The Volkswagen Beetle Is Dead (Again)

Megalith

Megalith

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The current generation of Volkswagen Beetle will supposedly be its last, as the German automaker has revealed it has no plans for a replacement. The car had already been discontinued more than once but brought back, so it is hard to say whether this extermination is permanent.

According to a conversation R&D boss Frank Welsch had with Autocar, the Beetle won’t see a successor. Welsch told Autocar the reason for not building a Beetle successor is “made with history in mind; you can't do it five times and have a new new new Beetle.” For those who forgot, the Beetle was revived in 1997 and was dubbed the New Beetle in 2011.
 
There were "new" beetles everywhere here in lafayette la for a few years. Kind of makes me wonder where they all went...

Think they were replaced by cubes and the like, but they couldn't have just disappeared.
 
I'm surprised it lasted this long, it's just a golf with an impractical body. It's no more affordable than any other small car, here in Europe it was even positioned above the golf, so it was more expensive than a normal car with the same usability.
 
So far as remakes of iconic classics go, I think Fiat 500 and Mini Cooper look better.

That latest Beetle looks rather chunky. I guess they were going for the buggy beetle look?
 
xinco said:
I just saw an original Beetle on the road yesterday and was thinking about when there were literally everywhere.
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These are literally everywhere in Brazil. Yearly property tax is $0.

A WRX STi yearly property tax, IIRC is about US $3100/year, iirc.
 
Disco_Stu_04 said:
It'll probably come back as some electric-only variant.
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The electric microbus is starting production soon for 2021-22 launch, so that makes sense.

I tried a turbo beetle for a day. The steering felt awful and the glass had some bad refraction. Would not buy.
 
MrDeaf said:
That latest Beetle looks rather chunky. I guess they were going for the buggy beetle look?
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They were trying to channel the one that Hitler ordered Porsche create, which spawned the Volkswagen "Beetle".

;)

No, but seriously, VW has some evil fuckers working for them.
 
New Beetles are the worst cars that I have ever had the displeasure of working with. The A-pillars are so far ahead that you have two gigantic blind spots, plastic water pump (!), air condition module that would stop working when you hit a pothole, decaying plastics parts that break with a slight pull (bye bye interior door handles), stupid motorized rear hatch lock and fuel port that always fail (WTF!!!??). Engine and body were good though, lots of power, very stable at high speeds, and very quiet. Still the worst car.
 
"We're bringing back the Pacer as well as the Gremlin.", said Gene Auto of independent motors. "Kids today like man-buns, neck-beards and dressing like the Kardashians. My gosh, this is going to be an easy sell!"
 
M76 said:
I'm surprised it lasted this long, it's just a golf with an impractical body. It's no more affordable than any other small car, here in Europe it was even positioned above the golf, so it was more expensive than a normal car with the same usability.
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^^ that. Newer beetle are/were just a body shape. Originals were cheap reliable transportation with a simple light weight air cooled engine with split case that a college student could carry up to their dorm room and rebuild. And hopefully they did not neglect to re-install the air flow shrouding around the engine - over-heated heads et all ...
 
Nobu said:
There were "new" beetles everywhere here in lafayette la for a few years. Kind of makes me wonder where they all went...

Think they were replaced by cubes and the like, but they couldn't have just disappeared.
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The timing belt on mine broke early and it died. So maybe that?

Super comfortable car, though. I really liked it.
 
I had a 2002 Beetle GLX. It was a peppy little car, comfortable seats (Leather and heated) Never had any real problems until 140K and the teeth on the timing belt started deteriorating and being an interference engine an all, it pretty much destroyed itself. I put a replacement engine in (which was a bitch) and it was never right after that. Started having electrical problems, windows had a mind of their own, and I decided to cut my losses and get rid of it.

If I found a low mileage TDI Beetle, that wasn't priced to the moon, I'd snatch it up in a heartbeat.
 
Nobu said:
There were "new" beetles everywhere here in lafayette la for a few years. Kind of makes me wonder where they all went...
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Check you local junk yard, where all the other disposable cars went.
 
I was the owner of a 2000 "New Beetle" until the whole thing shat itself back in 2015. It was a great car when it was new but the second I moved away from a dealership it just started falling apart never buying a VW again after that fiasco. Not because their cars aren't good but because there are no dealerships close by and I don't foresee me moving near one any time soon and more of them have been closing than opening and I see my next vehicle being a small to mid size truck which they don't offer.
 
I bought a used, low mileage 2007 New Beetle a few years ago and have been quite fortunate as far as mechanical failures go. We had a clutch installed after we put just over 100,000 miles on it. Besides that it has just been routine maintenance.
 
JDanser said:
Bring back the OG beetle with a modernized flat 4 in it. Sell 'em for piss cheap and make a fuckin mint on volume.
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OG beetle with a rear modern engine would be sweet. I’d be willing to get a crate engine for my dune buggy then. Be great to update it from the current 72’ I have.
 
Lakados said:
I was the owner of a 2000 "New Beetle" until the whole thing shat itself back in 2015.
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I mean, it lasted 15 years...

I rather liked the latest Beetle redesign, especially the Dune variant. Sadly, I'll never buy another VW until they sort their shit out. I just dumped a '09 GLI that was disintegrating after hitting 60K miles. When it hit 85K I had to dump it, grabbed a '17 Impreza hatch and couldn't be happier (Well, I miss that 2.0 turbo).
 
No one wants cute cars anymore. The trend is to have a car that looks mean enough to bite you. Every one of them looks like it's going to growl. Comes with the culture where everything is bad and people aspire to be referred to as a gangsta. The word 'nice' now has negative connotations. Everybody wants to be a bad muthafucka; then can't understand why nobody likes them.
So you see snakes, hellcats, etc. as names for cars.
 
nightfly said:
No one wants cute cars anymore. The trend is to have a car that looks mean enough to bite you. Every one of them looks like it's going to growl. Comes with the culture where everything is bad and people aspire to be referred to as a gangsta. The word 'nice' now has negative connotations. Everybody wants to be a bad muthafucka; then can't understand why nobody likes them.
So you see snakes, hellcats, etc. as names for cars.
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Completely different from car names back in the day, Barracuda Firebird Mustang Cobra Dart Cutlass Challenger Charger, yep those don’t have any connotations suggesting “tough” or “ready to fight”.

Non cute car names are hardly a new thing. And there are still goofy “cute” cars being sold and in some cases selling well. Fiat 500, Mini Coopers, Toyota Yaris, Ford Fiesta.

VW shitcanning the Beetle, again, is hardly indicative of a society of no one wanting those cars. It more likely indicates that few people want Beetles. Anecdotal story time, a few years back I was considering a VW, never once considered a Beetle as opposed to a Jetta or Golf. Or even the crossover SUV thing.
 
If all the ugly box and bubble cars would just go away.... that'd be great. The beetle, all fiats, Scion xA and xB, PT Cruisers, Mini's. Just all ugly as hell. But the real destroyer of worlds.... getting stuck behind a Subaru hatchback. UGH! Man talk about a granny car (also a hipster car).

Sorry, being a car guy, I have a lot of time to brood over this.
 
xinco said:
I just saw an original Beetle on the road yesterday and was thinking about when there were literally everywhere.
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Have to say the old ones were tough vehicles. My dad owned several over they years. But since we were a family of seven it wasn't very practical. Dad rolled one down a hillside driving home drunk one late night. The next day he had a tow truck drag it to the house. The front windshield was broken because dad kicked it out to exit while it was upside down. Other than that it was just dented up. Dad got the windshield replaced and kept driving it.
 
People shit on the beetle but the bodies underneath we're basically bullet proof.

And with that 13 year or whatever rust through warranty it was covered if it did rust out.
 
DeathFromBelow said:
Good, now bring back the Ghia.
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No, bring back the Fastback.

www.pinterest.com.jpeg


On another note, when the new Beetle was announced, I was soooooooo excited, and then they put out the heavy lump of front engine FWD expensive shit that the car is. I was expecting a cheaper rear engine RWD car and was ready to get one and mod the hell out of it, total disappointment.
 
I am trying to think and can't recall the last time I have come across a VW bug anywhere. I has been so long I can't even remember now.
 
Not too surprised with this since the line between them and Audii seem to be getting thinner and thinner in the last couple of yeas. At some point its just a slight body/package difference and possibly not profitable enough to support.
 
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