Comments: 1-15, 16-26
The Volkswagen New Beetle was awful. I dreamed of that car from the time I was a child, and I finally was able to purchase it.
After about 3 weeks, the transmission blew out.
It was in the shop for a week and then a week after I got it back, the radiator went.
The next thing to go was the drivers side headlight.
Then the passengers side went a month or so later. The next problem was the oil. They never did figure out why, but it lost oil all the time. I was driving on the highway and the oil light came on, so we pulled off the next exit and went to a store right off of the exit - checked the oil - NONE showed up on the dipstick. We purchased 4 quarts of oil, waited until the car had cooled and the oil had settled, put 3 quarts in, and drove it to the dealership.
They looked at it, couldn't find out what was wrong and said that it must have just had a problem at the last oil change.
A month later, same thing. More oil had to be put into it and this continued for the next few months until my drivers side headlight went out AGAIN.
This time they made me PAY for the headlight even though it was only 5 months old. At that point I got rid of the stupid thing. I wrote a letter to Volkswagen, but to no avail.
A horrid car disguised in a very cute body. I loved the look of it, and it handled really well - when it was working...
From the looks of things, you got a lemon, and a seemingly unscrupulous dealer to boot. If your car is going through that much oil, it's a serious problem. Make some phone calls to Volkswagen customer relations. Be firm, but not rude with them. If you can't get anything out of them, then perhaps a call to a consumer advocate (or whatever they're called) would be in order. Lastly, a lawyer should be consulted if you still haven't had any luck getting the problems resolved.
Just curious if anyone else has experienced the above mentioned oil consumption problem with the new Beetles? I have and Volkswagen told me they could not find anything wrong with it. I have to fill my oil every 3-4 weeks. It loves to drink oil like crazy! There is absolutely no signs of any leak. It just consumes oil as fast as I can put it in. No other problems though. I really love my car, I just hate how much oil it likes.
Hello we own a 98 Beetle and have had repeated problems with both headlights, I thought the bulbs were burning out, but after disassembling the headlight pod I found it to be a connection problem, I tried electric grease, I filed all component's to make sure there was a good clean connection, the lights would work for a few days and be out again, finally I cut off the factory connector and crimped on 2 separate connectors, I believe it's a heat issue, the halogen bulbs seem to get very hot, I'm keeping my fingers crossed hoping the both stay lit and I pray I don't ever have the oil consumption issue!
"Hello we own a 98 Beetle and have had repeated problems with both headlights, I thought the bulbs were burning out, but after disassembling the headlight pod I found it to be a connection problem, I tried electric grease, I filed all component's to make sure there was a good clean connection, the lights would work for a few days and be out again, finally I cut off the factory connector and crimped on 2 separate connectors, I believe it's a heat issue, the halogen bulbs seem to get very hot, I'm keeping my fingers crossed hoping the both stay lit and I pray I don't ever have the oil consumption issue!"
I have the headlight problem on my 98 beetle and I love my car, but this is just driving me insane... i cry regularly about it... please keep me posted about your success or lack thereof... I may need to do this as well. Thanks!
Oh and I do also have the oil consumption problem....and no A/C. Owning my car is a bit like having a love affair with a felon...all heartbreak.
ncsnobunny@hotmail.com.
I made the original comments on this - finally gave up and traded it in for a Dodge Neon - best decision I ever made.
Moved out of state, and the dealerships out here wouldn't even fix the problems no charge even though it's under warranty - because the bulbs had been replaced before, they made me pay to replace the burned out bulb (3 months after I had it replaced in Ohio), That weekend I went car shopping, traded the lemon in and have a fabulous lil neon - no problems with it.
Still miss the look of the bug, and loved the way it handled, when it drove, but can't deal with all the problems.
Started to get real nervous when they said no replacements were free that had already been replaced by another dealership - what if I lost another tranny??? Yikes!!
No more bugs for me. : (
I have a 2001 VW Beetle and have also had a lot of problems with it. I have replaced both headlights. Of course, this had to be done at the dealership. That was $50 for each visit.
The second time I took it in for an oil change, the dealer told me there wasn't a drop of oil on the dipstick! No warning lights nothing. Before the next oil change I thought I would check the oil myself. Well, not a drop of oil on the dipstick, again! I change oil now every 3,000 miles and always have to add oil between changes.
My car as of today 2/7/06 only has 29 K miles on it. I am taking it this week to have the instrument cluster replaced. My gas gauge, speedometer, amp meter went out in December. That part is $430. To tell me it was bad - $41. And, I am sure there will be a service fee of at least another $100.
Sometimes when I first put it in gear, it doesn't respond. I know the transmission will be the next problem on this lemon. Stay away from the bug.
I plan to get rid of this car as soon as possible after this last episode.
I posted the article on 2/8/06 about the instrument cluster going out. Well, I have something more to add. While waiting for the part to arrive, another headlight went out! Yep. That's three headlight replacements. I also read through some of the other comments and realized my Beetle has a few of the other "minor" defects: the coating is coming off the door handle, the latch broke on the center arm compartment, and the latch on the gas lid also broke.
I work in a small UK based call centre, we book in, telephonically or On-Line; motor cars for scheduled servicing, warranty work, maintenance & re-calls etc. As the "Volks Wagen" is a motor brand, the company I work for represents, one issue comes up, over & over again. Modern VW engines (Polos, Lupos, Passats, Golfs, Sharans, Bora/Jettas and Beetles) in the U.K, are run using "Fully Synthetic, long drain oils" as opposed to the older "Semi Synthetic or Mineral engine oils" Service schedules are calculated as follows: Petrol engines = 2o k. miles or 2 years / Diesel engines = 30 k. miles or 2 years or until the dashboard, 'engine service due' light comes on. This is known as "Variable Servicing" The more stop / start driving, or city driving a VW owner does, the quicker the scheduled services will fall due.
Every 1st service booking, with out fail, customers will comment "Uses oil / requires frequent oil top ups / low oil- engine warning light comes on intermittently etc"
We advise the following: Due to the smaller molocule, of modern synthetic oils, some oil will find it's way into the engine's combustion chamber and burn off. This oil consumption "issue" is especially noticeable in brand new VW's regardless of model or engine type. And tends to settle into a 'liter' of oil, used between services. As modern engines, generally don't require "running in" as was the case, with older cars, we advise our customers, the topping up with oil, on modern VWs, between scheduled services, with as much as a liter of fully 'Synthetic Oil', is not regarded as being unusual? In fact, every VW we get into our work shops, for servicing, has a complimentary pack of top up oil, put in the car's boot (luggage trunk) for emergencies. Most high oil burning VWs we book in, will go back to their owners as "NFF" -No Fault Found?
I guess it's a case of "A characteristic found in modern VWs?"
Whether modern motor cars, are more reliable, or safer, or fuel efficient, is I guess highly debatable? In the case of VW - all models seem to have more than their fair share of electrical gremlins, brake pad & brake disc replacement, rain water leaks and of course, high engine oil consumption.
Who really knows what the correct answer is? As modern Automobile Companies seem to keep on growing, ever larger, and loosing touch with their customer's concerns. "NFF" or "characteristic of vehicle", seem to be the stock answers to most issues?
Sometimes VERY frustrating for us, the service personnel and of course our customers.
Horrible, Horrible, Horrible Car! I just bought a 2001 New Beetle GL in July. It is now December and it has been in the shop more times than I can even count. This car has been a NIGHTMARE!!! I will never ever buy another Volkswagen and I would advise people to stay away from them. We have had every problem you could think of from the water pump going out to the transmission slipping. It is currently being worked on as we speak and we have been without a car now for 4 weeks. We are definitely getting rid of it and are currently in the process of looking for something else. It is an adorable car, but underneath all of that it is a true monster. We would hate for anyone to have to go through the same problems we have been through. VW buyers beware!
I have a 2003 Beetle with numerous problems, headlights, rear lights, turn signals. After paying for the replacement of many bulbs Volkswagen finally admitted that there might be a housing problem. The biggest and most significant problem with the car would be the leakage of water. I have had the car to the service department twice for several days each time to replace the head liner once and dry the car out. I first noticed leaking in the front lights under the visor, then there was water coming in from the back side window and soaking the back seat. With the last incident the passenger floor was saturated. I complained to Volkswagen a few times about the dampness of the car and moisture on the inside windows, but they said this was normal. They cleared all the drains and now say that this is my problem as fir needles are clogging the drain ports, I live in the Pacific North West so rain and fir needles are here to stay. Has any one else had this problem?
I bought a brand new Beetle in 2000. Unfortunately, I had another new lemon 6 months later as the first lemon was in the garage at least once every month. The second lemon was good in the 5-year warranty period. Last week, I received a fax from the service consultant that there were 21 faults of my car. I wonder what'd happened to my car just out of the warranty period. It seems to me that a "healthy" body check up for 5 years ended up as a unpredictable "terminal" illness one year later.
I bought a used 2001 Beetle in Sept 2006. Initially, I too noticed large oil consumption. Then, I stopped taking the car to Walmart & took it to Jiffy Lube where it turned out Walmart was not using the synthetic oil I requested & paid for. Although Jiffy Lube cost more, I haven't had ANY oil consumption between oil changes. I also had a problem with the passenger side headlight going out. I had the dealer replace it with a bulb I bought, thinking it would be cheaper. When that bulb blew out six weeks later, I paid a lot more for a VW bulb, but haven't had to replace it yet! And if I do, its under warranty for a year anyway! My most recent annoying problem has been with the trunk latch. Sometimes it doesn't want to close until I use the key several times. The dealer said it needed to be replaced for a cost of $150. But I love my bug! Its been my dream car since I was 16 years old and I was so happy to see it make a comeback, bugs and all!
Well I just purchased a 2001 volkswagen beetle for my wife and 37 days later the car started overheating... i was then told it was the thermastat housing & the thermostat... after I paid $450 to have that replaced the same day not even 20 min out of the parking lot the car over heats again... i took it back to the shop & was then told it was the coolant distributor which this car has 6 of (plastic pieces that hot water travel through) why plastic? who knows. well when I replaced one then another would go and so on and so on until 3 were replaced. then the car would still over heat because there is almost no way of getting the air pockets out of the car because I was told this car doesn't have a bleeder to push out the air pockets. Now I'm stuck with a car that I just bought that can't be fixed by the repair shop. The dealer ship I bough tit from wants nothing to do with me since I'm 7 days out of the 30 day warranty and stuck with a car note. I don't know where to turn. Any suggestions?
I have a 2001 VW bettle that has a musty smell to the air conditioner when first starting the car in the morning. I never see any water on the ground from the AC after stopping the engine. The dealer told me that there was no water release hose. How can this be?
I bought a 2001 New Beetle in 2004. It has been a great car except for the oil consumption and the passenger headlight goes out every month or so. The bulb is very difficult to change yourself. After reading these comments I am going to try expensive synthetic oil to see if the oil consumption slows down. Also it seems if you overfill the oil it ruins your catalytic converter.