlights burn out a lot. I just buy the 4.00 bulbs; they last just as long as the expensive ones.
I had to replace the turbo at 310000 miles, and did it myself at a cost of 1000.
The tranny was replaced at 200000 along with the clutch. I lost reverse gear and it mangled the rest of the tranny. I put a junk yard one in.
The EGR was replaced.
The max air flow sensor was replaced.
The Beetle ran great for me. I got hit and it was totaled, or I would still be driving it.
The dash was lit up constantly: engine light, air bag, wheel speed dash lights were on all the time. I ignored them and car mech. was great. I know there were grounding issues with the car, but they did not impede the vehicle, just threw idiot lights.
I think that the Beetle I had did pretty well for the miles I put on it. I don't trust the dealerships at all. Their service is very poor, and the only way I got the miles I did out of it, was I serviced it myself.
I bought it for the gas mileage, and even with over 350000 miles on it, it still got 46 mpg on the highway. I am a master mechanic at Chrysler head quarters, and still was stumped at some of the problems that this car had.
The best I can tell you is the more features you get on a vehicle, the more things will go wrong.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 13th June, 2010
3rd Jan 2011, 14:57
How do you get gas mileage with a diesel? And if you didn't use synthetic oil, you would be violating VW maintenance specs. Must have bought a lemon, if that's all the problems you had with it.