Volkswagen Beetle

The 2019 Beetle in brief

The 2019 Volkswagen Beetle is a subcompact car offered with a 2.0L 4-cyl turbo engine and front-wheel drive.

It measures about 169 inches long and 71 inches wide on a 100-inch wheelbase, with a curb weight of roughly 3,225 lb (2dr Convertible).

EPA rates its most efficient version at 29 MPG combined (26 city / 33 highway), 23% better than the 2019 subcompact car average of 23.5 MPG, for an estimated $2,300 a year in fuel.

NHTSA has not published a 5-Star overall rating for this model year.

It has 3 recall campaigns on file and owners have filed 15 complaints with NHTSA since 2015, most often about the electrical system.

The Volkswagen Beetle has 14 model years in our data, from 2005 to 2019, classed as Subcompact Cars, Compact Cars, Minicompact Cars.

Its most efficient year was 2005 at 35 MPG combined; across all years the best version ranged from 23 to 35 MPG.

Owners most often report problems with the air bags (215), electrical system (100), unknown or other (76).

Buying used? 2018 has the fewest problems in our data, and 2015 is the year to avoid.

2013 has the most recalls (6); all years together count 17 campaigns and 549 owner complaints.

How the 2005 Beetle compares

The 2005 Volkswagen Beetle is a subcompact car offered with 3 engines (1.9L 4-cyl turbo, 1.8L 4-cyl turbo and 2.0L 4-cyl) and front-wheel drive.

EPA rates its most efficient version at 35 MPG combined (32 city / 41 highway), 67% better than the 2005 subcompact car average of 20.9 MPG, for an estimated $2,750 a year in fuel.

About the Volkswagen Beetle

The Volkswagen Beetle is a compact car manufactured and marketed by Volkswagen from 2011 until 2019. It was introduced for the 2012 model year as the successor to the Volkswagen New Beetle. It features a lower profile while retaining an overall shape homaging the original Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle. One of Volkswagen's goals with the model was to give it a more aggressive appearance while giving it some stylistic aspects reminiscent of the Type 1. This was an attempt to distance the new model from the New Beetle, produced from 1997 to 2011, which never approached the success of the original Beetle.

From the Wikipedia article "Volkswagen Beetle (A5)", licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.