Our only Best Buy in this class, the Volkswagen New Beetle, offers interesting styling and a nice mix of comfort, performance, and economy. The New Beetle is the most practical and affordable in this class.

If raw performance is what you are after, we Recommend the fun-to-drive Acura RSX and Toyota Celica. These cars offer a lot of bang for your buck.

Fashions come and go, and not just in clothes. Though the New Beetle bowed as the must-have wheels of 1998, it was later eclipsed by the Chrysler PT Cruiser among young trendy types, who will likely be just as quick to embrace BMW's 2003 Mini as their new favorite in retro-chic cars. This fickleness is a big reason why New Beetle sales have been sliding since '99--down 2.7 percent year-to-year in calendar 2000 and another 18.9 percent in the first nine months of 2001.

But VW is fashion-wise, and will try to keep buyers interested in the Neo Bug by issuing more special models and options--starting in early '02 with the Turbo S. And if that doesn't cause a new outbreak of Beetlemania, VW will finally unwrap a much-anticipated convertible version at about the same time, perhaps as an early '03. The drop-top will be assembled alongside hatchbacks at VW's Puebla, Mexico plant, but with special body engineering by Karmann of Germany, which built the original Beetle convertibles of old. Unlike the Golf/Jetta-based Cabrio, the new sunshine Bug should do without an ungainly over-the-cockpit hoop. Engine choices will likely be limited to the base 2.0-liter and 150-hp turbo 1.8T.

Further ahead, sources are unsure whether there will be a "New New Beetle." There's certainly less need for one than there was four years ago, as the rest of the lineup is selling well and will soon expand with VW's first SUV and a New Microbus, both of which look like major showroom draws. For now it seems today's New Beetle will likely carry on pretty much as is through model-year 2005, perhaps '06, by which point the rumor mill should have a line on what VW intends.