How reliable is the New Beetle?

[Wolfn]

One of the factors of a car I plan to buy is how reliable it is. We all know Toyotas and Hondas are very reliable.

So, how reliable is the New Beetle? I'm pretty sure the newer New Beetles are pretty reliable (2003-present), but what about the older New Beetles? How reliable are those?

[Fl_bug]

It depends on a few things. 1st of all, thats a great year to start as most problems were in the 98-2000 models.

1) Has maintenance been kept up?
2) How are you when it comes to maintenance??
3) Are you willing to pay the slight extra on parts (majority have to be shipped) or do some things to yourself.

I STILL THINK TAKING CAR TO DEALERSHIP TO CHANGE A BULB IS ABSURD!!

If You can answer the above questions, then yes. Oh, and the 2.0 and 2.5 models have less parts to worry about, go for those if you are ok with the power they produce.

Then the TDI Beetle is a whole different beast of its own where TDIclub.com is the best place for information.

The FAQs here are rally good and if you can read and aren't afraid to do some stuff yourself or paying a bit more for stuff to be done, then you should be good. Just don't go in expecting Toyota or Honda like reliability going in.

[Beetlescott]

I have owned a 2003, 2006 and now I own a 1999. I think my 99 is just as good a car as the other 2 were! Yes there were more problems in the earlier years, but that's normal with any car. If anything was wrong with Ernie, it was in the past!!!

[Deserion]

If you can't stand periodic maintenance or things potentially breaking that may piss you off, then you probably shouldn't drive one.

[pdoel]

Originally Posted by Fl_bug

I STILL THINK TAKING CAR TO DEALERSHIP TO CHANGE A BULB IS ABSURD!!

I've never had to take my Beetle to the dealership to replace a bulb. I've done all my bulb replacements myself.

I did have a '94 Explorer though where the ONLY place to replace the third brake light was the dealership. They had to dismantle the entire lift gate. No kidding. They quoted my $450 to replace the burned out bulb. Tried to take it to some independent shops, but Ford wouldn't give out information on bulbs / parts / etc.,

My last Toyota had quite a few bulbs listed in the manual that were replaceable only via Toyota. So I wouldn't say VW is the only one with difficult bulbs.

As for reliability. I've had better luck with my 2000 Beetle than either of my Toyotas.

And so far, my 2007 Audi has been completely trouble free.

[antonym]

I think beetles are as reliable as the owner of said car. If you treat the car good, it will treat you good. They have much more character than a Toyota or a Honda or an American car. Make sure you do your homework and know about your car, whichever make it may be, and it will go a long way in saving you money and time.