2001 Volkswagen Beetle Turbo from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

Right rear bearing - tow required at three months

Window regulators (x2) - six months

Sunroof made a sharp cracking sound - no repair despite dealer visit

CD head unit (x1, but 12 (!) dealer visits to "fix")

Diverter valve (x1, but three visits to fix)

Coil packs (x1, more to fail) - tow required at 53,000

Driver's seat showed excessive wear on the piping despite careful ingress and egress. My wear and tear.

I know that every manufacturer has its lemons and I had one. However, VW Australia's dealer service was customer hostile mostly due to VW Australia's service policy of "we will only replace an item after we have seen it broken, and only after calling you an idiot or blaming you first, and you must come back at least twice", taking many more visits (21 in total, only three of which were for regular servicing) than absolutely required to fix.

The bearing rusted out after three months, despite it being a "lifetime" part. The original dealer tasked to find the problem failed to find it. The third party service centre I took it to found it immediately and refused to let me drive it any more as it could have caused an accident due to four way play - the bearing was nearly dead. Two and a half weeks off the road, and no loaner car, and no repayment of car hire fees. No satisfaction from calling VW Australia to complain - they listened and did nothing.

Towards the end, I was getting more comfortable with the reliability until the coil pack packed it in. This is a world-wide replacement under 7 year warranty extension... except in Australia. So after my warranty was up, I would have to shell out $480 per coil pack, even though it is a known fault with these coil packs. The car cannot be driven safely with only three cylinders as it safes itself, and so requires a tow. I got rid of the car within two weeks of that being fixed.

I knew by first name my local dealer's service staff and made casual acquaintances with three other dealers. I nearly lost my job due to so many dealer visits.

Unacceptable. I am NEVER buying a Volkswagen ever again. I have had five until that point, and run Australia's largest Volkswagen forum.

You have been warned!

Your comments seem to be relatively common regarding the newer VWs. It's such a shame, because a lot of their new models look sharp. A common response I hear is that new VWs are fun to drive, but reliability seems to be an issue. When a friend was looking into getting a second-hand New Beetle, I went to look at it with her. I mentioned the issue of reliability to the dealer. The sales staff was certainly aware of my concern and, looking over at the 1974 Beetle I arrived in, even quietly commented how quality was "not what it used to be." Incidentally, the sales staff, previously had an old Type 3 and currently drove a new Beetle. The sales staff did, however, further add that that the new 2006 models (new Jetta, for example) had an "80% improvement in quality." I sure hope so. There is no reason why VW can't be winning all the reliability awards Toyota current does.

My friend eventually did buy that second-hand 2002 New Beetle. So far she really enjoys it.

How does the dealer know there has been an 80% improvement in quality for 2006? It is still 2005. They can't get the 2.5l 5cyl engines to run well.

Problems don't crop up until many units are in-service for a while. 10k-20k miles. The big problems with the Mk IV chassis didn't show up until mid 2001, when it was released in the US way back in late 1999.

I would like to see the proof this dealer has on this supposed 80% jump in quality. What are they measuring? How are they measuring?

When people ask me about newer second-hand VWs, I point at the pile of work orders from my 2001 TDI (bought new) and tell them they are rolling a pair of weighted dice. They go read up on the issue, then end up with an 'Asian' car.