My wife and i thought it was so cute we had to have one,so we bought a brand new black 98 beetle right out of the show room,After the first oil change it went down hill from there. 1-burns [1] liter of oil every 3000 km[NORMAL]they say[NOT FIXED] 2-right window regulator broke[never saw this before]had to plead with VW [FIXED WARRANTY] 3-rear trunk would not close [[FIXED WARRANTY] ]after the 6th time there 4-heater vent under the dash was disconnected or never connected?[[FIXED WARRANTY] 5-changed water pump x2 because of engine noise,still makes noise [don't know???] 6-hard to shift first thing in the morning when cold[normal][NO WARRANTY] 7-knob fell off the shifter,[told me to just glue it myself!][FIXED NO WARRANTY] 8-peeling door handles[normal][NOT FIXED] 9-dash instrument cluster would go out at times,[can't find problem?][NOT FIXED] 10-water leak from front pillars,carpet soaked x 2 [6] months apart [FIXED WARRANTY] [still leaks at times] 11-radio quit working,[FIXED WARRANTY] but has a squeek 12-window button broke [STILL BROKEN] 13-door lock buttons cracked[STILL CRACKED] 14-battery died in 3rd year[FIXED NO WARRANTY] 15-left rear brake seized up 30000km [FIXED NO WARRANTY] 16-3 head light bulbs driver side only[normal][FIXED NO WARRANTY] 17-rear bumper corner lights fell out[FIXED NO WARRANTY] 18-right front ball joint ready to fall off 120000km [FIXED NO WARRANTY] 19-radio roof antenna CRACKED [FIXED NO WARRANTY] 20-windsheild glass starting to whitened around the edges [NOT FIXED NO WARRANTY] 21-bottom of left door hitting the rocker panel [since day 1]and rusting ,[FIXED WARRANTY]still doing it. 22-exhaust flange[changed at 136000 km][FIXED NO WARRANTY] 23-changed ignition switch[no warranty] 24-catalytic converter rusted out at the front and vibrating 136000km[NO WARRANTY $1500.00 PLUS LABOR]NOT FIXED TALKED TO VW CUSTOMER RELATIONS,AND AFTER A DAY AND 1/2 AND ALOT OF BULL,SORRY YOU WERE OVER YOUR KM BY 6000KM,WERE VERY SORRY... ECT..... ITS A 98 BEETLE,DEALER MAINTAINED every 5000km,WIFE DRIVEN,NEVER ON A GRAVEL ROAD,NO KIDS,LOOKS LIKE NEW AND IS THE WORST PIECE OF SH*T ONE CAN OWN.GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL AND IF YOU READ THIS AND STILL PURCHASE A BEETLE,YOU DESERVE ALL THE HEADACHES AND MORE.DON'T SAY YOU WERE NOT WARNED,THE ONLY BAD THING THAT NEVER HAPPENED WAS IT WAS NEVER STOLEN,CAUGHT FIRE,OR WROTE OFF.I HAVE A 2003 HYUNDAI ELANTRA VE WITH 80000km DEALER MAINTAINED 5000KM,THE ONLY THING I'VE DONE IS 5000km OIL CHANGES.WHAT A GREAT CAR FOR THE MONEY!!!! Hope for your sake the new ones are better!!!!