[Right Wing Assault]

Sounds like the German engineers screwed up the new Beetle according to a friend. He told me the Chilton's manual on oil changes begins somehting like, "Changing the oil is not easy on the Beetle." Of course, bring it to the dealer is what they want.

[Salo]

I use a Pela pump and get the oil from the top - my Golf is so low I can't get it up my ramps and I understand I'd have a few dozen nuts and bolts to remove before I could actually begin draining the oil anyway. Changing the oil and filter on a Golf (TDi) is pretty easy, and so is draining the water from the separator. I will say this: the car has a lot of squeaks and rattles from poorly fitting/assembled parts. VW has a horrible reputation for reliability now, unless you luck out and get a car built in Wolfsburg.

I do not trust the dealers to handle oil changes as the TDi models require a special oil (VW505.01 spec) and dealers are notorious for not using it, which invalidates the vehicle's warranty.

Sounds like the German engineers screwed up the new Beetle according to a friend. He told me the Chilton's manual on oil changes begins something like, "Changing the oil is not easy on the Beetle." Of course, bring it to the dealer is what they want.

[goldstategop]

If you mean the transmission fluid, forget it. It has to be dealer-serviced with special tools. The motor oil can still be topped off at periodic intervals and I highly recommend Mobil 1 Synthetic in VW's. It keeps my NB purring on the road.