VW has poorly designed its New Beetle model. Everything is very difficult to access. For example, it is necessary to pull out the entire dash to change a few instrument lights (radio, heater controls, etc.) It requires different tools, and an extraordinary amount of patience and being careful when disassembling the dash. Its exterior (headlights) require extraordinary care when replacing the bulbs (to avoid damaging the lens, the rubber ring, and more).

No longer is the VW Beetle an inexpensive car to own, maintain/fix, or to work on in one's own garage. The motivation for VW to make these maintenance tasks much more difficult would be that the less the consumer can do, the more reliant that the consumer is upon trained/familiar mechanics/dealer service depts. VW is not the 'People's Car' when it became so much more difficult, and expensive for the consumer to do themselves. This seems to be a common complaint among VW New Beetle owner's. I am familiar with the ease of self-maintenance with the older Beetle's (I owned a 1971 auto-stick model as my first car!)