Faults:

The little "wing" that opens and closes to raise and lower the convertible top broke within 2000 miles. It's made of brittle Hard PLASTIC. Dealer says it'll run around $350 to replace. This week the Driver side rear window wouldn't raise, come to find out that there is another piece of brittle Hard Plastic that broke and the pulley cable is just dangling. One day while walking around the car, I found my drivers' side tail light completely hanging out by the wires! Seems that the assembly is reminiscent of trailer lights with rubber grommets: They just pop in and out effortlessly.

I love the performance of the car and it is pretty comfortable, however, the dealerships want outrageous repair fees for things I feel should be replaced as "DEFECTS". Not everyone drives their cars solely on the "autobahn", heck, has anyone ever driven on Louisiana roads? THAT should be their proving ground!

General Comments:

Good gas mileage and great performance are this cars attributes. But plastic should not be used for moving parts that take a beating.

Faults:

- The air bag sensor (POD) in the passenger has been repaired 4 times. The last time took 8 weeks.

- Both back windows have been repaired 2 times each.

- The battery (of a two year old car) had a bad cell.

- Fronts head light went out.

- Numerous buttons and mirror problems.

- It's a convertable, the roof got stuck half way down.

General Comments:

The car is very quick. It is not real comfortable, but the gas mileage is pretty good. The leather seats have worn exceptionally well. That's about all of the good points. All of the service has to be done at a Volkswagen dealership and the car has been in the shop 3 out of 12 months this year for one reason or another.

Faults:

I'm starting to think my cute little 2004 Beetle is a cruel joke someone is playing on me. I've had it a year and so far the engine idles roughly while in anything other than Park, the airbag light has come and and needed to be repaired, the seat handle has broken and been replaced 3 times (no, I'm not that strong..it's a design flaw), now (like someone else has listed) it gets stuck in Park all the time with the EPC light on. I called roadside service. They told me to turn the car off, stomp very hard on the brake five times, keep the brake peddle pushed in on the 5th time, start the car for 5 seconds with teh brake still in, then turn the car off with the brake still in, turn the ignition a quarter turn and shift it between N & D, hold it there and then turn the car on. I asked them if they thought I was a contortionist???! When I asked them what caused this problem they said that it was a secret and that only the dealer could tell me. Hysterical, or what?!!! The worst part is, today, it finally got stuck and I couldn't trick it out of Park and the VW Roadside Service took 3.5 hours to arrive for a tow to the dealer. This is pathetic. Now my car is imprisoned at the dealer for god knows how long. Yes, it's under warranty, but who has time for this? I'm a professor and told all my students in all my classes never to buy a VW.