This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
On April 4, 2008, our 2000vw gls Beetle caught fire as it was being driven on the interstate. Car had been hesitating and the check engine light would come on, so we had it serviced at our local VW dealership on March 28. Diagnostics did not find anything wrong. We went ahead as asked for fuel filter and the coolant sensor to be replaced. For the next week, the car continued to hesitate, especially after being driven for more that 20 minutes. We made another appointment with the service department to have it repaired and as my daughter was driving to this appointment she noticed the hesitation again, and about 10 miles later, noticed smoke in the rear view mirror. She pulled off the highway and smoke started pouring inside the car. All of the dashboard lights clicked on, then off. Within 2 minutes, the car was completely engulfed in flames. My daughter was able to get out of the car and was not physically harmed. The car was a total loss.
The A/C quite working while driving, once it was parked it turned cool for a minute or two then went hot again. We took it for A/C check, all was fine for about 5 miles then it went hot again. The next day took it to the dealer, just before we got there the temp gauge came on. The dealer found the water pump, thermostat, and timing belt needed to be replaced due to overheating. The problem is the light didn't come until the damage was already done.
The car overheated and the temperature lights came on. I was able to get the automobile to a service station. The problem was diagnosed as a defective water pump. The mechanic found the blades to the fan lying on the engine. He had to replace the water pump with parts ordered from Volkswagen. The mechanic was astonished at the plastic parts used by Volkswagen. There was only 60,000 miles on this vehicle.
Cooling system failed causing the original overheating. The car has continued to peridodically overheat since. The car was fully repaired from the first incident and has been in for repair many times since. Now there are several failures with the car.
- Budd Lake, NJ, USA
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- North Little Rock, AR, USA