2004 Volkswagen New Beetle consumer reviews

This was my dream car as a little girl, it is cute but definitely has it's faults. I was a high school/college student commuting almost 40 miles/day when I owned this car. It was NOT a cheap car to maintain and burned holes into my pockets. My car only had 50k miles on it when it was totaled in 01/2017, but had so many issues and repairs done. Auto trans was slipping/jerking, throttle body replaced, fuel pump replaced, hoses and vaccum lines replaced, air bag sensors going bad, coil pack, undiagnosed jerking while idle, list goes on and on. I'll give it 5/5 for build quality- I was hit front-on going 15mph by a car going 60+ and the steel frame of my car was undamaged and saved me from getting crushed. Beware. It's usually a cheap car to buy used as a high school/college kid with a limited budget, but their is a reason- it's not cheap to maintain.

this car is good for daily activity, very reliable for gas and easy access to destination without thinking about gas, and again a good car for you if this should ever be your first car

Most dudes wouldn't say their dream car growing up was a Beetle. Mine was. But not any Beetle. I wish they had the Beetle RSi in the US, but the next best thing is this Turbo S. It has similar and in some cases better performance specs than the RSi, minus the AWD. Mainly what I love is that it goes 0-60 in 6.4 secs. For a small car like this, that is very quick and people don't expect it. I also get the advertised 24-32 MPGs. I drive this beast hard and have put 50,000 miles on her in my ownership as a daily driver. Current mileage is 165,000, and she has had almost no issues. She drives great, corners better and toasts losers in regular WRXs. The only thing it leaves me wanting (living in Colorado) is AWD like the RSi, but I'll live.

This car was my constant companion for the last 11 years. Plenty of leg room front and back, safe and comfortable for longer trips. Love to drive it with the top down but it is also a great city car as it parks and manouvers easily.

This car is my baby. She has been keep inside. She look like brand new. I have had all main. and repairs done from a VW dealers. Her top looks new. The turbo is amazing the interior is in good shape. She has tined glass. 6 cd player. All power new tires and wheels , back glass defrost . I love this I hate that I don't drive much. Someone should have fun with it . 87,000miles

I bought a 2002 in 2014. This car was take care of properly. It had a cassette player (no CD) but I did not mind. The turbo is amazing. When in slow traffic, I can get out of the traffic and detour quickly. People smile and wave at the color (I wave back) yellow. It has extras, like yellow and black leather seats, etc. They are really nice. Mainly, I enjoy the small size. I can park almost anywhere. Its amazing what I can get into the car plus a dog. If you can afford it, sure get a moon roof and a CD player. Be sure to get turbo. I am no speedy racer. It helps when living in a big city. I will get another one.

I bought this car about a year ago. She was in great mechanically sound and ran great, but the interior was ragged out. I got busy right away restoring the interior by replacing the center dash, radio, glove box, windshield, window tint, door panels, window regulators, top mechanism, new top with glass/defrost back window and floor mats. Then I had the front end repaired and repainted from stone chips, had all four hub caps replaced, repaired the front seat leather rips and added lots of new extras, like a wind screen, top boot dash tray and more. Now I love, love, love this car, but I have so much money in it now I need to sell it. It should be good for another 100,000 miles, so if I don't sell it, I'll drive it for years to come.

Bought the car in Sep 2009 and have had constant problems since. The right headlight has had to be replaced several times, the check engine light is always on, the right turn signal is always goofy, the driver window doesn't automatically go down and up to meet the roof seal (something I've heard from almost every Beetle convertible owner), the water pump leaks (something I've heard from every Beetle owner), but that all pales in comparison to the car's biggest downfall - the transmission. For the last 1.5+ years it would shift hard, not shift at all, not want to take off after coming to stop, and finally went out all together after stopping at a red light. Dealer wants $6,600 for the transmission! It is such a cool car, and so much fun to drive with the top down, but definitely not worth the heartbreak and cost of something always going wrong!

Had my 2004 beetle gls turbo convertible for over 30,000 miles. It was so quick!!!!! I always got compliments. The leather interior was great, loved the seat warmers, great for summer to go top down! Never replaced anything on it.

I had this car for 3 years and spent over $4000 on repairs. Sensors replaced numerous times--hundreds of dollars each time. Bad paint job-cracked spots, rust spots. Convertible top motor replaced, flaps replaced thousands of dollars. Its cute until you spend tons of money to fix it all the time. If I could put zero stars for it I would. BUYER BEWARE!!!