How reliable are the VW Beetles?

[optoman]

Hey optoman,
I remember your "VW almost killed my wife" thread a while back. Unfortunately my wife still has her heart set on getting a beetle so we'll probably get a new beetle convertible w/ the 150hp engine (when they come out later). We'll lease it so the warrantee should cover most of the term.

Oh, if you lease, does the warantee stay the same as if you bought the car instead?

I think the newer beetles have longer warranties, not the 2 years my wife got so that is a plus. I think the warranty is the same as if you buy or lease. We bought the car.

The convertible with the 150hp engine is going to cost an arm and a leg. I think the the smaller engine now costs around $24K. The 150 hp should pump up the price to about $26K.

 

[bozack]

Originally posted by: Eli They aren't ugly.. they're functional!

I agree that there are cars with more class, but saying they suck is going a little far. Reliability is the biggest criteria for my "suckage meter", and Honda and Toyota excel there.

Well for me at least reliability is not a primary concern, sure I like something that isn't in the shop every other week, but there has to be some performance and it has to have some flare (I'll give you 15 pieces of flare) for me to even consider it...I just see Hondas and Toyotas as cars without a sole...simply a-b cars that I would never enjoy driving and for me "driving is excitement"...I guess I am just not a practical person.

 

[vi edit]

Well for me at least reliability is not a primary concern, sure I like something that isn't in the shop every other week, but there has to be some performance and it has to have some flare (I'll give you 15 pieces of flare) for me to even consider it...I just see Hondas and Toyotas as cars without a sole...simply a-b cars that I would never enjoy driving and for me "driving is excitement"...I guess I am just not a practical person.

Different strokes for different folks. A fairly large percentage of the people who buy midsize sedans treat them as an appliance...much like a refridgerator or dryer. They want the cars to do their jobs without any major downtime, hiccups, or excitement.

 

[BigSmooth]

I read in CR a while back that the New Beetle had the highest occurrence of electrical problems of any vehicle on the US market.

I certainly don't always agree with CR, but it seems multiple sources (and a lot of empirical evidence) confirm that VW and Audi have had way too many electrical problems lately, with a few exceptions such as the aforementioned Passat.

Although there's a lot to like about them, I won't be buying a VW anytime soon.

 

get one of the old beetles with the aircooled boxster.

That's a new one on me, a boxter VW Beetle ?

Don't you mean aircooled boxer engine.

 

[Thegonagle]

Oh Christ! Are you yet another person who measures his own self worth by what his car looks like?

I don't know about you, but I am not what I drive. I am a person. My car is a thing. I am not boring, and I am not so bored with life that I need some stupid car to excite me. I drive a Civic. My Civic brings me places. It's well built, it gets its job done, and it doesn't waste gas. You could say it doesn't "suck" gas, and as far as my criteria go, it does not suck at all.

Me =/= car.