Vehicle report
2018 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE
This model year
What the record shows
The 2018 Volkswagen Beetle is a compact car, and the 54th model year of a nameplate NHTSA records from 1965 to 2019.
The EPA rated one configuration: a single 2-litre four-cylinder engine, front-wheel drive only, a single transmission, Automatic (S6) and running on regular gasoline.
Combined fuel economy is 29 mpg.
The federal record holds 17 owner complaints, 4 safety recalls and 446 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.