Prospective owner

[Tinderstick]

Hi all,

I have been reading the forum for some time now, since I always loved New beetle. After some thinking and reading of experiences on this forum I decided to get one. Since I am student I can't really afford to buy new car, so I decided to go for used 1.6 New Beetle convertible from 2004. I am from Europe so I guess I will not have problems with engine parts (especially since golf is so wide spread here) and since labor costs are low where I am I don't worry too much about it.

However question I have to some of the Beetle owners out there is regarding the roof, since several people warned me that it might be a problematic part of the convertibles (in general not related specifically to beetles) and that it is costly to repair. Could anyone of the beetle experts here be kind to give me few advices regarding the reliability of the roof in the New beetle convertible? I saw that the people had problems but I was wondering how much risk am I taking if I buy a used one...

[YummeeCookee]

Sadly, I did have mine stop working at one point; I have a 2006. It was something to do w the regulator and also affected one of my windows. Lucky for me, my car was still under warranty at the time and the dealership repaired everything at no cost to me.

[boogety boogety]

Obviously, English is a second language to you (as it is to me). Congratulations on your mastery of it, you write a difficult language quite well and very clearly.

This is my second NBC, and I've never encountered a problem with the top(s), outside of the inside rear window trim coming loose on both the '03 and the '06. An easy fix with new clips (dealer-installed under warranty in the first car), and clear silicone sealant (which I applied myself to both models). No problems since. The mechanicals of the roof are pretty bulletproof from what we've gathered here, although someone complained about breaking cords... on a second top.

The infamous flaps... those little wings that pop up and down when your top is lowered or raised... were problematic in the '03s and some of the '04s. VW took them out later in the '04 model year. If yours doesn't have them, great. If it does... they could be a headache. It's the biggest reason I traded in my '03 for a model without the flaps...

The window regulators -- the devices that raise and lower the windows -- can be touchy, but only on a small percentage of the cars. But enough that they're an issue on earlier 'verts. On your '04, you should be OK.

Go enjoy your car! Worry about stuff if/when it happens...

[Tinderstick]

Hi guys!

Thank you so much for your advices, and sharing your experiences. I got a New Beetle convertible 1.6l from May 2004. It is still with the dealer, so I can't tell if I have those wings(since I can't remember) but I tried the car and it all looked nice and functioning. So I am very happy now, and I am really looking forward to open roof drive.

Thank you for your time.

EDIT....

I have maybe a stupid question: How do I see if I have those flaps, and is there any kind of special care that I need to take in order to prevent the potential damage?

[Tinderstick]

an update

Well it seems I have those flaps, and that I maybe I was even tricked by used car dealer... I saw on youtube what they are so now I am sure this car have them. Since I did not read this post on time, I was unaware that they might be a problem. So when he was showing me the roof I did not really know what to look at. I just looked if it folds or not and if it unfolds or not.
Thus it seems to me that I was tricked , because when he was opening the roof they did not go all the way down. At that moment it seemed that it folds normally, but after watching this youtube video now I realized that it did not fold till the end, but almost until the end.Than he turned off the car had a chat with us and than he went to the back and asked my friend who was there to push the roof a bit down manually and once he did that the flaps also went all the way down. I was suspicious but my friend told me that this might been normal for convertibles (he is not expert for beetles, he is just good with car mechanics). So I disregarded it.
However after reading the forum I realized it might be that they are broken for some reason (not the mechanism but maybe sensor or something). I have to point out that when we wanted to take test drive we put the the roof up again, since it was rain and than it worked normally. Now I have signed the contract with a guy and there is nothing I can do without paying 20% fee, although I did not pick the car yet.
The other option could be that he himself did not raise the roof properly until the end. I will know more when I go to pick the car.