47000 miles without any major engine work. However, I''m selling it before I need to put money into it.

24k miles/24 mos warranty. BUY THE EXTENDED WARRANTY! VW service dept. is terrible. Before purchasing a Bug be sure your service dept has some signs of intellignece. Nothing compares to Toyota. I waited 5 hours for a routine oil change. Not enough head room in the rear seats (Great for kids. Watch out adults). Big blind spots in rear. Great headroom if you are Herman Munster. They could have added some space into the trunk so I could put some luggage in it.

I have mixed feelings about this car. It''s cute and fun to drive. It has plenty of pep to get me onto the freeway. More thought was put into looks than reliability. Passanger power window quit working. I have taken it in 3 times to be repaired. Service dept. told me that the windows need to be lubricated every 5k miles. What does the mileaage on the engine have to do with my power windows?? Door handles are peeling. Airbag light stays on (may deploy at any moment). Right headlight out. I can not fix this myself because VW holds the key to open box. Is this a form extortion? Floor mat buttons all broke off. For what I paid there should have been better quality materials used. This is great car if you drive very little and you like your service dept.

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Toyota Celica (not similar but Toyota has much better service.)

Cute.

Well, where do I begin? 1. Within the first month of owning the car it was in for service twice for a fuel injection problem. I was told not to top off my gas tank and I won''t have the problem. How would I have known, I''ve always topped off my gas tank! 2. Door lock on drivers side fell out. It was replaced by dealer - my charge of course. 3. Headlight bulb replaced. Extremely difficult to to get to. Took mechanic 3 hours to install the new bulb. 4. I pulled into a parking space one day and thought the engine sounded like it was ticking. Surprised that a brand new car would have a ticking engine. Thought I better check the oil. To my surprise there was no oil on the stick. Uses about 2 quarts between oil changes. 5. Speakers sound like they are blown. They rattle and vibrate. 6. Gas tank lid and hatch don''t always open when you hit the button. 7. Silver paint on steering wheel has rubbed off already. You would think the car is several years old. 8. Heat control glow lights no longer glow. You have to feel around at night for the heat controls. Dealer informed me they would have to take the dash out to fix this. I didn''t want to pay $65.00/Hour labo

Extremely dissatisfied with this car. Bad move. Wish I had stuck with my original car choice which was a Honda instead of this lemon. It''s cute but that''s about it. Pretty sad that it''s a new car and you really can''t trust it to get you from point A to point B. This car will be in the junk yard and I''ll still be making payments on it. It anyone has any advise on what to do, please let me know!

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Fun to drive, excellant diesel mileage. easy to load and remove groceries.

Driver window regulator failed after 2 years. Paid $89 for driver window regulator replacement, Battery cable to the fusebox failed after 2 years. Replaced cable again with special made one only after 5 months use. Found repeat failure or deterioration of battery cables is caused by gases venting from the enclosed battery.

The new beetle has a group of items that will fail repeatedly until the factory acknowledges and make reliability a priority. They listen but never phone back to remedy financial costs after you pay.

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Nissan, Renault LeCar and 1980 Volkswagen Rabbit

Looks very cute! Great on the road and good with gas. Fully equppied to meet every drivers hectic needs!!

Drive Slow when going over bumps...no one wants to mess up their ground effex!

THE 2002 VW NEW BEETLE IS A DREAM CAR!! I cannot imagine how you could not like this car. I have everything from AC, a sun-moon roof, heated seats to leather int. It is a thrill to drive and is also very fun! I have no problem with it accelerating and i feel great when i am driving it! For everyone out there who claims that the VW New Beetle is a "road zit" or a "piece of junk" well those people can go to h*ll! VW Beetles respect their owners as much as their owners respect them! If you luv VW''s and cherish their look and style then your VW will cherish you!

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Because this car is so damned cute, I''ve been in this sick co-dependent relationship with it since I bought it in December of 1999. I''m finally ready to come out of denial about it and tell the world, however that the 99 model is a loser!

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This car is the Robert Downey Jr. of the auto world. It''s cute as a button but lets me down again and again and again. Dies once a month. Dealer has tried every repair conceivable. New battery, new throttle, new starter, fusible links, resetting, new gasket, new housing blah-blah-blah. Symptoms are same everytime. Bucking when changing gears, then refusing to engage. Dies while moving or won''t start after I stop and try to start it again. Have contacted lemon lawyer and am crossing my fingers about using my limited powertrain warranty to save me.

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Had a rabbit in the early eighties. Ran like a little sewing machine and never broke down.

Fun to drive (except when it drives itself!)

Electrical problems, poor visabilty on left side and obstruction on drivers front side.

At first we loved this car and ignored problems such as the trunk release not working, the tape player not working, the rear head rests unremovable... Then we found out that the finish on the car is easily damaged the front scrapes the ground if there are any dips and the trunk STILL doesn''t open even after bringin it in 4 times. The worst was when the car started driving 35 miles per hour ON ITS OWN. I drove without my foot on the accelerator and was amazed and scared. Turned out it was electrical problems. Now we are having problems with the battery and check engine lights. Can''t ever get the car serviced when we need it (have to drive a half and hour and wait 2 weeks.) DON"T buy this car!

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Toyotas, Dodge

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Made in MEXICO. This is actually much more than a weakness. Why would any car company have anything made in a third-world economy? What the heck was VW thinking besides profits?

Why would anyone purchase a car that breaks down more than the old model? Yes, my New Beetle needs more maintenance and repair than the old beetle I sold to buy this piece of junk. And, oh yes, I bought the platinum plus warranty. What a waste! I would not let the dealer fix my lawnmower under warranty, let alone my car. VW dealerships are not interested in fixing your car, only giving you excuses and breaking things on the car when they try to fix it. WORD: Enjoy this car from a distance, as another pissed off owner drives by. If you truly must have a VW, ONLY PURCHASE ONE BUILT IN GERMANY, BY GERMAN AUTOWORKERS. All the other VWs are crap.

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VW Passat

Excellent service from Skipper VW, the only VW dealer in Perth W.A. Apart from above faults, total reliability although I have only covered a small amount of kms, so it is early days. Turns heads. Quality construction. Masses of headroom in the front seats. Nice design touches.

Poor headroom in back seats. Performance from antiquated engine (2 litre 8v) only adequate. Too low geared. The beautiful body design leads to several compromises, like small boot, and blind spots. Mirrors a bit small. Expensive (here) when more practical and better performing vehicles are available, if not as characterful.

I have had only two problems with this car, the first was a faulty indicator switch causing the headlights to flash in time with the indicators and while this was fixed at the dealer they noticed that the oil pressure sensor was faulty and they replaced that at the same time. I have since covered 15000km with no other faults. It performs and handles reasonably well. Lots of nice design touches, like damped grab handles and glove box and a sliding VW badge covering the tailgate catch. A good choice if you enjoy those sorts of details, as they abound in this car. Would not really suit a family as space is pretty limited.

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1 MK1 Golf GTi, 2 MK2 Golf GTi. Type 3 fastback

Essentiall a responsive, stylish, fuel-efficient commuter for mixed street/highway/freeway commutes of up to 15 miles at a time.

Reliability is unacceptable. The lights especially have been a time and money-consuming disaster as well as a recurring hasard creating a liability for us.

A very pleasant commuter, zippy drive, sufficient acceleration and slightly weak braking, responsive handling despite bouncy suspension, fun looks and nice overall design and styling, BUT a serious reliability problem with all things electrical, minor A/C problems, a lack of side/forward visibility and slow, unresponsive and basically unimpressive dealer service.
Overall, the hassle factor outweighs the owner pleasure, which only holds up as long as the car is actually running. We've had too many trips to the dealer. When our dealer did a body job (after my being rear-ended at a light), they took 5 weeks, never bothering to warn us about parts availability. Other shops may end up doing incompetent work on this rather unusual body. Headlights are a scandal. The original battery died within months. Switches are breaking or acting up. And so on...
There have been no severe mechanical problems so far - so touch wood, it may not be a lemon after all. But I do resent having supported Volkswagen on an innovative product and having been essentially short-changed on quality, reliability, and resale value. VW management and shareholders have nothing to be proud of with this maquiladora product.
Also see an earlier review on this car at another site (http://www.epinions.com/auto-review-541F-5B18BA1-3920EBE3-prod2/tk_~CB003.1.2) for our earlier impressions.

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My wife owned a Jetta in the 80s and still swears by it. The Beetle turns heads but simply does not compare in terms of real value and German quality. The irony is that we had a very nice 95 V6 Contour and that we traded it in at a loss because of quality problems and expensive repairs. We went to VW on the strength of their reputation and previous owner experience. Little did we know...

Cute, comfortable, drives good, heated seats are great when it is cold outside.

Small car for someone with a family. I dont have kids though.

I love my BUG!! I got it for my eighteenth birthday in February. A Volkswagon Bug has always been my dream car. Not only is it cute, but it drives good and is very comfortable.

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This is only my second car. My other one was a 1994 Nissan Maxima. I like my bug the best.