One problem related to power train driveline has been reported for the 2003 Volkswagen New Beetle Convertible. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
I have a 2003 Volkswagen beetle convertible with auto and tipronic transmission. At about 64,000 miles the transmission started "slipping". As it would automatically change to a higher gear the change would slip and cause the engine to rev up until it changed into the next gear this would cause the engine to jump or lurch. When in the tiptronic manual mode the gear would slip also. Also when put into reverse it jumps in reverse and wants to accelerate back quickly. A few occasions when driving the car and getting into traffic the car would take so long to get into gear that it caused traffic behind to almost rear end me. No crash but almost.