2012 & 2013 Volkswagen Convertible Reviews & Ratings

Volkswagen has been making different versions of their Volkswagen Convertible since 1949 when the Cabriolet version of the ever popular Volkswagen beetle was introduced. Volkswagen Convertibles have always been one of the premier offerings of this iconic manufacturer and they have made Convertible models of most of their popular small car brands over the decades. The Volkswagen Golf Convertible was first introduced in 1979 with the Golf range being the third most successful car for sales in... (full review continues below)

Volkswagen has been making different versions of their Volkswagen Convertible since 1949 when the Cabriolet version of the ever popular Volkswagen beetle was introduced. Volkswagen Convertibles have always been one of the premier offerings of this iconic manufacturer and they have made Convertible models of most of their popular small car brands over the decades. The Volkswagen Golf Convertible was first introduced in 1979 with the Golf range being the third most successful car for sales in the world having built over 25 million cars by 2007. The Golf Convertible gained a new name and makeover in 2006 with the introduction of the four seat Volkswagen Convertible line named the EOS. This is built based on the original Golf model but redesigned and more stylized to fit in with current trends.

The most interesting feature of the EOS is its retractable five piece hard top roof, which collapses at the push of a button into the trunk. This has the disadvantage of effectively halving the cargo space while the roof is retracted. The Convertible market as a whole is dominated by the more traditional soft top convertible with most manufacturers producing only one and occasionally two Convertible models in their range of vehicles. Even so, competition is quite fierce as the Convertible market is highly lucrative with manufacturers able to charge a premium for their convertible vehicles due to the generally more financially affluent nature of Convertible customers.

Volkswagen Convertibles have always sold extremely well since the original Beetle model and many people associate Volkswagen with a small, sporty Convertible car. The Eos is a mid range model and does have significant competition from other the manufacturers including the large convertible manufacturer Mazda with the MX-5 Miata. There is also the BMW 1 series, Audi A5, Nissan 370Z and the higher end performance models such as the Porsche Boxster.

The Volkswagen Eos, named after the Greek goddess of the sun comes in 3 different primary trims each of which has the retracting hardtop rook with integrated sunroof. The biggest change that Volkswagen made with the introduction of the Eos was to remove the traditional six speed manual transmission instead opting to go for a sixed speed DRG dual clutch automatic transmission for all three trim models.

The basic model is the Volkswagen Eos Komfort Convertible starting at just under $35,000 with a 2 liter turbo charged 4 cylinder engine developing 200 horsepower at 5,100rpm and 207 foot pound of torque at 1,800rpm. The fuel economy is decent managing a respectable 22mpg in the city and 30mpg on the highway especially when considering the automatic transmission only design. The middle trim of the EOS line is the Volkswagen Eos LUX Convertible and the top variant is the Volkswagen Eos Executive Convertible starting at just under $40,000 which has exactly the same engine and fuel economy as the Eos Komfort Convertible model but includes more luxury extras in the standard package.