MILLENNIUM
CUP EDITION
CAR ISSUES & SPARE PARTS
HEAT & MISSING PARTS " DESTROYED " THE CARS IN THE MIDDLE EAST!
UNBELIEVABLE BUT TRUE - HEAD-SHAKING
For reasons both well-known and inexplicable, spare parts for the Cup Edition Millennium Beetles were never available! The reason is that the parts used for the upgrade in Puebla were never registered in the crucial IT systems KVS & ELSA ! ... according to information from the pilot department in Puebla!
What's new, however – something they couldn't have known in Puebla – is the recent discovery of data in your VW databases, showing that some data was indeed recorded in the KVS system – the suspension springs are listed there with their part numbers, as well as the name and project designation in a VIN ID database for these cars, where the cars were clearly identified as – DUBAI BEETLE!
How they nevertheless managed to build a series of 80 vehicles without any further online documentation remains a mystery. This is also one of the reasons why so many vehicles were repaired to the point of complete failure using parts readily available in stores and hobby workshops throughout the Middle East. Numerous examples can be found here ==> more!
In the official VW database, these vehicles only appear in the configuration as if they had rolled off the assembly line in Puebla as a "Standard New Beetle" – all PR numbers indicate a Standard New Beetle and are accordingly noted in the vehicles (PR stickers and service booklets).
The fact that the vehicles were completely rebuilt at the customer's request by the pilot department in Puebla using original VW and Audi parts and delivered to a single "customer" in the UAE (as repeatedly stated by VW employees) is nowhere documented in any accessible customer service database or the
VW support teams documented (... except that in the VIN ID data list of all 81 cars, the delivery country Germany and the customer country can also be read as Germany.
Not a single vehicle is in a museum (… according to the person in charge there), and none is mentioned in books about the New Beetle, the Beetle, or any other commercially available VW documents. Only an inquiry to “AUDI/VW Middle East FZEVW Product Support” in the Dubai Freezone in 2013 yielded the following email response:
"Yes – we imported the vehicles, spare parts were never available for them, and they were serviced in our authorized workshops. However, we are surprised ourselves that there is no documentation for these vehicles anywhere and that the headquarters in Wolfsburg and Puebla never responded to our inquiries regarding your request."
Documentation existed/exists – this has now been amply proven – not the usual kind, but enough to build the 80 cars "VW-compliant"! However, considering all the facts known today, it's still hard to imagine that all of this was truly "legally compliant" or
The process was ISO compliant!
How could they build 80 cars without (according to VW) online documentation, spare parts, and support?
How they then simply "sold" these to the official VW importer in Dubai - Al Naboodah!!
The official inquiry to "Middle East AUDI/VW Support" in Dubai was answered as follows:
"Yes – we imported the vehicles, spare parts were never available for them, and they were serviced in our authorized workshops. However, we are surprised ourselves that there is no documentation for these vehicles anywhere and that the headquarters in Wolfsburg and Puebla never answered our inquiries on these matters."
The availability of spare parts is also one of the reasons why so many vehicles were equipped with similar sports accessories readily available on the open market and repaired in amateur workshops literally to the point of "no more." Numerous examples can be found here ==> more!
How did/does one obtain spare parts for the Millennium Cup Edition Beetle?
Spare parts for the installed body kit could only be obtained indirectly and through connections to willing parties.
Parts can be ordered and purchased from VW dealers – essentially "ILLEGAL"! All that's needed is the VIN (vehicle registration document) of an "RSI BEETLE" known in the official VW systems, and a friendly VW dealer who then orders the spare parts by pretending they are an "RSI" known to the VW system (…I've already done this for my own vehicle)!
According to them, the VW racing department in Wolfsburg was involved at the time to make this possible. However, this process has since been handed over to the "Classic Car Division".
Many parts are no longer available even there for the RSI!
Why were so many spare parts needed for the Dubai Beetle?
Due to damage from accidents, countless speed bumps, often very high curbs, and a lot of street and racetrack activity in the Emirates, many cars could only be repaired with existing and similar parts. Unavailable parts were replaced and adapted with parts from tuning suppliers... see the picture with the oversized spoiler in the
Problem gallery ! The decor was invented by street artists and often further refined according to the owner's wishes!
Then there was the heat in the Middle East, which affected almost all VW/Audi cars in the UAE. The plastic parts became brittle from the heat and began to crack. The soft-touch coating on the handles, glove compartment, dashboard, and switches turned into a sticky mess – similar to chewing gum! And the roof lining would often literally fall off while driving :(
TÜV regulations in the UAE
Furthermore, the "road authority" was simply insurmountable for the average citizen! The distinctive stickers were officially not permitted on private cars and had to be removed immediately during the technical inspection – otherwise, there was no TÜV (vehicle inspection)!
These stickers, which had been removed there, could no longer be purchased from the importer :(
That's why most of the remaining cars have "homemade stickers or no stickers at all".
Only very well-known figures, princes of the ruling family, could escape this stumbling block! Cars that are still driving today unpainted and with their original stickers often indicate long ownership by a "high-ranking family"!
According to owners, there are very few attractive cars with original paint and decals still hidden away in garages in the Emirates or neighboring countries. One particularly impressive car is in Spain – apparently taken by a sheikh to his Spanish estate and then sold to a Spanish dealer – and another, registered in Germany and imported from the UAE, is shown on this website !
Impact of this VW spare parts policy
These facts are also the reason why, with very few exceptions, all the cars sold have slowly but surely "fallen apart" and literally rotted away over the years. In various backyards, with Indian, Syrian, or Pakistani "know-how" and ingenuity, they were literally "repaired or painted to death." Spare parts were patched together, invented and produced in-house, front and rear bumpers from the standard Beetle were installed, or the cars were all converted into "show cars"! Unrealistic performance upgrades often only lasted a few bursts of acceleration, or, with a mangled 450 hp, were finally laid to rest in the scrap yard!
Impact of this VW spare parts policy
Impact of this VW spare parts policy
