Fun to drive, lots of driver room, comfortable, good handling when tires were new.

Paint coming off door handles, steering wheel, power window switches broken, power window cable came off, does not rev low enough in 5th gear, very poor dealer service has offset all the good this car delivers.

Fun car, good ride and handling, lots of head room, big fun factor. Initial experience excellent until car had lots of miles and problems started. Little ones at first, then more serious. Dealer service awful! Had both headlights burn out and in spite of getting to Dealership where I bought the car before they closed, they said they were too busy to change the bulbs, so I bought the parts and did it myself. This week, I put the driver's side power window down and it didn't go back up again. When I called the dealer they said they couldn't look at it for over 2 weeks since they were so busy. This is where I bought the car!

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Honda Civic - Was best car I owned and Honda has best service!

Stylish, fast, handles smoothely. Beautiful looking car, has alot of luxuries.

Electrical, cup holders, no cigarette lighter, no ashtray, back seat headroom, trunk space, dash board.

The overall of this car is it is not worth what you pay for it. The car is not as durable as say a "Honda". The odometer went out on me and my warranty was up, which for the amount that the repairs are on this car-should be a longer warranty. The service and the capabilities that companies have are minimal, as far as equipment. Little things, knob on the E-brake fell off, cup holders rings that suction to the cups fell out, the brakes are rugged, mainly the odometer going out on a three old car, also effecting some other electrical gadgets on the dash, should not happen on a well maintained car and at the age. Those that like nostaglia should definitely buy this car, but not those that want a car that lasts.

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Driven german products in the past, BMW, VW Jetta.

THE TDI is tremendous. This car goes 600 miles on less than 14 gallons of fuel. The ride is tight with the sport suspension included on all New Beetles. The safety engineering is unbelievable for a car of this size.

The dealer service network is way behind. The wait times, etc described above are a product of a car company that is selling 10 times the cars they sold just 3-4 years ago. It will take time for the dealers to improve. There are minor maintenance/repair headaches but nothing that the joy of the TDI can't overcome.

I paid right at $20,500 for a GLS (all power) with wheels and sunroof. I have put my niece into a beetle TDI, my neighbor's dad, and am working on several others. If you are interested in the TDI, go to www.tdiclub.com for a complete understanding of this great car.

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1986 Pontiac Firebird...the back seat of the beetle has more room and is more comfortable, the front seats sit higher with a height adjustment feature. The overall quality of the beetle is far superior although not ideal. The acceleration of the beetle is not match for the Pontiac V8 but then again I refueled the firebird every 240 miles!!!

I'm not the kind of person who babies my car and keeps it spotless, swerving to avoid puddles and manhole covers. I keep my '98 bug well maintained, but I wring it out regularly, and it takes whatever I dish out without a single complaint. I used to have a Chevrolet Cavalier, and it would greet me every morning with a different annoying sound--squeaks, rattles, and that crappy engine knocked like hell. I live in Ottawa, Canada where it can get brutally cold. Most people have block heaters so that their cars will start in the morning. I don't think this car is equipped with a block heater; If it has one, I've never used it, and it purrs like a kitten every frigid morning--no wild cranking, no knocking, no complaining. For a car that was built in California, the antithesis (climate-wise) of Ontario, the New Beetle is a superb winter car with useful features like heated seats, mirrors and washer nozzles. I regularly traverse treacherous, windy, icy, bumpy mountain roads in search of good hiking and snowboarding terrain, and I've never even heard the CD changer skip. I struck a median once, hard enough to deflate my front left tire. The car was driving fine after I put on the FULL SIZE SPARE (yes, another awesome feature), but having driven American cars for many years, I assumed that I had probably bent a tie-rod or at least thrown the alignment out of whack. I brough the car to my VW dealer, and they said that everything was perfect. The paint on these cars is also superb--some looooser keyed the trunk last summer, and I buffed it out with Mothers California Gold Scratch Remover. You can hardly see the mark. Amazing. Go buy one, now.

Firstly, blind spots. Particularly where the side mirrors are mounted--they completely obscure medians when you're making left turns, so you have to look over or around them. I bet if you're short, you'd have a lot of trouble driving this car because of the large dashboard. I still have trouble sometimes judging distances in front of the car, but that's not always a bad thing because if it looks like your 2 inches from an object in front of you, you're most likely closer to 2 feet from it. Better safe than sorry, to be disgustingly cliche.

Secondly, the trunk doesn't often close properly on the first try. This is because the car is really well insulated, and doesn't allow air to escape fast enough when you close the hefty rear door. Regardless, it's a bug (no pun intended) that VW engineers should try to work out.

Thirdly, the suspension is too soft, though I suppose it's a matter of preference. I guess I don't see the point in making a car that's engineered to get down with its bad self, and throwing a cushy, Cadillac-like suspension on it so that the driver has to cling onto the door handle when rounding corners at only a slightly higher speed than the posted limit. They could have at least installed a driver's side "holy sh** handle" like the one that the passenger gets. I am definitely going to have this car outfitted with a stiffer suspension this summer.

Finally, the sporty all-season tires that come standard are a little too snakey for icy, snowy conditions so I strongly recommend winter tires. This isn't necessarily a shortcoming, just a point to note.

Any other little things that may have broken or whatever I can reasonably chalk up to normal wear-and-tear.

My New Beetle is tough, reliable, comfortable on short or long trips, well-equipped, good on gas yet powerful enough to do what it needs to, I can fit a snowboard and two pair of skis in the trunk with the back seat down, GREAT SOUND SYSTEM!, lots of headroom in the front--Shaq could drive this car no problem, lots of cupholders, and very good quality bodywork that doesn't trap ice and muck in the winter. My NB will be three years old in June, and it still looks and runs like new. I hope this doesn't offend too many Beetle fans, but I don't give a crap about the original Beetle or its connection to this one. I'm not into the culture, and I keep a roll of certs and a couple of paperclips in my flower holder. When people do the punch buggy thing I don't smile and wave. I bought this car because of its excellent safety rating, because it felt good to drive, the sound system kicks butt, and it looks like a dance club inside at night with the indiglo blue and red dash illumination. It's just a funked out Golf, after all, right? Word up.

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Lots of American cars that now rest in a scrapyard somewhere. No comparison.

This car is a REAL attention-getter -- people really do stop and stare when I'm on the road or when it's parked. The stereo system ROCKS for a stock model--I have no plans to replace or upgrade it other than adding a CD changer. The car is remarkably HUGE for a compact model--even the trunk is bigger than I thought it would be. And, I found out a way around that cupholder problem--those who complained must not have read their owner's manuals--the cupholder in the front swings out to the right for unrestricted height!! Plus, there's another one at the base of the armrest in the back seat. That auto-popup spoiler is REALLY cool!! The leather package (Sport models don't come any other way) is sooo soft!! There's TONS of leg-room, believe it or not! It has a HUGE dash!! I LOVE the sunroof!! The night-time instrumentation display is really COOL--LOVE the blue & red combination!! All the bells and whistles that come with this model--fade-out music features on the stereo, fade-out interior lighting, heated seats (can't WAIT for winter!!), power EVERYTHING, the cool remote features on the master key, even down to the heated windshield washer nozzles--this car has every single little extra I could want, and for a really great price! And, MAN, this car is FAST!! I highly reccommend spending the extra $$ for the more powerful engine--what a ride!! And, if you're lucky enough to pick up one of the only 5,000 Sport models made like I was, all the better!! I am, so far, thoroughly satisfied with this car.

I know some of my male friends will mock me for driving a 'chick car,' but the silver color helps offset that, as well as the fact that I can beat them all at any stop-light race. Really gets their attention!! =)

I am absolutely thrilled with this car!! I bought the silver one with the gray leather interior. It has all the features of the GLX and more besides. It drives sooo smooth and handles sooo well!! I admit, the night before I purchased it, I read all the horror stories here at this site and it made me a little aprehensive, but that's where purchasing an extended warranty comes in handy--now, I'm covered up to 100k miles for everything. It is so much fun to drive, I keep finding excuses to take it out on the road!! Provided everything continues to go well, Volkswagen and I will probably have a long and continued relationship--the German engineering rocks--what power!! 1.8 liter engine with 150 horsepower in a four-cyllander?? I didn't believe it at first, but boy that car packs a wallopp!! I just barely press the gas peddal, and I'm flying!! =)

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Honestly, I can't compare--this is my first new car, and the first I have owned in its class. We plan to buy a Jetta next year to match it. =)

My after market saves me

Dose VW think this is a funny joke? I have 62 dealer write ups. Ive owened the car for almost 2 years and so far maybie have driven it for 4 months always in the dealership. geting fixed/Broken what ever they think their doing in the dealership. mass air flow sensor got dirty they said sins i changed the air filter and not them i have to pay $500 for a new mass air flow censor? no no no i had a little $2 fix for that a can of intake cleaner worked just fine. my clutch went bad becouse of a burr in the trans they ground it out then 2 more went bad (not warentyed they say its my faoult) then they forgot to put the gear lube fill cap back on and the trans blew up once agian the dealer blamed it on me. (Their little cover up was to take my car out back and smoke half my tred of my tires and call VW of amerca to come look at it so they said it was driver abuse now what kind of person would smoke half of the tred of their own $1000 set of toyo proxies? not me im not stupid) so i said fu*k VW and bought a $4,500 quaife racing transmission and custom VR6 clutch. the dealer wrecked my car and acted like nothing ever happend like i wouldent notice the smashed front end they wrote me a $600 check and said take me to court ohhh i was pi55ed. plastic falls off. windows are all screwed up. antena is like falling apart. like 20 check engine lights.door handles are flaking. radio stoped working. ohhh i wana stop hear couse i cant keep listing the problems couse ill be hear all week.

I have a very very very good lawyer and i am filing a class action law suit against VW please let me know if you would like to join the suit looks like the odds are in my favor even motor trend magizine says its a peace of junk so E-mail me please we need to do somthing now before everyone gets scr*wed like me and some of you others

I'm pissed

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None

Stereo Is Great! Style is great! Feel is Great (safe and happy)!

I dont know yet :-{

Well I have only had it for a very short amount of time and I am happy with it so far. But I am getting worried that I made the wrong decision. I have read alot of bad reviews on the reliability.
I really hope I didnt buy a lemon.

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Mazda Protege(91)

Decent power, and looks. It handels pretty good. The interior is ok looking and it turns heads when you pass by. Good gas mileage and has airbags all around. It has a good safety record.

Might not seem important but,if you try to clean the dash with a armourall it seems to smear and not shineup. The price could be a liitle better. Trunk space but, that was no surprise considering the size of the car

20+K, If you wan't a compact car that is different and fun, this is a good bet. I recommend this car if you wan't a small car that is different and handels good with good gas mileage you can't go wrong

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Honda civic. It is much better and more fun to drive.

Gas mileage, handling, speed, interior room (peolpe are amazed by it!)

Rattles, seems to burn oil, trunk too small with it tapering down at the end - can't fit a set of golf clubs

My first new car and lease...so far a good product...fun to drive. Enjoy the CD player, however I noticed it skips when you try to switch to a new disc. Loud rattle in the door while driving, having the stereo on increases it. Had instances of the engine light pop on and off (my wife has same problems with Cabrio). Alternator went but luckly covered under 24,000 warranty (I was at 23, 500...just made it). I'm starting to notice the loss of oil every 2-3000 miles (no leaks) so always good to check when filling up. To schedule an oil change...have to wait at least 2-4 weeks and play drop me off and pick me up - too inconvienient!!! The big plus is seeing my gas purchase at $20 next to a SUV owner who just paid $60. I may consider trading for a Jetta next - got picked on for driving a "chick car"!!!

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Dodge Shadow, Chevy Cavalier, VW Cabrio

Is there any!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????

This thing is small! Everytime I come to a complete stop at a stop light and give it gas to get going it sounds like the engine is going to blow it gets so loud, and I'm not even pushing it hard. My tail lights fell out while driving when I got home one day they were hanging on by their wires, it was so pathetic I started to laugh. After this has happened I know this car is going to be so fun to own NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It makes me want to cry just to think how many more years I have to pay on this oval piece of JUNK!!!!!!! :-( My friend just bought a 1996 Pontiac Sunfire GT and its so much better than my 2001 Beetle I'm seriously jealous....It has more standard features more power and better looks why didn't I buy one of them....UhGGGG!!

This car sux so bad don't buy it for one thing they want way to much money for it and I don't know why all it is is a dome like piece of sh*t

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PONTIAC SUNFIRE ...... WHICH IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH BETTER!!!!!!!!