Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet (2013 – 2019) Review

If you’ll excuse the marketing twaddle, the Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet is more than just a car. It’s a lifestyle. A feelgood factor. The opportunity to enjoy those endless summer days – or the occasional glimpses of sunshine between the showers. Although production stopped in 2019, the Beetle Cabriolet is the ideal choice if you can’t stomach the idea of the Volkswagen T-Roc Cabriolet. 

Not enough of you bought a Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet, which is why it has been consigned to the history books. Today, if you fancy a drop-top Volkswagen, your only option is the T-Roc Cabriolet. You can’t even buy a Golf Cabriolet.

If you didn’t buy one when it was new, why are you reading this review? We suspect it’s because you’ve always had a soft spot for the Beetle Cabriolet, but maybe you couldn’t stretch to the relatively high prices when the car was new. Or maybe a change in circumstances means that a topless Beetle is now a viable option for you.

Whatever the reason, you’ll probably love the Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet. Removing the roof from the Beetle coupe adds an extra layer of desirability to a car that, if we’re being cynical, is little more than a less practical Volkswagen Golf.

Indeed, a Golf makes more sense for a number of reasons, but none of these will matter when you’re enjoying the sunshine in your Beetle Cabriolet. It’s a feel good car, to be ranked alongside the Mini Convertible and Fiat 500C.

There’s space for four adults, and even though you get less boot space than you’ll find in the Beetle coupe, you can squeeze the same amount of luggage inside, regardless of whether the roof is up or down. You can even fold the rear seats down to provide more space, but check with the people travelling in the back before doing this.

It feels like a premium product, which helps to justify its lofty price. That said, you should avoid the entry-level version, because the spec is a bit miserly, while the absence of any cosmetic upgrades means the cabin feels a little low-rent. You’ll find some cheap plastics inside, regardless of the trim level.

You’ll also find that Volkswagen was a bit mean with some of the features, with leather seats and front and rear parking sensors not standard on any model. Tick a few boxes and the Beetle Cabriolet begins to look more expensive than the price list would have you believe.

Not that this concerns you, because you’ll be picking from the Beetle Cabriolets for sale on the used market. Sales slowed to such an extent that you might struggle to find a very late example, but early cars start from around £10,000.

To its credit, the Beetle Cabriolet drives as well as the standard Beetle, but we’d avoid the R-Line trim. Although it looks the part, the large alloy wheels and sports suspension combine to create a harsh and uncomfortable ride. The standard car is fine, although the rare Dune edition is the most comfortable Beetle Cabriolet you can buy. Good luck finding one.

Overall, the Beetle Cabriolet is easier to justify as a used car than it was as a new one. Depreciation means that it offers better value for money, although you won’t be able to enjoy the fun of selecting from the range of personalisation options.

We wouldn’t recommend the R-Line trim, because although the large alloy wheels, chrome twin exhausts and sports suspension look the part, the Beetle Cabriolet is no sports car.

The large wheels and lowered suspension combine to make the ride unnecessarily uncomfortable, which flies in the face of the Beetle’s smooth and relaxed vibes.

The 17-inch or 18-inch alloy wheels provide the best balance of ride comfort and pose factor, leaving you free to enjoy the admiring glances without having a chiropractor on speed dial. We’d even recommend the Beetle Dune, which was ludicrously expensive when new. The raised ride height provides more cushioning between you and the road.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the roof lowers in 9.5 seconds at speeds of up to 31mph. It will also close again in just 11 seconds, which is handy information if you get caught in a downpour.

There were a bewildering array of engines available throughout the life of the Beetle Cabriolet, but our advice is simple: avoid the diesels.

Yes, the 1.6 and 2.0 TDI units are economical, but are you going to be covering the distance required to make sense of a diesel engine? If you spend most of your time on a motorway with the roof up, is the Cabriolet the right car?

On the other hand, if you spend most of your time in the city, grabbing every opportunity to get the roof down, the 1.4 and 1.2 TSI petrol engines are little gems. Punchy, efficient and smooth, so you can go topless without the diesel clatter.

The Volkswagen Beetle coupe was awarded a five-star safety rating when it was crash-tested by Euro NCAP in 2011. Although the Beetle Cabriolet wasn’t tested, you can expect a similar performance from the drop-top version.

All versions come with electronic stability control, a rollover protection system, two Isofix mounting points in the back, a tyre pressure monitoring system and a post-collision braking system. Front and rear parking sensors are optional on all models. Cruise control is standard on some models and optional on others, but we’d recommend the optional LED headlights.

You’re not seriously considering towing anything with a Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet, are you? Could you imagine the Beach Boys towing something in a Beetle? Precisely.

Feel free to skip this section. You’re not that fussed about matters of a practical nature, are you? You’re just dreaming of spending the summer months touring coastal towns and villages in your topless Beetle. Perfect. That’s precisely what this car is all about.

So you don’t care that the 225-litre boot is smaller than the boot you’ll find in the tin-top Beetle. Or the fact that the luggage capacity is the same, regardless of whether the boot is up or down. Or even the fact that the rear seats fold down if you need to carry longer loads.

You will care that two adults can sit in the back without their knees pressed up to their chins, because this means you and three of your mates can enjoy the sun’s rays on those glorious summer days. You can place the sunscreen in one of the two cupholders in the front.

The quality of the weather depends on where you spend your holiday. May we suggest the South of France as a great destination for a Volkswagen Beetle? Cornwall would be nice, but we can’t guarantee the weather – or the traffic on the A30.

Some of the plastics feel a little cheap, especially on the entry-level versions. Leather seats are an optional extra, regardless of the trim level.

Opt for the basic Beetle Cabriolet and you’ll have to live with a five-inch colour touchscreen, DAB digital radio, CD player, USB port and six speakers. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s easy to operate on the move, thanks to some of the key functions being available via a set of large buttons.

Other versions get a more desirable 6.5-inch colour touchscreen infotainment system, although sat-nav isn’t standard on any trim level. It’s for this reason that we’d recommend the optional Discover Navigation system. At least you won’t get lost on your way to the beach.

The Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet wasn’t a cheap car when new, with prices ranging from £21,000 to £30,000 before it was discontinued.

The entry-level price was a bit of a red herring, because you’d almost certainly want to upgrade to the Design trim (£23,000 to £26,500) or the R-Line model (£27,500 to £29,000). The Dune model was expensive at £25,500 to £30,000.

You’ll need at least £10,000 to secure an early example of the last generation of the Beetle Cabriolet. These cars tend to be well looked after with up to 50,000 miles on the clock. Although many of the options and accessories don’t add value to the price of a used car, you should seek out the cars with the kind of kit you’d have ordered when the car was new.

Post-facelift cars tend to cost upwards of £15,000, but the difference in price will be negligible if you’re buying on a PCP deal.

You might struggle to find the right car, especially if you’re after a late Beetle Cabriolet. Sales slowed to such an extent that there were just four 2017 examples for sale at the time of writing. Worse still, we couldn’t find a single 2018 car. You might have to be patient.

PCP deals start from around £230 a month. This is based on a deposit of £1,000 and payments spread over four years. Later models cost up to £500 a month, so if you’re after a more affordable Volkswagen convertible, it might be worth considering the T-Roc Cabriolet.

It doesn’t have the retro styling of the Beetle, but you’ll enjoy lower monthly payments and the reassurance of a three-year manufacturer’s warranty.

The 2.0-litre TDI is the economy hero, offering 65.7mpg in 110PS guise or 58.9mpg in the 150PS R-Line version. You’re unlikely to see these figures in reality, but fuel economy in the mid to high 40s is realistic.

Does a diesel engine really suit the fresh air vibes of the Beetle Cabriolet? The 1.2-litre TSI petrol engine might be small, but it does a mighty good job of propelling the Beete along at a decent rate. You’ll also see up to 54.3mpg on a combined cycle. The old 2.0-litre TSI is the least efficient, offering a real-world figure in the mid to high 30s.

Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) ranges from £30 to £205, depending on the engine, although all cars registered on or after 1 April 2017 will pay a flat rate of £150, regardless of the engine. Insurance shouldn’t be a problem if you avoid the 2.0-litre TSI Sport, which costs the same to insure as a hot hatchback.

By slotting into insurance groups 15 to 31, the Beetle Cabriolet is more expensive to insure than the standard Beetle.

All models come with 16-inch retro-design steel wheels, manual air conditioning, electric windows, electrically adjustable heated door mirrors, start/stop, 5.0-inch touchscreen system with AUX-in, DAB radio, CD player, SD card reader, USB input, six speakers and hill hold assist.

Design trim gains 17-inch alloy wheels, body-coloured interior panels and dashboard, 6.5-inch touchscreen, Bluetooth and eight speakers.

Sport trim adds (over Design) 18-inch alloy wheels, gloss black exterior details, sports front seats, two-zone climate control, cruise control, front and rear parking sensors plus sport dials.