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Volkswagen Beetle Maintenance and Repair

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What is this discussion about? Volkswagen New Beetle, Coupe, Hatchback

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#854 of 1064 Re: Road Trip [wanwan] by oldbug Aug 24, 2007 (4:19 am)
Replying to: wanwan (Aug 23, 2007 7:52 am) Back in the 60's most cars were still simple enough for just about anyone that could turn a wrench to do most of the work needed; grease, oil, and filter change, wheel bearing repack, tie rod ends, exhaust & etc. New cars today are so technical that most of the work has to be done by propriotory mechanics trained by the manufacturer. For good reason I think! If everyone of us that came from the do it yourself generation of car owners tried to keep up on the technical aspects of repairing a car today, we'd be going to school during our retirement. There are tons of valuable resources on the web for reference. I always chose a car that I knew I had the expertise to maintain myself. For that reason, I have had fewer off the show floor cars than most people my age. If it was beyond my capabilities i.e. transmission repair or motor ovehaul, I would take it to a proffesional. Get a car that you can comfortably do the expected owner chores on and then take it to a professional for the rest. Always make sure that you observe the maintainence schedule and follow it precisely. New cars with warranty? That's fine as long as you trade the car for another before the warranty dies of old age. If your financial situation allows you to do that you may have nothing to worry about. I personally don't know many people that can keep buying new cars every two to three years. I don't know that Beetle have any more or less problems than any other model. The point is, if you are not comfortable accepting what comes with a used car, then by all means buy new ones with warranty.
#855 of 1064 help-after every maintenance, repair, new problems by becksbug Aug 31, 2007 (3:50 pm)
I bought my 03 Beetle used w/38,000 miles in May of 2006. within 2 months, had sensor light go bad, window motor go bad, then,replaced front and rear brakes (rotors and pads) and new tires. I now have 87,000 miles so just had the timing belt,water pump tensioner, spark plugs and trans flushed to the tune of $600.00. Since this was done 1 week ago, the car feels like it is not accelerating easily and stalled on me coming off the highway today. I called the repair shop about this problem I didn't have before bringing to them, he claims nothing wrong w/ timing, probably a fuel pump/filter and he'll have to look at it. I can't trust the dealerships as they don't know anything,can't trust this repair shop and can't get any info from VW, I have spent over $2000 in just over 1 year and am worried. Any body out there can guide me on what to do next? I Drive 100-200 miles a day and can't afford this car! Thanks Replies to this message: elias (Sep 05, 2007 4:45 pm) becksbug (Feb 21, 2008 4:37 pm)
#856 of 1064 Re: class action anyone? [cokids] by becksbug Aug 31, 2007 (4:03 pm)
Replying to: cokids (Jun 03, 2007 4:54 pm) I agree, I thought I was getting a great car, the newest one I've ever owned - 2003 Beetle, and the cutest, but the most expensive! Can't contact VW, the dealerships are clueless except on taking you everytime you come in and the warranty doesn't cover the problems we are all afflicted with. Replies to this message: becksbug (Feb 21, 2008 4:34 pm)
#857 of 1064 Looking for a little piece of mind here... by mrrk47 Sep 02, 2007 (1:55 pm)
Okay, it seems like the one of the major functions of carspace is to allow disgruntled owners of newer cars(Beetles and other makes as well) to vent their bad experiences to make those of us who haven't yet encountered problems with cars fear the next tick of odometer as it might be a multiple thousand dollars problem ahead. It seems to me any car if properly maintained( with fair money spent in the process) should last and work well.      I have just purchase an used 01' NB with 99,000 miles and it seems fine save for a touchy alarm that goes off at night at arour 11 pm. The carfax looked good and the dealership did an inspection and all that jazz....was this purchase a mistake?? I really wanted a Beetle, so I chose to buy for a dealer and was very picking about the one I wanted.......Is someone on here going to tell me that without a doubt there will be a 5,000 repair on the horizon. Replies to this message: bpeebles (Sep 02, 2007 5:26 pm) arch07 (Sep 02, 2007 5:34 pm) mrrk47 (Sep 03, 2007 6:36 am)
#858 of 1064 Re: Looking for a little piece of mind here... [mrrk47] by bpeebles Sep 02, 2007 (5:26 pm)
Replying to: mrrk47 (Sep 02, 2007 1:55 pm) I sure hope noone is suggesting that!!   On these forums, you will read mostly BAD experiences from people who are disgruntled in some way. It is human nature to not say anything unless there is a problem. You should read these Edmunds forums whith this in mind.   VWs are very nice vehicles. VW would have gone out of business loonng ago if they were not. Lets keep things in perspective here.... VWs are sold in nearly every continent of this planet. The NorthAmerican (NA) VW market is MINISCULE compared to the rest of the world.   ALL vehicles have their share of issues/problems. These very forums are testamant to that fact.   The bigger problem with VWs here in NA is that decent repair shops are hard to find. There are not a lot of competent VW/Audi technition to be found. The result of this fact is overpriced repairs that may not fix the problem. (and may cause other problems)   Another thing about VWs (and German cars in general) is that the owners are EXPECTED to follow the maintainance schedules explained in the owners manual.   As a comparison... many Asian vehicles are designed for owners which generally ignore the maintainance schedules.... (You drive a reliable- but BOORING car)
#859 of 1064 Re: Looking for a little piece of mind here... [mrrk47] by arch07 Sep 02, 2007 (5:34 pm)
Replying to: mrrk47 (Sep 02, 2007 1:55 pm) We (my wife) had a 2000 NB that we bought new and put 88K miles on it. The car never really had any problems to speak of. It had a power relay ($30) fail at around 80K. The car was maintained as per the maintenance schedule, by the local dealer. Properly maintaining any vehicle will cost a fair amount of money, but we feel its money well spent. I just traded the car this past May. I needed a pickup truck for the kind of work that I'm doing now and the Beetle just wasn't big enough. My wife has a 2006 NB that we also bought new. Now this vehicle has had some problems, mainly failure of the coil paks. It has had 4 failures in less than 12,000 miles. The dealer has repaired the car to factory specs each time, but obviously there is something wrong with the coils or something is causing them to fail. VW has directed the dealer to replace them each time, I think the dealer has to have authorization before they can repair a repeat problem. The reason that we bought another Beetle was due to the service that we got from the 2000 model. I think the future of the 06 NB will be determined by a court of law, since VW and I have a difference of opinion about the reliability of this vehicle. Replies to this message: mrrk47 (Sep 03, 2007 6:36 am)
#860 of 1064 Re: New Beetle not starting or stalling on startup [bckermit] by ladybugblue Sep 03, 2007 (4:58 am)
Replying to: bckermit (May 23, 2001 5:12 pm) I have the same exact problem and thought I was crazy. I have just had the cat. converter replaced as the wrong one was put in. For a week it ran great and we didn't think this was the problem anyway. But yesterday it did it twice to me. The dealership thinks it may be the ignition reader coil which will be my next step. It also could be related to the fact that my unauthorized key entry light comes on sometimes when I am having start problems. This has been going on for a year now. Let me know if this helps.
#861 of 1064 Re: Looking for a little piece of mind here... [arch07] by mrrk47 Sep 03, 2007 (6:36 am)
Replying to: arch07 (Sep 02, 2007 5:34 pm) Thanks to the two posters who responded to my rant. I agree with the human nature thing and everything. I think the NB I got has been taken care very well, I plan to take this car up to 200,000 miles before it's done, with a mild investment it should happen.
#862 of 1064 Re: help-after every maintenance, repair, new problems [becksbug] by elias Sep 05, 2007 (4:45 pm)
Replying to: becksbug (Aug 31, 2007 3:50 pm) hey there beck. at 200 miles per day the car should be costing about $100 per day... about 50 cents per mile - maybe a bit less - check the "TCO" pages. so if you drive only weekdays, that's 52000 miles per year. so it ought to cost you about $25k per year to operate. maybe $20k. including insurance/depreciation/everything... the car should never stall like that of course. something is rotten if it stalls and you are right to suspect the previous service. dealer would have charged a lot more than $600 for that work, i bet. Replies to this message: becksbug (Feb 21, 2008 4:37 pm)
#863 of 1064 What is going on with this alarm ?? by mrrk47 Sep 06, 2007 (4:29 pm)
I know there have been a few threads about randomly sounding alarms on 2001 beetles..well.. I have one. My 2001 GLS 2.0 with 99,000 that I have only had for a little over a week sounds the alarm at nighttime or dusk only!    I can have it armed all day at work, then take it home at night and about 6pm or so it goes off, I can shut it off by pressing the unlock button on the remote, but a while later it may go off again. I just took it to the dealer for 2 days and they thought it was some wiring issue to do with the radio, I picked it up and at 5pm it goes off.     Has anyone had similar problems...please let me know..can I simply have them unhook the alarm all together? Replies to this message: bpeebles (Sep 06, 2007 6:19 pm) mrrk47 (Sep 06, 2007 7:28 pm) bpeebles (Sep 07, 2007 6:31 pm) elias (Sep 09, 2007 7:55 am) becksbug (Sep 05, 2008 2:24 pm)

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