1999 Volkswagen Beetle 1984CC review from North America

We purchased the Beetle because my wife loved the style. We purchased in June 1999. We have experienced so many problems with this car, which we love to drive when it starts. At 5,000 miles, the passenger door was squeaking when opening and closing and they lubed the door hinge. At 20,000 miles the speedometer read wrong, but the dealer could not duplicate the problem. At 33,000 miles, the left window switch broke and was replaced. At 35,000 miles, the battery had 2 volts and failed the load test. The dealer replace the battery and reset the codes. This occurred in August 2001. At 37,000 miles, the alarm goes off when the door opens, The drivers micro switch was bad and replaced at a cost of $290.00 Dealer performed a WA 12 recall at 46,000 miles. At 48,000 miles the check engine light came on. The dealer replaced vacuum hoses that were cracked and broken for $129.00 At 54,000 miles the brake light comes on. The dealer states that the speed sensor needs replacement which we declined to have them do. They charged $45.00 to tell us this On Aug. 8, 2002 after they had charged us $90.00 to check the same thing on Aug 2, 2202. By December 2002, the car had to be towed and the battery replace again. The dealer states that there is "no other electrical problems". They charge us $235.00 the the labor and battery. Only after I review the bill with my wife who had the service done, did I discover the battery they replaced was only 16 months old. After several calls to the dealer, they finally sent us a check for about $80.00 as a proration on the battery life. I am getting pretty upset by now and when the battery went dead again in mid April 2003, I took the car to an independent mechanic. He could not diagnosis the problem after having the car almost two weeks. Well, as you may have guessed, it died again on April 26, 2003 and I submitted my complaint to the VW hotline. They told me to take it back to the dealer. It is there now. I am so upset that I am ready to dump the car, however my wife is still in love with it.

The car is fun to drive and handles great. At some point I have to decide if the costs to repair it are worth it. I think I am at that point after reading some of the other comments posted at this site.