Next Gen New Beetle Rumors

[buckbeetle]

2010's look the same

My guess is 2011's will too, with maybe a minor change.

2012 is the new model debut from what I have read on all the blogs and from comments directly from VW's leadership in Germany and the U.S. They are keeping it a well guarded secret though about the look. I think what is out there online is not how it will look at all.

I haven't seen anything saying that it is totally going away however. I have read about a redesign with an emphasis on making the back seat larger, and having it compete more with the Mini.

I was around in 1979 when they stopped making the orignal bug and I thought it was gone forever then, so you never know!

Fingers crossed...

[Fl_bug]

Originally Posted by buckbeetle

2010's look the same

My guess is 2011's will too, with maybe a minor change.

2012 is the new model debut from what I have read on all the blogs and from comments directly from VW's leadership in Germany and the U.S. They are keeping it a well guarded secret though about the look. I think what is out there online is not how it will look at all.

I haven't seen anything saying that it is totally going away however. I have read about a redesign with an emphasis on making the back seat larger, and having it compete more with the Mini.

I was around in 1979 when they stopped making the orignal bug and I thought it was gone forever then, so you never know!

Fingers crossed...

In my opinion, when i think making the rear seat larger, i think making the dashboard smaller and pushing the arching roof back like one of the artist renderings i've seen.


But personally, i think the Audi TT is the closest thing to a hint at the moment

[JGC843]

Wow, you mean we aren't getting New Beetles, and instead we are getting VW Sciroccos?



Not trying to flame, but when I saw that sketch, the Scirocco was the first thing to come to mind. It's a bad ass car though! I'd even think really hard about trading in if they made a convertible version! Here's the concept:

[pdoel]

Originally Posted by JGC843

Wow, you mean we aren't getting New Beetles, and instead we are getting VW Sciroccos?

Not trying to flame, but when I saw that sketch, the Scirocco was the first thing to come to mind. It's a bad ass car though! I'd even think really hard about trading in if they made a convertible version! Here's the concept:

No, we won't be getting that. That was a magazines rendering of a possible NB. It is nothing that VW ever released or even hinted at. It's someone else design / drawing that really has absolutely no relevance to the New Beetle.

[wawalker]

The NB is not the most practical car and I think that trying to keep the original style and look kinda dictates that. It's not gonna make us OB/NB purists happy if they move the roofline back to make the back seat that usable by adults. Heck, some of us hated the '06 restyle!

So, my advice, if VW is listening, keep making the NB as is as long as it pays to do so and bring the Polo to the USA--keep it simple and cheap as a base model to compete directly on price and features with everyone else and also offer a TDI and a GTi version.

[TrudysMom]

VW needs to keep the design we all love. If they want to change, then call it something else. If they want to sell more of them they could possibly have COMMERCIALS. They are wasting fantastic possiblities with the Beetle. I can think of so many fun and creative ideas.

[buckbeetle]

Funny you should mention commercials.

With the original black beetle spokes(car/person) that VW is using why don't they advertise the new beetle at all?

I think a "slug bug" commercial would be a riot!

The OB was 10 years old and VW still ad great print ads for it as well as commercials on TV.

I always thought they should bring back the bus with the slogan "we were the original mini-van"!

Just my 2 cents...

[pdoel]

Originally Posted by TrudysMom

VW needs to keep the design we all love. If they want to change, then call it something else. If they want to sell more of them they could possibly have COMMERCIALS. They are wasting fantastic possiblities with the Beetle. I can think of so many fun and creative ideas.

Pretty much all modern day cars go through redesigns. A redesign does not mean the car is now going to look completely different.

I know I probably sound like a broken record, but it's mainly because people continue to get this weird idea that VW is so stupid that they're going to turn the Beetle into a square hatchback or something.

They never will. That would be insane. Why on Earth would they do that? They have a square hatchback. They have a sedan. They have wagons. Why on Earth would they make the Beetle into something that it was never intended to be, especially when they already have vehicles that look like that.

The New Beetle can easily be redesigned onto a more modern platform and still keep the design style of the Beetle. Heck, today's New Beetle is lightyears ahead of the original Beetle, really has nothing in common with it, other than the design style. So why do people think VW couldn't do that again? Or that a redesign would turn it into something else?

If VW doesn't want the design of the Beetle, then obviously, they would just cancel the line. Period.

It makes no sense for VW to come up with a completely different design, and still call it a Beetle.

[Pushing Fifty]

Originally Posted by pdoel

Heck, today's New Beetle is lightyears ahead of the original Beetle, really has nothing in common with it, other than the design style.

No truer words were spoken. I had a 1969 air-cooled Beetle that was an unreliable piece of junk. Every other time I would try to drive it more than 200 miles to a show, something would break. As soon as something would be repaired or replaced, something else would fail.I bought the car in 2003 for $3900 and probably put another $8000 into it. I had to sell it for a collossal loss-$3000! The clutch and 3rd gear were fried. Granted, I must have bought a lemon; which can happen with any brand, but The NB is like a Lexus when compared to the old air-cooled models.

[wawalker]

Originally Posted by Pushing Fifty

No truer words were spoken. I had a 1969 air-cooled Beetle that was an unreliable piece of junk. Every other time I would try to drive it more than 200 miles to a show, something would break. As soon as something would be repaired or replaced, something else would fail.I bought the car in 2003 for $3900 and probably put another $8000 into it. I had to sell it for a collossal loss-$3000! The clutch and 3rd gear were fried. Granted, I must have bought a lemon; which can happen with any brand, but The NB is like a Lexus when compared to the old air-cooled models.

Wait. You bought a classic 1969 OB in 2003 when it was already 34 years old and you want to complain about it being unreliable?

[Pushing Fifty]

Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. I've been in a VW club for several years and nobody has had close to the problems with their air-cooleds as I did. And many of theirs were far older than my 1969! However, I will own up to something. I basically learned the hard way that if you have the mechanical skills of a tadpole (as I do), then you have no business trying to drive a 40-year-old car. From now on, I'm a strictly water-cooled guy. But for their day, the old Beetles were some of the best cars ever built. Obviously, mine wasn't, though. In six years, I went through 3 engines, 2 carbs, many points and rotors, a clutch, and a transmission. And I only drove it about 2000 miles a year!

[FarrisK]

Originally Posted by Pushing Fifty

Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. I've been in a VW club for several years and nobody has had close to the problems with their air-cooleds as I did. And many of theirs were far older than my 1969! However, I will own up to something. I basically learned the hard way that if you have the mechanical skills of a tadpole (as I do), then you have no business trying to drive a 40-year-old car. From now on, I'm a strictly water-cooled guy. But for their day, the old Beetles were some of the best cars ever built. Obviously, mine wasn't, though. In six years, I went through 3 engines, 2 carbs, many points and rotors, a clutch, and a transmission. And I only drove it about 2000 miles a year!

Yeah, an air cooled Beetle isn't something you just drive. It's a car you have to own. That means adjusting points, adjusting clutch cable, adjusting valves, adjusting brakes, changing oil RELIGIOUSLY... basically if you aren't poking around in that car for one day out of every one week of driving, you're going to have problems.


Mods: Can we either close, merge or delete all these "REDESIGNED BEETLE!!!11@@!!!" threads? They usually have the same three or four pictures in them, and NO new information.

[pdoel]

Originally Posted by FarrisK

Mods: Can we either close, merge or delete all these "REDESIGNED BEETLE!!!11@@!!!" threads? They usually have the same three or four pictures in them, and NO new information.

Done. I've tried in the past, but seems like they get created faster than we can merge.

I went back 5 pages worth of threads, and merged as many as I could find. A little over a dozen.

I made the thread sticky, so hopefully people will start just updating this thread with all the fake next gen pictures they find, rather than create new ones.

[FarrisK]

Originally Posted by pdoel

Done. I've tried in the past, but seems like they get created faster than we can merge.

I went back 5 pages worth of threads, and merged as many as I could find. A little over a dozen.

I made the thread sticky, so hopefully people will start just updating this thread with all the fake next gen pictures they find, rather than create new ones.

You da man, Pete.

[Pushing Fifty]

What confuses me is this: I'll read one article that says there will be a NBII in '12, but then OTHER articles refer to a New Beetle replacement or "successor" which suggests our beloved NB will be discontinued, so I don't know what to believe. Something weird is going on at my local VW dealership as well. No 2010 NB's are on the lot yet, while the other 2010 VW's have arrived.

[pdoel]

Originally Posted by Pushing Fifty

What confuses me is this: I'll read one article that says there will be a NBII in '12, but then OTHER articles refer to a New Beetle replacement or "successor" which suggests our beloved NB will be discontinued, so I don't know what to believe. Something weird is going on at my local VW dealership as well. No 2010 NB's are on the lot yet, while the other 2010 VW's have arrived.

Successor really means it will be coming after this current generation New Beetle. Just like how here in the States, the Golf II succeeded the Rabbit (which was a Golf in the rest of the world). The Golf III Succeeded the Golf II, and so on. So it doesn't really suggest they are replacing the New Beetle. More, the current generation will end, and in comes the second generation New Beetle.

As for the 2010's. Keep in mind, the New Beetle is a very slow seller these days. In addition, the next generation Golf / GTI / Jetta Sportwagen is out (MKVI platform). So that's really the main focus to get those onto the lots.

[kaiser]

i heard today that the next gen is due out spring 11.

this gen ending fall 10.

the nb lives on.

[wawalker]

Originally Posted by Pushing Fifty

...In six years, I went through 3 engines, 2 carbs, many points and rotors, a clutch, and a transmission. And I only drove it about 2000 miles a year!

That's horrible record. I put a ton of miles on OBs: never had such trouble, even with my highly modded '68. Sounds like whoever was doing your work had no clue what they were doing (no offense if it was you). Never had an engine fail on me--even some of the really tired old ones I had. I tuned them up when I got them and other than the regular oil changes and valve adjustments they ran beautifully. I even helped a friend who got a "locked up" '66 engine (it had set outside and rusted internally) free'd it up with a long breaker bar, removed the cylinders and heads, soaked the "shortblock" in a container of kerosene, honed the cylinders, put it all back together w/ new rings and now 15 years later he's put, last I heard, 44K more miles on this little motor. They are very tough little survivors, I'd like to know how you killed so many so fast!

[Pushing Fifty]

No, I never did my own work. I don't even know how to change a spark plug, so I always take my cars to the pros. (or maybe pros that suck with air-cooleds!) My 1st engine was just worn; the thrust bearing was shot and I was spraying oil. So for $1600, I got a 1500 from a guy who rebuilds VW engines. THAT engine burned up with less than 500 miles on it! This has always remained a mystery. It overheated, that much we know, but we don't know why. My 3rd 1500 (rebuilt by the same guy for free) was still operating when I fried the clutch and tranny. The idle was way too high as I was sitting at a red light so I put it into 1st gear to quiet the engine down so people around me wouldn't get pissed. Little did I know that this will destroy a clutch, which I did thouroughly! Apparently, the tranny was damaged at the same time.

I love VW's and grew up with the old air-cooleds. I'm 50 years old. When I was a kid in the 70's, my dad took care of all the maintenance, so my bugs lasted. When I bought this one at age 43, I was clueless. I had to depend on other club members and/or VW mechanics for upkeep. But every time I tried to drive it alone, it would crap out on me. I have had FAR better luck with water-cooleds; including a 1996 Golf, a 2007 Passat, and now a 2000 New Beetle.

Me and air-cooleds just don't make a good pairing.

[wawalker]

Originally Posted by Pushing Fifty

No, I never did my own work. I don't even know how to change a spark plug, so I always take my cars to the pros. (or maybe pros that suck with air-cooleds!) My 1st engine was just worn; the thrust bearing was shot and I was spraying oil. So for $1600, I got a 1500 from a guy who rebuilds VW engines. THAT engine burned up with less than 500 miles on it! This has always remained a mystery. It overheated, that much we know, but we don't know why. My 3rd 1500 (rebuilt by the same guy for free) was still operating when I fried the clutch and tranny. The idle was way too high as I was sitting at a red light so I put it into 1st gear to quiet the engine down so people around me wouldn't get pissed. Little did I know that this will destroy a clutch, which I did thouroughly! Apparently, the tranny was damaged at the same time.

I love VW's and grew up with the old air-cooleds. I'm 50 years old. When I was a kid in the 70's, my dad took care of all the maintenance, so my bugs lasted. When I bought this one at age 43, I was clueless. I had to depend on other club members and/or VW mechanics for upkeep. But every time I tried to drive it alone, it would crap out on me. I have had FAR better luck with water-cooleds; including a 1996 Golf, a 2007 Passat, and now a 2000 New Beetle.

Me and air-cooleds just don't make a good pairing.

My dad always hated my VWs, never really taught me much--I learned by digging in myself and reading alot on the subject. Everyone talks up John Muir's book, but I found one by Gene Berg to be much more enlightening and not so "windy". If your rebuilt overheated it is most likely one or a combo of several things: a) too high compression ratio b) improper spark advance/dwell settings c) aftermarket cooling tins (CRAPOLA) d) no lower tins e) no/nonfunctional thermostat and/or flaps f) engine compartment seal missing

I can see where dragging down the engine rpm w/ the clutch would burn up the clutch, but it shouldn't hurt the transaxle. I actually started out on a Rabbit, then went backward to OBs and a Thing for a while--I had my '68 OB for 12 years. I'm a little younger than you, 42. If you couldn't figure out the OB, I'd hate to have you in my garage today! I'm doing brake fluid flush & replace, timing belt and waterpump, plugs, filters, etc. on my new to me '03 GTI.