In short, this vehicle was a terrible purchase. Within months of my purchase, my first major repair had to be made; the transmission. While my transmission was being replaced, the mechanic noticed that the ball bearings on the wheels were misaligned, which accounted for the loud grinding noise I had been hearing while driving. It turns out that misaligned ball bearings are also a major safety hazard. Other than the enjoyable trademark New Beetle shape, almost nothing on this car was worthwhile. Stay away!

I like the performance of the car; the turbo charged engine makes it responsive and fast, but not to noisy, and it is very smooth to drive. I owned the car for over 7 years, and gave me very little problem, however at the end after changing the timing belt, I drove it maybe around 5 thousand miles, and the belt broke again leaving the engine in pretty pad shape. I believe that this may not be the car's fault, but I did all my repairs at a VW dealership, and I find it ridiculous that a vehicle that had dis done a year ago breaks again for the same reason while the first belt lasted for over 12 years.