2003 Volkswagen Beetle Hardtop review from North America

This car has had a multitude of problems from day 1. Within a week a fuel injector went bad. Within a month the headlights cut out. At 25k miles the water pump went and the car started overheating and left me stranded. Had plastic impeller inside water pump that broke in half. In this case I was without the car for almost three weeks at a dealer, and as it is so low to the ground it has to be flat bed towed, and private repair shops won't touch this bomb with a 60 foot pole. A couple weeks after getting it back with water pump and timing belt replaced, the nearly $900 CD player stopped working. Now it has a slow oil leak underneath the engine somewhere and the dash lights work only when they decide they want to. Car has been to the local dealership 18, yes 18 times since purchased new for various problems, I only had space to mention the more serious ones.

It looks cool. That's about it, it is a novelty. I can't wait to get rid of this car, it's getting very embarrassing having to ask friends and family to drive me everywhere because my VW is in the shop. This never happened in the six years I owned my previous Subaru. The lost time this car has put me through is just ridiculous. And at $23,500 this was no cheap car, which is all the more frustrating. I kick myself for not having looked at reports on this car prior to buying it, a mistake I'll never make again.