Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong. My Uncle owned this car before we purchased it from him, and he had zero problems with it. The only thing I'm aware was a spastic battery that the dealer replaced no questions asked.

General Comments:

Surprised at the level of negative comments. We love our Bug! We have the Turbo S model, the more sporty of the Turbo models and love it. The engine is a gem, incredibly strong, and the 6-speed manual is a joy to shift. The speed of this Bug definitely surprises most people!

The interior is fantastic, the two-tone leather is holding up great, all things function properly. Tons of headroom, and rear seat legroom isn't all that much less than other mid-size, note MID-SIZE, cars. Rear headroom is an issue if you are over 5'8", but that's why we have a second car.

Rear spoiler took getting used to, but now I don't even notice the noise.

We consistently get 25+ mpg around town, and low 30s on the freeway. Our best freeway was 34.6mpg.

We love it for the combination of performance, practicality, and just plain fun!

Faults:

Driver's side window gets stuck down in cold weather conditions.

Headlights go out frequently.

General Comments:

Very aesthetically pleasing car.

My dream car.

Happy with everything about it except for the above mentioned problems.

Faults:

This car has had a multitude of problems from day 1. Within a week a fuel injector went bad. Within a month the headlights cut out. At 25k miles the water pump went and the car started overheating and left me stranded. Had plastic impeller inside water pump that broke in half. In this case I was without the car for almost three weeks at a dealer, and as it is so low to the ground it has to be flat bed towed, and private repair shops won't touch this bomb with a 60 foot pole. A couple weeks after getting it back with water pump and timing belt replaced, the nearly $900 CD player stopped working. Now it has a slow oil leak underneath the engine somewhere and the dash lights work only when they decide they want to. Car has been to the local dealership 18, yes 18 times since purchased new for various problems, I only had space to mention the more serious ones.

General Comments:

It looks cool. That's about it, it is a novelty. I can't wait to get rid of this car, it's getting very embarrassing having to ask friends and family to drive me everywhere because my VW is in the shop. This never happened in the six years I owned my previous Subaru. The lost time this car has put me through is just ridiculous. And at $23,500 this was no cheap car, which is all the more frustrating. I kick myself for not having looked at reports on this car prior to buying it, a mistake I'll never make again.

Faults:

This is a convertible and it is the 12th Volkswagen that I have owned over the years. Problems began soon after I bought the car. The top had problems going up and down and the little flaps for the convertible would not go up and down.

The front driver's window also was a big problem. It kept sliding and we never got any notice about a recall. One day, it shattered all over my husband when he shut the door. The dealer hauled it to the shop and kept it for six weeks while waiting for a part that had not been manufactured.

The airbag light has been on eight times. It's on now, in fact. And various other lights go on and off.

Most of those items were handled under warranty.

But the big one to come - the transmission - is not covered under warranty. The transmission has always been a little rough, but now the dealer says I need to spend $8,000 to $10,000 to fix it. I tried to get help from Volkswagen since the car is so new, but they turned me down. I am now getting rid of car and spending that atrocious amount on a new car, something more reliable. It's a shame, because I really loved my car.

I think that after 12 Volkswagens, I have finally learned my lesson: Stay away from VWs!

General Comments:

I did buy the car in 2002, but I changed it to 2003 on your survey because this e-mail wouldn't go through unless I did. I bought it in December 2002, and I think it was the first new Beetle Convertible to come off the assembly line.