New Beetle - possible the worst car ever made - problem after problem - PLEASE READ

[John Pemberton]

For anybody reading this...DO NOT BUY A BEETLE or a VW. Here are the problems with mine:

2001 Beetle Auto ~ from UK

Water pump went (40k miles), which led to the engine overheating (as there is no temp gauge), and requiring a new engine at 40k + all associated parts Cost £3000.

12 months later, the car kept losing power when started...and it has been sending pure fuel down the exhaust and has ruined the catalytic converter. Also the HT leads were shot to pieces, and the car is now misfiring, the new engine has low compression.....the list goes on and on and on.

VW charge £90 to plug the car into the computer to read the codes...what a bargain eh?!

Every few months there is something more to complain about these cars. We have spent £5k in 2 year fixing all VW's botches. I would now wish this car on my worst enemy...total bag of *POTATOES!.


Admin Edit: I know that you are not pleased with your nb, but please do not curse on the board, noR S P E L L things creatively to get around the censors.

[CrazyJames]

Well...

To play devils advocate here, let me tell you my story about my NB.

I bought my 98 NB Tux, in 2000, in the 6 years that I have owned him, I havent had any problem that wasnt covered under warranty or under a recall (Window Regulators and brake light sensor).

There are such things as lemons, perhaps the your car was made on a monday?

[AmyJane]

You picked the wrong place to post this!
I have a 2002 New Beetle. A few minor problems (knock on wood) but other than that she has been great and I love her. I would buy 100 more just like her if I had the money.

Sorry you had problems with yours but not every Beetle or VW is a piece of crap.

Hmmmm Deja Vu!

[Kender]

I'll also weigh in on the upside of the VW / New Beetle.

Mine's a 2002, and I have had her (used) for a couple months now - and I could *NOT* be happier. I've seen her maintenance records, and at 4 years old, she's still running without a major problem.

I have never, EVER enjoyed a car as much as I have this one.

[jackfrost]

granted they do have their quirks, sorry that you got a lemon, but with the good there must be bad. my NB is a 2000 turbo, ive raced it, beat the hell out of it and it really never complained. it has 138,000 miles on it and still on the original clutch. i do now have an oil leak and a bad crank bearing, but all in all i did severely abuse my car and he owes me nothing.

[WNAB911]

Mine is a 1998 and it has been nothing but reliable during my period of ownership, and I abuse my car! Maybe your NB just didn't like you! and was looking for an owner who would appreciate him/her!

[Lmhansen]

Darn it, database error made me lost my entire story. I'll make it short.

'98 NB, base (with rear spoiler! yay), purchased used. Within two months, the engine overheated, all coolant evaporated and the fusebox on top of the battery melted! Hundred of $$ later, engine is fine.

Fast forward a few months, and the oxygen sensor fails. Another $100-$150 to fix.

The sensor that tells the auto transmission it's ok to shift out of park is failing.

Hatch occasionally won't close properly. Several tries are often needed to make it close. The procedure often includes opening the hatch with the remote and/or "hatch open" button on door before it sticks.

[slothfulchemist]

SOrry to hear about your Beetle misfortunes. Consumer Reports has never given the Beetle good ratings, and your experience seems to be a classic testimonial for why. Statistics can lie, but I trust Consumer Reports when they say that the NB has a poor record in terms of reliability.

The people here are so in love with their Beetles that sometimes they overlook the shortcomings. That said, I still want to buy a Beetle. I understand that this is not a logical choice. For the same amount of money I could get a more reliable and economic car, but I don't want to.

I hope you have better luck w/ your Lemon Beetle or else find a car that you're happier with. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Toad]

well that sux that your car was bad to you, but you are a very rare case.

[Moviequill]

I'm showing my age here but 'One bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch, girl.
Oh, give it one more try before you give up on love.'. It's all relative. I am amazed how one person can have troubles with something, and viciously attack the ENTIRE product line. So you bought a 2001 VW that had issues, how is that any relevance to the 05s or 06 line? I bought a Sony DVD player, rated top of the line, expensive, bells n whistles included. It broke after 6 months. Did I go piss n moan on a Sony products board? No, I realized that it happens sometime and guess what? I bought another Sony player and it works fine...

[detailstation]

I'm sorry you had problems with your vw but,you always have the option of getting another vehicle and not staying with the lemon!so after a few problems if You continue to have problems and keep driving it then I guess the problems are yours!compared to other makers of cars the vw has alot of satisfied customers.Couldn't you have taken the 5000.00 dollars and gotten another car!

[Porkchop]

Okay.... let's take it from the top: water pump impeller issue caused the overheating. It is true there is no temp gauge, but there is a red temp light that I bet did come on and flash and beep at you but you continued to drive the car. So, by pulling over sooner, you could have had a minor inconvenience rather than getting an entire engine. (BTW, my wife has done the same thing and I'm starting to suspect she cracked the block.. hrmph.) I do thing VW was negligent in putting these crappy water pumps in the car (which I'm sure was outsourced... but at this point with as many stories of this as we've heard, I can't believe it isn't a recall or action item), they did provide a warning system that was obviously ignored (which is also what my wife did... grrrrr).

Most of the other problems you listed may be a result of the engine install... which would not be a VW issue, it'd be an issue you have with the installer.

As far as a scan goes, you can do your own scans - check out www.ross-tech.com. Even at $250, mine has paid for itself many times over.

[dnyed]

I'm sorry you have issues, but not every one is a lemon.

Thank you for sharing.

[Moviequill]

you can move this post to another area if need be, but I just got finished reading this great article on how VW has a 2007-2009 plan to get back into the Top 10 Quality Rankings. Also, cool news about the new VW product line (no Beetle news specifically though)

http://www.thecarconnection.com/Auto...75.A10529.html

[John Pemberton]

Hi all,
thanks to the people who spent time to read my message and provide a response. I have a friend who owns a large motor repair garage in UK, and he has seen a number of VW motors in there. He said that each time a Beetle comes in, he knows he is going to have bad news for the customer.

My wife was the same as the majority of people on here, she fell in love with the car, the heritage, the shape etc...the reliability and design faults have slowly beat that love out of her.

Here are some examples of design faults with the car....be aware of them:

1. there is no temp gauge, only a 'red' warning light that comes on when the engine is over heating. It is set by the factory at too high a level. When our water pump failed, the red light came on, while travelling on the motorway (freeway), and we had no more than 20 seconds before the whole engine blew up, sending oil and coolant over the hot engine...scaring the hell out of my wife and actually bringing the M40 Motorway into London to a standstill - fire engines etc called...all because there was NO temp gauge on the display.

2. The replacement engine from VW (brand new) had to have 4 hours work on it, as it leaked oil.

VW (certainly in the UK) are the worst manufacturer...they think their cars are the best....well they are not. They are shoddy, they leak water, oil and every other fluid.

I drive a Porsche Boxster, so I am familiar with German cars, and in general they are well build...I think these Mexican build cars are lemons....all of them. I read an artical whilst out in LA last May saying that the Beetle had single handedly ruined the market for VW in North America.

I know some cars are lemons, but this one is not a lemon...it has design problems that just render it a danger on the road.

My advise to anybody buying a Beetle is DONT...save your money and buy an American car. German car companies are all run by accountants....Audi (the TT suffered from terrible problems); Mercedes (build quality has fallen massively); VW (they break down...the Golf has water pump probs, as does the beetle); BMW (suffers from water pump probs).

The only cars I will now buy are Japanese - Honda, Nissan, Toyota.

[John Pemberton]

The red light cam on, and flickered on and off for 20 secs before the engine blew. The light is so small, it was not seen immediatly (bearing in mind we were driving on the freeway at 70+mph. By the time we realised the damm thing blew up Not our fault - 100% VW design fault...for God sake, why not put a temp gauge in. I agree the water pumps are a piece of (censured) rubbish.

Originally Posted by Porkchop

Okay.... let's take it from the top: water pump impeller issue caused the overheating. It is true there is no temp gauge, but there is a red temp light that I bet did come on and flash and beep at you but you continued to drive the car. So, by pulling over sooner, you could have had a minor inconvenience rather than getting an entire engine. (BTW, my wife has done the same thing and I'm starting to suspect she cracked the block.. hrmph.) I do thing VW was negligent in putting these crappy water pumps in the car (which I'm sure was outsourced... but at this point with as many stories of this as we've heard, I can't believe it isn't a recall or action item), they did provide a warning system that was obviously ignored (which is also what my wife did... grrrrr).

Most of the other problems you listed may be a result of the engine install... which would not be a VW issue, it'd be an issue you have with the installer.

As far as a scan goes, you can do your own scans - check out www.ross-tech.com. Even at $250, mine has paid for itself many times over.

[GINA]

Here's my personal experience, although we all know by now that every car is different

- My Beetle has only been in the shop once for a non-regular mainenance issue, and that was when I first bought it used. Beyond that, it's all been scheduled maintenance visits and it runs just fine. My car before this was a Mitsubishi that was constantly breaking and in the shop for everything.

- My mom has had her BMW since 1988, it has over 170,000 miles and has always treated her well. It's old and has had it's problems, sure, but it's never just broken down somewhere.

- My dad's Ford Explorer needed a new transmission and engine and all sorts of other things, and it's a 1999.


Just my $0.02 and personal story

[FineExampl]

Yeah, you need to get over it man. You got a bad car. Every manufacturer has a few lemons produced when they are made by machines. It's just the way things go. Just get over it and buy something else. You should have your gripe with VW and not give this board any trouble. Not everyone feels the way you do.

All cars are open to have failure rates. The problems i saw you have stated are things that we are all aware may fail. The water pumps all seem to go on a few Beetles. As far as replacing the motor at 40k and fuel coming out the exhaust, i dont know what to tell you. You got the one bad bug from the assembly line. You should have filed a grievance and been done with it.

enough with ye...

[AmyJane]

[iScott]

Oh crap, this dude is gaining on me in the neg rep department. I need more!