2002 Volkswagen New Beetle consumer reviews

This car has plenty of legroom and headroom it's a comfortable ride with lots of power, and handles well and is fun to drive. Very impressed.

I have owned this bug for 17 years and it has been a great car. It's fun to drive.. very few problems...17 years old..70000 miles and original brakes. I've owned many different Volkswagen models...a Rabbit a jetta..a gulf and 3 bugs..all great cars

In early 2010 VW sent a letter regarding the ingress system. It said I should take the VW in to have the Ingress system worked on. A filter (?) on the ingress system has failed & the car retains water. There is mold growing inside the ingress system. They did not do a much needed recall. The dealership where I bought the car wanted $700 to fix the problem with the ingress system.

I was born in 1959 and I always liked the Bug and the Super Beetle. My cousin Jim had a 1969 and my brother Dan had a 1973 Super Beetle. For me, the New Beetle has a lot of nostalgic appeal. I bought a beautiful red 2002 GLX New Beetle for my daughter's college car. Ironically, she picked it out and she tells me she used to get a lot of waves and winks around campus. I would assume because of it's classic design. Thing is this car broke down a lot and my daughter and my wife no longer trust or drive it. They are done with it. Good news is I like the car. Its my daily commuter and it has xxxxx. Also, for those accountants and engineers out there, the New Beetle is a simple design that you can easily work on yourself. YouTube has a lot of VW videos for Jettas, GTIs, and New Beetles that are all on the same platform. Why do I bring this up? Because, if you dont do the mechanics, this can be a costly vehicle to own. Indeed, I was ripped off by the local VW dealers and local "foreign" mechanic. I learned the hard way, they fraudulently charged me for an unneeded timing belt and water pump, catalytic converter, alternator, starter and on and on and on. I have about $10,000 into a car that is only worth $3,500 TOPS.. The point I am trying to make is that there were so many times when I first bought the car, I paid for so many misdiagnosed and unnecessary maintenance repairs. I am ashamed of myself for being so exposed and stupid. I was definitely stupid with my money when it came to this car. As a result I recommend you do your own maintenance on this car. For example, when I finally caught on to the scam they want to charge over $1,000 for a brake job!!. I ended up ordering OEM parts and doing it myself for $350. I'm an accountant by trade and I did it myself with my YouTube tutor at my side. But you know what? It was fun!!! So, if you want a car that is practical this may not be the one for you. However, if you want a simply designed car that you can tinker with while you contemplate that classic 50's car well this may be the one to experiment with. This Mexican-assembled car has a lot of brittle plastic parts. However, they are easy to access and replace with quarter hour projects during the weekend. Who knows, now that they are not building the New Beetle any more this may become a classic!! At this point, my only hope is to put it up on blocks and wait 20 or 30 more years so I can get my money back! Probably not but I love it and I'm going to keep it in my collection.

This is a second car for the family and is a pleasure to drive. Great looks and is very spacious. The iconic look never gets old.

This is a nice car for far distance commutes. It?s nice and small but spacious at the same time. The gas mileage is GREAT!!

Nice looking with good performance. Tight handling and good acceleration highlight this cars performance. Enjoy driving again!

This yellow turbo bug is a fun little car, the ride and mobility is great..The yellow with yellow accents on wheels and through the interior is truly something to look at..Windows down, sunroof open its a cool ride..

Don't get suckered into buying this vehicle. Had a bad experience in trying to negotiate on this vehicle.

I got this car for my sixteenth birthday with the $5,000 I've been saving up for my whole life. The car is absolutely perfect. It came with 50,000 miles on it and we bought it a few towns over. Be careful to replace the timing belt and water pump as soon as it needs to be replaced-- ask a mechanic or something I just know its really important. The only thing I had to do was get new rotors because mine were warped and the car shook when the I used the breaks. There isn't a lot of cup holder space-- only a small drink would fit-- but that is my only complaint. I love the car and would recommend it to anyone.