Are Volkswagen beetles good cars?
Tammy: The “New Beetle”
The “New Beetle”: Take a perfectly good VW Golf and load it with compromises in serviceability and practicality to make it “retro” and cute. Raise price. The “real” Beetle: The pinnacle of 1930’s engineering. Brilliant packaging; clever design that minimized parts count, making a single part perform multiple functions; simple to build, maintain, and repair. Now the downside: Slow. You piss off people in Amish buggies. Zero crash protection. Up front is a spare tire and the gas tank is a crash absorbing device. Non-existent windshield defrosting. Rust prone in places other cars don’t even have. No power steering or brakes. Not that the brakes do much anyway. If the engine goes on fire it’s like trying to blow out a road flare. Adding air conditioning makes it twice as slow. You piss off Buddhist monks.
thebax2006
Up until 1973.
Anonymous
Which one? The "New Beetle" (1997-2011) the original version (1938 to 2003) or the latest A5 Beetle (2012-present) ?
☣ - ₲ⱠɆ₦Đ₳ - ☣
The NEW BEETLE is simply a rebodied VolksWagen Golf.
Bertsta
The water-cooled beetle is essentially a Golf under the skin. They do have a few issues so unless you really want one, do your research and get it thoroughly checked out by your tame tech if buying used. If buying new, the Beetle is being discontinued this year so you will take a big hit on resale value if that matters to you. They are in run-out mode so haggle a very good deal.
Anonymous
The Old beetles? Simple, easy to work on, Easy to remove VC gaskets and adjust valves. Wire bails, no screws. , Change motor in 3 minutes. But, Need tweaking often. Valve covers leak, valves get out of adjustment in 150 miles (yes, 150, not 1500),) The points burn Right up if you leave ign. on and engine off. (C**** at class used to carry spare points with him.) Still, Simple Charm. The carb is very simple and reliable. Positive accelerator pump unless bad diaphragm--even so, Easy to replace. 4 external screws. I was Tempted when I went into Chirco's for circlips for my Toyota's carb and saw the single-barrel Solex the Bugs had.
Anonymous
They were excellent cars. Not much on speed, but longevity and reliability they were better than any British, French, Swedish, or domestic 4 cylinder car and for awhile had the Asian cars also beat. But after the year 1973, I had first hand knowledge about. After that I think problems started to show in 1974 with fuel injection as they dropped the carburetor and ventured into computer controlled stuff. Then they dropped the air cooled engine in 1975 or so. . They changed the whole running gear to FWD, water cooled, front engine vehicle.using the VW Rabbit platform for the chassis. . What plagued the Rabbit was the electrical. . The Bug got the same electrical bugs. . The Asian cars were making inroads on the quality of their vehicle builds. Also they had a new look. . The New Beetle just did not have that cuteness factor anymore. And they were getting costly...more than an Asian car that offered big car luxuries like A/C & automatic transmission & more horsepower & economical too. VW was pricing itself out of the market relying on the "NAME" rather than a great product. In general they are OK. Not my FIRST PICK.
Tardi
nazi cars
DR + Mrs Bears face
Hi so the original Volkswagen was designed as a peoples car. simple design. it has lasted in the simple form right up till the engine was taken out of rear of the car and placed in the front. this is where the when the old reliable go anywhere beetle disappeared.
John
Personally, I wouldn’t trust them. Yeah they’re good, I’ve heard good things about them, but if you get hit in the side like an accident in an intersection or something, they’re such small cars I doubt there is much of a chance you’d end up not severely injured in one of those. This is just my opinion, though
KY-Clay
They have average reliability so I would say they are good cars.
Johnny Uzumaki
Deez nuts are better than both of them
Anonymous
I did hear the newer ones have transmission issues. The old ones were pretty good but were not the safest car. Volkswagen still makes the Porsche with the engine in the back but it is rather expensive.
rick29148
The entire company is worthless - look-up 'dieselgate' where they screwed their own customers ...........................................................
Robert M
VW is the worlds most profit making company! VW owns AUDI and is a cousin to PORSCHE! They own BENTLEY and BUGATTI< so there is some BUGATTI in many of them! The guy above that says they ar4e NOT speedy has never owned one! They were made to go to 150 on the AUTOBAHN all day long and NOT even get WARM!>> THE THING BABOUT THEM is that they MSUT use ONLY EUROEPAN OIL And FLUIDS! The factory fill was ALL be PENTOSIN company! They are SAFEE< and GREAT in accidents! Theyare SAFETY CELL cars! The ENGIENS wil last to 500,000 miels if you FOLOOW the RULES! VW/AUDI requries only 592/505 oil! PENNZOIL Oil that is EURO L gives a 500,000 miels OIL And LEAK waerranty! VAVLOLINE wil KILLTHEM adn wear out the CRANCASE VENTILATION SYSTEM! I know them VERY VERY WELL! ALL EUROEPAN cars re WORTHY and safe at most speeds!. RICK above me is NOT well informed! The BEETLE has GREAT crash ratings and wil RIVAL cars in trwack tiems IF properly tuned and cared for! If VALVOPLINE was ever used in it, it must be FLUSHED OU! MOst DOMESTIC cars now uise ZF German tranies! BE SURE that you change the FUEL FILTER! It is about $25. INSTALL A SET OF DENSO TI|}WIN TIP iridium LASER pllugs for BEST power! HAve the INTYAKE SYSTEM cleaned if you are NTO a GEAR HEAD! I use AMSOIL POWER FOAM to do this, and cla]\ean the THROTTLE BODY and t the IDLE AIR CONTROL VALVE! THey WIL Last EASILY to 500,000 miels. AND they are TOTAL FUN to own and to DRIVE! Youc an see EVERYTHING in your field of vissions, and NOBODY rival s BOSCH for injection anxd even for ABS systems! RICK above is DELUSIONAL about this! VW is sold AROUND THE WORLD and VW is THE most sodl car GLOBALLY!. The EXHAUST systems wil llqazt the LIFE of the car,>>BUT>> only if you FOLLOW THE RULES and use ONLY EUREOPAN oils and fluid for it's WHOLE LIFE!. POWER WASH teh engien bay with GUNK orange ORIGINAL as well, cleaning the SPACW betwenthe RADIATOPR and the A/C condenser were LEAVES and TURD and ritting GRQSS have collected for years! At 100k miles REPLACE ALL THE FLUIDS including the BRAKE fludi and COOLANT! The NEWEST Pentosin coolant is now ROSE colored! Use ONLY GERMAN brake fluid! There is nearly NOTHING at AUTOZONE fo rh]thsi car! If you need a BATTERY< get ONLY a GERMAN ONE from teh junk Yard or NEW! They wil last for 17 years or LONGER! KEEPING the engine bay CLEAN will actually EXTEND engine life as heat wil DISSIPATE more evenly! ALL VW engines have OIL SPRAY JETS< that lube the piston skirts and PINE with EACH and every STROKE! ONlhy RECENTLY have GM< FORD and CHRYSLER got HIP to this technology! The engines will last INDEFINITELY! That is why they are a GODO BUY and retain their values! The VW engiensmake MORE than ONE HP per cubic inch and CAN be upgraded EAILY! The VR^ is ONE HALF of a BUGATTI engien! Take THAT hit, RICK! And it is NOT a gm TRASH engine either! .EXPECT to reac h 500,000 miles with it, a\with NO rust or loss of structure! The GERMANS do NOT like DEAD GERMANS! lol! BYE NOW!