I'm 18 years old (live in california) and my parents are getting me a used car for my high school graduation. I love VW beetles, but i've heard horror stories of them breaking down like crazy! They get good crash test ratings, but i don't want one if it will break down on me a lot. I'm looking for one a couple years old (2002-2006) with less than 70,000 miles. At this point are they too unreliable?
2007-02-24 07:11:22 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation ➔ Car Makes ➔ Volkswagen
aren't the old beetles (60's and 70's) terribly unsafe though?
2007-02-25 04:20:46 · update #1
Absolutely not.
I had a 2001 VW Beetle, drove the hell out of it. Put over20k miles on it in just 8months, I drove it everywhere! I never had a single problem with it, I now have a 2007 Beetle Convertible, I love it just as much, if not more! I haven't had a problem with it either, They have been really great, reliable cars for me! and everyone I know that has a Beetle, or any Volkswagen feel the same way. As long as I'm driving, I intend on buying only Volkswagens. They are reliable, affordable, amazing cars!!
2007-02-26 02:44:19 · answer #1 · answered by britt 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My wife and I purchased a 06 beetle new last march. We have put over 25,000 miles on it in the first year and it has never broken. The only thing we have had done is the normal oil changes and the 20,000 mile service. It's a great car and we get very good gas milage. I just would buy one any older than 05.
Yes, they are expensive to fix, but they don't break often.
2007-02-24 22:42:38 · answer #2 · answered by Ron Porkmore 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Find a 1967 to 1974 Beetle or Super Beetle. They are very dependable.
2007-02-24 20:57:44 · answer #3 · answered by artsy5347 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
lol, well, im not sure how unreliable people have told you they are, so:
In 2003 the new beetle earned the title as the least reliable car ever sold in america, by top magazines.
in 2004 consumer reports ranked it at 37 out of 37 of the most reliable cars on the market http://money.cnn.com/2004/11/08/pf/autos/cr_auto_reliability/
in 2005, they moved up to 35th, followed only by the jetta and golf (which are the exact same car, so its really a 3 way tie for 37th)
however, in 2006, it showed improvement, although still ranked at #35, they tested a total of 49 cars.
http://autos.msn.com/advice/CRArt.aspx?contentid=4023544
They are absolute junk. nothing good can be said about them.
2007-02-24 15:49:12 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
I would have to suggest you try an older beetle. I have a 66 beetle which i use as a daily driver. i have no probelms at all. if you service an older bug regularly it will run forever, which probably explains why you still see many on the road now. good luck.
2007-02-25 14:16:02 · answer #5 · answered by mokimoto 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Volkswagon I find, are unreliable, and when something does break, its very expencive to fix. A friend of mind paid over $1000CDN for a brake job on his Golf, the same job done on my truck cost abou $500CDN. (i know becaue it was my shop that did both. mine was without labour, but labour estimated in). I see quite a few VW's and they seem to have many problems. If you don't mind paying an arm and a leg for the repair bills, they will last for a few hundred thousand miles. VW got their good name way back when when they had a lot of quality to them, the new VW is using that name to sell a poorer quality product.
2007-02-24 15:26:28 · answer #6 · answered by gregthomasparke 5 · 1⤊ 4⤋
they are horrible the engine management system is always showing a stored code different malfunction every time the heating/ ac blower has been updated several times the plastic parts of all German cars are horrible the sun and cold both destroy them, the window mechanism's are of the cheapest cable variety and constantly failing of course while they are open, the rear brakes have been wearing out prematurely[pad composition] and rear calipers seizing up, the headlamps are disasters to replace the bulbs in as you must remove the lamp assembly which has a rube Goldberg fastening mechanism[plastic of course] timing belt service is labor intensive and even a very minor accident such as dropping a front wheel off a culvert has run into the thousands of dollars [turbo diesel model] i will continue to repair these junk heaps as long as i am paid straight time plus commission [when daughter is finished at university i will no longer accept this brand in my service bay period[all V.W.'s and Audi's are this way] which is a shame as they used to be pretty decent cars
2007-02-24 16:59:43 · answer #7 · answered by hobbabob 6 · 1⤊ 4⤋
try a vintage beetle-cheap to fix and super reliable...in fact my old 71 is still on the road
2007-02-24 16:41:18 · answer #8 · answered by digitalkidsgroup 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
We have an abbreviation for those,it's RPOS
That stands for rolling pile of s**t.Stay away from newer VW's as a general rule of thumb.
2007-02-24 15:32:00 · answer #9 · answered by zskip62 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Yes
2007-02-24 15:14:27 · answer #10 · answered by mikeduptwo 6 · 1⤊ 4⤋