Used Volkswagen New Beetle for sale

The Volkswagen New Beetle is one of the most unique cars ever going in production. The cute little car is designed based on the exterior design of the original Beetle. Different from the original Beetle, the New Beetle features a front engine, driving the front wheels, with cargo space located in the rear. Production of the car began in 1997 and ceased in 2019. During its lifetime, many special editions were launched, such as Beetle RSi, Wolfsburg Edition, Blush or BlackOrange edition,... to attract customers.

In this review, we will talk about this fun little runabout car in detail so check it out if you are interested in it.

Volkswagen New Beetle Review

1. History

Volkswagen introduced the Concept One, a “retro”-themed concept car with a resemblance to the original Volkswagen Beetle at the 1994 North American International Auto Show. Designed by Freeman Thomas and J Mays at the company’s California design studio, the concept car was built based on the platform of the Volkswagen Polo. Also in 1994, a red cabriolet concept was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show.

Good responses from the public to the Concept One convinced the Volkswagen that they should manufacture a new production version that was introduced as the New Beetle in 1997 for the 1998 model-year, based on the Golf IV’s bigger PQ34 platform. The new Beetle only shares the common things with the original Beetle in terms of name and appearance (including the absence of a car emblem script with the exception of the VW logo). Volkswagen launched the 1.8T, that was the first turbocharged spark-ignition engine available for the New Beetle in June 1999. A convertible version was supplemented for the 2003 model-year to replace the Volkswagen Cabrio. However in North America, the New Beetle Convertible was never available with a compression-ignition engine. It was built in Volkswagen’s Puebla factory in Mexico.

2. Volkswagen New Beetle Specs

Max speed: 110 - 1331 mph (177 - 210 km/h)

Acceleration 0 - 60 mph (0 - 97 km/h): 6.5 - 13.2 sec

Height: 59.0 in (1,498 mm)

Length: 162.6 in (4,129 mm)

Width: 67.8 in (1,721 mm)

Wheelbase: 99 in (2,515 mm)

Curb weight: 2,717 Ib (1,230 kg)

Luggage volume: 339.8 L (12 cu ft)

Luggage volume with rear seat folded: 767.4 L (27.1 cu ft)

3. Exterior and Interior

As we said before, the Volkswagen is one of the most unique vehicles ever in production. It has a very rounded and bubbling style but still maintains the modern and freshness as well. Coming to the back, the car has standard tail lights as well as turn signals below. The VW logo is located right in the center of the back. Coming to the front, the car features standard headlights. The shape of the windshield are actually rounded so they can fit into the rounded section, which is pretty cool feature and also shows that VW pays attention to the details.

Now let’s move into the car. You can see most interior parts of the New Beetle are made of high-quality plastic, giving a solid feeling. The dashboard is very basic with simple controls. Front seats are actually very supportive and comfortable with plenty of headroom and legroom. These seats can be folded easily to give entrance for the passengers from the back seats. Rear seats are also comfortable but they are a bit tight for tall passengers. The rear seats can also be folded, giving more room to carry items. Other interior features include power mirrors, power windows, AC, radio,...

4. Engine and Performance

Engine options:

Volkswagen New Beetle petrol engines:

- 1.4 L I4 16 valve

1.6 L I4

1.8 L I4 Turbocharged

2.0 L I4

2.3 L VR5 20 valve

2.5 L I5 20 valve

3.2 L VR6 24 valve (RSI)

Volkswagen New Beetle diesel engine:

1.9 L I4 TDI

Transmissions:

5-speed manual

6-speed manual

4-speed automatic

6-speed automatic tiptronic DSG

6-speed DSG tiptronic

The visibility is very interesting in the New Beetle. You will see a very long dashboard but that is okay as you still see everything perfectly. The ride experience is pretty good. In terms of engine, it is fine, you can’t see it is under power or over power a lot of time. The brake behaves exactly what you think. There is nearly no noise in the carbin, which is a nice feature of German cars.

The car corners very well and accelerate pretty good. Everything corporates with each other very nicely.

5. Special Edition

Many special editions are offered for the New Beetle, including Beetle RSi (2001–2003), Ragster concept, Wolfsburg Edition, Blush (2009), Final edition (2010), BlackOrange Edition (2010) and Final Edition.

6. Volkswagen Price

On used car market, the Volkswagen New Beetle pricing starts from $1,600 to $19,000 (FOB price) depending on model year, mileage, color, installed features and other conditions of the car. The newer the car is, the higher the price it costs. So when buying a used Volkswagen New Beetle for sale, you can base on these factors to pick a suitable car for you.