20th Dec 2002, 06:48

This is just a follow-up to a previously submitted comment. After taking my car to the dealer for the 8th check engine light, I looked into selling it back to them and was told that they would only give me $7000, at most $8000. The blue book on the car is over $12,000 and when I called to buy out my lease, it would cost over $16,000. It does seem strange that the dealer would only offer $7000 for a 2000 loaded turbo Beetle GLX with only 26,0000 miles. It seems that they don't want this lemon either.

2nd Mar 2003, 01:01

I have a 2001 GLX Beetle that I bought in the end of 2000. I have way too many repairs for me to even keep the car. My car has been in and out of the shop with both head lights burning out and O2 and Oil sensors being replaced. Plus my check engine light went on again after 1 week of getting my O2 sensor replaced. My airbag light came on 2x and I had to take it in for them to turn it off. I will never buy another VW.

17th Mar 2003, 11:20

I own a 2000 VW Beetle GLX turbo, 20,000 miles, and have experienced numerous problems since the car's purchase three years ago.

I hadn't even driven the car 30 miles off the lot, when the empty gas light came on, even though the car had a full tank of gas. When I went in to fix this problem, the dealer replaced one of the air bags.

I have never been to a dealer as many times to correct electrical problems as I have with this car. I have had the windows fixed, the ignition coils replaced, new components installed to fix the sticking gas tank door (not particularly great when you're on empty), and the trunk lock fixed. On top of that, I had to replace the battery, because the car was jump started too many times, because the engine was constantly dead. What a lemon. The car drives great and is fun to ride. However, the maintenance problems are unreal, and the meager two-year service warranty with this model makes vehicle ownership too costly compared to other cars in the market.

27th Aug 2003, 14:26

I own a 1998 VW Beetle and this thing has been one problem after another. The electrical switches have a ton of problems, I have had broken window switches, random accelerating, broken cup holders, etc. I hate this car and will never own another VW!

28th Aug 2003, 08:38

I leased a new beetle in 2000 and I must have been to the dealer 10 times. the window dropped 3 times and the response from the dealer is we will fix it and we will have to order parts which will take a week to arrive, so the dealer raised the window and locked it making it inoperable. what happens next, the window drops before I reach home. this happened twice of the three times. the third time I left the car with them for 3 days to get the window fixed. customer service is horrible. I have had too many problems in the last 2 months. just after the 3 year 36000 mile warranty expired. never lease a car beyond the warranty period. I mean any car...

20th Dec 2003, 16:32

I have a 2000 TDI New Beetle and I can corroborate almost all of the negative comments above. In the first two years the car spent a total of two months in the shop over six different visits. Problems included:

Wouldn't start x3

Air bag light x2

Horn wouldn't work

Wouldn't shift correctly.

The interior of this car looks like garbage now. All the plastic pieces have a non-slip coating on them that flakes off at the slightest touch. VW said this is caused by wearing hand lotion. I guess they expect everyone to wear driving gloves before getting in.

VWOA won't even return our calls anymore. They did fix the no-start problem when the car was under warranty, but they say now that the car is out of warranty they won't pay for any more repairs even if they are related to the same issue. The only way we even got them to return our calls was to submit a Lemon Law complaint to the state.

I have just 4 months left on my 4 year lease, I can't wait for the day I can turn this car back in to them and tell them exactly why I won't ever have another one.

15th Jan 2004, 11:03

Ditto, Ditto, Ditto. My 2000 turbo has had the engine light on 7 times, always for something different. The latest is a $600+ repair to fix an emissions control. I have to do it or I won't pass emissions inspection in my state. This is so infuriating because we told the dealer that I needed a very dependable, long-lived car. We were assured this was the car for me. I'll be lucky to get another 2 years out of it at this rate. I just want to get rid of this lemon and stop wasting my time and money.

8th Mar 2004, 15:02

I have a red 2001 beetle and the paint is awful. It has more chips than I can count. The paint starting chipping within months of purchase. I also have a check engine light that is lit, well almost constantly, I pretty much just ignore it. I do like the car, but I'm not sure I'd buy another one. It's unfortunate because the car is fun to drive and the beetle convertible is very appealing.

9th May 2004, 11:39

New Beetle fuel filler cap door not working. To fix, simply remove the screw on the door and work oil down into the release cable.

7th Jun 2004, 13:15

I "inherited" a 2000 VW new beetle when I got married. What a piece of crap! it has been to the dealer 6 to 8 times in the 2 years I have had it.

1. Rear Brakes failed, replaced, partially, under warranty. There seems to be some service bulletins regarding the premature wearing of the rear pads. The wear caused damage to the rotors that needed repair, on my bill.

2. Recall on the Brake light Switch.

3. Few months later the brake lights all burnt out, it was very expensive to have replaced at the dealer and to top it all off, I could not change the bulbs myself! it is impossible!

4. Window Recall, fixed the windows which stopped working, However they screwed up the locking mechanism which now takes 2 or 3 tugs on the outside handle to release the latch and open the door! One problem fixed, another created.

5. Engine running rough, find out a hose (vacuum line) had been dried out and burnt up causing a vacuum leak. Dealer wanter 200.00 to fix, not warrantied. A hose that I still have original on car that are 20 years old. a hose that costs no more than 2 or 3 bucks! A hose that could have easily been replaced in minutes when they diagnosed it! This was a major ordeal with the dealer. I said to them no don't fix it, I'll fix it show me which hose. They refuse to show me which hose! even though I paid for the diagnostic!!!

6. Car consumes oil. dealer can't figure out where it goes. about 2 quarts of oil magically disappear every 3 months!

7. Even oil changes are a pain! they get the car all filthy, don't wash it and then want twice as much cash a jiffy lube!

8. The Battery failed. no real reason, one of the plates cracked inside. 3 years on the battery. Would not have been a big issue if someone would have just checked the battery and said it was bad! however the dealer claimed it was the alternator belt. they changed the serpentine belt and it worked for 4hrs! We then had the battery changed at Pep Boys. This experience made me very angry!

9. The latest: Car gets stuck in park, we cannot get the car out of park, auto transmission, Dealer cannot replicate the issue though there is a service bulletin for the ill fated brake light switch that causes this problem in many other Beetles nation wide. It was not covered under warranty because they did it once already. Since they can't replicate the problem they say nothing is wrong. They want 95.00 because some schmuck mechanic who makes 25.00 an hour took a look at it!

Top that with a repeat of the rear brakes problem which they will not cover under warranty again. And even better they want to change the serpentine belt which they replace a few months back AGAIN!

Every time it is something. The dealer is rude and greedy. they want money and the car is never fixed correctly. We are still paying for the car and it is now costing us money in maintenece. Even cheap Chevy's last longer and cause less problems! Don't buy these garbage cars!