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VW Beetle Turbo. Day one

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I thought I would report a few things on the Beetle I just got yesterday.
I have 3 friends who own the previous “New” Beetle, and I was very familiar with that model.
So it is a bit strange to drive something that feels familiar yet all new.
Kind of like talking to a friend of yours after they had a weird facelift…

None of my friends who own the previous model are fans of this one. They even think it looks too much like a PT Cruiser…
I have to say, that the new one lost a lot of the originality of the previous one. It does look more like a regular car, which is not a good thing.

Here are a few things I noticed about the interior:

I love the idea of a glass roof option. But unfortunately, this one opens only half way.

The storage inside the center armrest is very limited. More so than in the “New Beetle”.
Two items like a small camera and garage door opener remote don’t really fit inside.

A VW electrical Gremlin already surfaced.
Twice, the window didn’t go all the way up. So there was a gap when I closed the door.
Not a good sign….

Plus it always stops half way when you use the auto up switch anyway. So you have to press it again to close it.
Weird….

More about the way it drives tomorrow…

Conversation 8 comments

  2. Have you connected an ipod to the stereo yet? In my 2010 Final Edition Beetle Convertible the audio system will only play 250 songs on my ipod with 160gb of music on it.

  3. If the sunroof in the Beetle is like my Touareg, it can open all the way. It defaults to half open to reduce the buffeting. To open it all the way, twist the knob to open, then twist it further and hold it there until the roof opens the rest of the way.

  4. Ouch. Electrical glitches already in a new VW. This is precisely why I will likely never own one again – I need the confidence that my car will work.

    By the way, Vince, you have friends with facelifts already? You don't look old, so is Cali so messed up that 30- and 40-somethings are getting face-tucks to compensate for their insecurities? What a mess that must be.

  5. Thanks for the tip on the sunroof, I will try that today.

    As far as the iPod, I have had no problem playing songs. They all show up in the menu.
    But I do not have 160g of music on mine.
    So maybe there is some kind of built in limit.

  6. as far as the windows not going up all the way, try raising the window all the way with manual control, then letting go, then pulling up to the first detent again. it should re-synchronize the window. i'm assuming either the battery has gone dead at some point or they haven't done this before giving the vehicle to you.

    as far as looks go, i think this iteration of the beetle is much more in line with the original, hunch back, true beetle(as in the bug) design. all it's missing is the split rear window.

  7. Odd that your friends are fans of the previous Beetle. I think this one is a much better interpretation of the original and have no idea why they say its like a PT Cruiser.

  8. my 2 cents: i was a long time auto glass technician. I worked on many VW cars including the new beetle. JUNK. ..poorly designed mechanicals inside the door (the glass regulator and related items)that are the same cheap, inferior garbage they vomit inside of every VW vehicle. I once went to a vw dealership in the Vancouver canada area to replace a driver's door glass on a 2008 beetle and it was time consuming . It was in for numerous warranty repairs…glass, under the hood, interior trim…just a lemon. The service manager was on a rant about how the VW beetle and other cars on the lot (new) were such overpriced heaps of manure. And yet the sheeps were all lining up to buy one for full price.

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