Vehicle report
2012 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE
This model year
What the record shows
The 2012 Volkswagen Beetle is a subcompact car, and the 48th model year of a nameplate NHTSA records from 1965 to 2019.
The EPA rated four configurations: engines from 2-litre four-cylinder to 2.5-litre five-cylinder, front-wheel drive only, three transmissions and running on premium gasoline and regular gasoline.
Combined fuel economy ranges from 24 to 25 mpg depending on which one you have.
NHTSA's best overall crash rating for this model year is 4 out of five stars.
The federal record holds 65 owner complaints, 7 safety recalls and 859 service bulletins for it.
Counts are reports, not rates. A complaint is something an owner chose to file; it is unverified and unadjusted for how many of these cars were sold, so the useful comparison is against other model years of the same car. Recalls and investigations carry more weight because a manufacturer or regulator acted on them.
Reading this report
Complaint counts are reports filed with NHTSA, not failure rates. A common model collects more of them than a rare one that breaks more often.