The craze for a VW Beetle has since been over as we can see a decent numbers of them now on our roads. I recalled most dealerships didn't even care to offer a test drive for the Beetle, order it to put yourself in the waiting list then, the car shall be available in 6-8 months later. That was over, and the Beetle, being a 2-door impractical car, did not really sell in the thousands nor hundreds now. VW has even drop the highest range 2.0-litre model from their website. All you can get now is the standard and sport edition. A limited run of of the "Bug" edition is available at RM147k, equipped with the same 1.2-litre TSI engine, with added features such as bi-Xenon headlight with daylight running LEDs, leather seat and two bold stripe that run from the front to the rear and at the side with the "Bug" wording.
The Beetle, designed to be more masculine, has actually lost its cutesy appeal to most ladies nowadays. Those that knew the car well, remembered the "flower vase" holder on the dash in the previous generation car, which add a little girlie touch to the Beetle. But a guy would still avoid being seen driving in the Beetle, it still has the "lembik" feel.
Interior of the Bug is of high quality, and the body colour matching dash and door inserts add fun factor to the smiling face of the driver. Layout of all controls is simple, easy to use, and as usual inherit the boring trend from other VW's. The Beetle deserves to be totally different, and VW should learn from BMW on how to revive a classic that is everyone wannabe, like what it did to the MINI.
The Beetle should be a fun car, and easy to drive, but the bulkiness of all the round corner could mean dozen of blind spots that one can't see from the driver seat. It is a car that need tender loving care. A 7-speed DSG in such a revived classic make thing less attractive, as the previous generation 6-speed auto-tranny could be easier to maintain. Keeping things simple, easy to maintain, should always be the priority of any classic. We want it to last and have fun driving it 10 years later instead of spending most time in the workshop!
