2007 Volkswagen Beetle

If you are looking at a Volkswagen New Beetle there is probably not another car that will do for you. Talk about style! Unfortunately Volkswagen has taken a serious hit in reliability recently. What a shame too. Volkswagen has great looking cars and they seem to be well bolted together. The only problem is that they don’t seem to bolt good parts together all the time. In recent years Volkswagen has become known for electrical problems. In my opinion electrical problems are the worst. You really need to get a good technician that truly understands electrical systems and how the systems in your vehicle communicate. These can get terribly frustrating and expensive. In this day and age I really believe the best place to go to for electrical issues is the dealership. You will likely pay more than $100 per hour but they have the resources to get the problem fixed right.

The HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning) system is problematic. Other than miscellaneous sensors, relays and wiring issues effecting the HVAC system, the “hard parts” fail at an alarming rate costing anywhere from $400 to $700 to repair depending on what part failed. Window motors fail on a semi-regular basis and cost $300 for each door, water pumps go out and the engine overheats. Barring any engine problems due to overheating the water pump will set you back $500 or more. The sunroofs have a tendency to leak water in to the passenger compartment. Depending on what caused the problem it can easily be another few hundred.

I’ve talked with many, many new beetle owners and it appears the earlier the car the more problems you may be faced with. Now, normally I tell people to keep in mind (with older cars) the problems that occurred in the beginning should be fixed by the time you get it. I must say, that is not necessarily the case with these cars. Some of the hard part problems MAY be fixed by now but electrical issues normally don’t go away. They tend to resurface every now and again.

If you do buy a VW New Beetle (or any other Volkswagen product for that matter) you will find it to be an exceptionally well handling car with superior materials on the interior and styling that seems to be timeless as opposed to fast aging.