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.
We have a 2000 new VW Beetle that we bought new in 2000. It has become a high maintenance vehicle that seems to have a lot of defective parts that has to be replaced. Mostly electrical. Window once fell inside of door. Fog light that has water in them. Today a week after taking the car into VW service to repair another thing for around $200. I had returned to the shop again because with in a day after car was out of the shop a new problem cropped up. The seat belt light was staying on. I took it into the shop to have the seat belt light repaired. It has been in the shop for most of the day. I just received a call from VW service dept. And was told the seat belt denser was the problem. It controls all the seat belt air bags and some other safety things. It is drivable and seat belt may be ok. I was also told it would cost approximate over $700. Our VW Beetle only has 69,000 miles on it and we have spent thousands of dollars on it for repairs. It over heated last summer and was in the shop for a couple of weeks before they could find what was wrong with it..I think this was the air conditioner compressor and sensors. We have replace may\NY sensors it seem S several times. Most of these repairs was no under a recall. This is a very high maintenance car. It has been in the garage many times and cost is starting drain us. I am a retired Iowa police officer on a fixed income..so this car is a strain on our budget. So many problems.. all our vehicles are paid for as well as our home.
We have a 2000 VW Beetle with automatic transmission that has some sort of electrical problem that drains the battery if no one drives the car for a few days. We didn't really notice the problem until our daughters both went off to school and no one was driving the car on a regular basis. We are at the point where aaa and amoco motor club will no longer jump the car. We have purchased several batteries in the last 3-4 years or replaced them under warranty to the point where sears told us today to not come back. The VW dealer told us to go someplace else because they couldn't help us and VW itself has nothing to say other than go to the local dealer who told us to call VW. This car has been a problem from the beginning and we have done everything asked of us, expended funds and an inordinate amount of time to no avail. Today the VW dealer did say that there was a problem with VW's of this vintage because they had problems with cars sitting on the lot and dying. We now need to our daughter to use in Chicago, but we can't risk giving it to her and having her come out to the car late at night after work and find that the car is dead.
Faulty instrument cluster that effects all electronics of the vehicle. Causes door locks and remotes to not work properly. Causes door warning and seat belt warning chimes to not turn off for a minute after either starting the car or turning on the headlights. May also effect engine immobilizer causing the car to shutdown at any time or place.
I have a 2000 VW Beetle. I bought the car used a little more than two years ago. Within a few months of buying the car I started having engine/electrical problems. I took it in........several times, same problem. As I am driving the car it just dies. I can be going 60 mph on the highway or 1 mph pulling to or away from a stop sign. With no warning the car cuts off. It always starts back up, but it will continually die. I lose all power to the car including steering. This is a serious concern and has been for two years and approximately ten times in the VW shop. The car definitely has a problem that no one can seem to fix. I have or my warranty company has repeatedly paid for the same and then some repairs to the vehicle. Some parts (the same part) were replaced within four months of each other. Mostly the shop determines it is the O2 sensors throughout the car (apparently you have several different O2 sensors) or something to do with the turbo (which has also been replaced once or twice now). Those things have been repaired. Some more than once. The car still dies. It gives no warning it just shuts off. Losing power at 70 mph on a crowded interstate can shake one up. I have contacted the dealer, the manufacturer, and everyone in between. No one seems to care or want to help me. Someone please help this car is a death trap!
- Clarksville, TN, USA
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The 2000 New beetle that my husband and I purchased apparently has a defect in the electrical system. We purchased the car in February 2003. At that time there were no problems. The first time I put gas in the car the check engine light came on. My husband contacted a local Volkswagen dealer to see about getting it fixed. He was told that this was a normal problem. If the gas cap wasn't put back on and clicked at least seven times, the light would come on. He was instructed to remove the gas cap, put it back on and turn it until there had been seven clicks. After that, we were supposed to do a cold start to make the light go off. This worked, but we have had to do it several times. The light will come on and go off, even though there are no engine problems. I have had another mechanic look at the car, and was told there were no problems with the engine, so it had to be a problem in the electrical system. After seeing some of the complaints that have been posted, I am worried about the possibility of the car stalling, malfunctioning, or, as in some of the other complaints have shown, the car catching on fire. I feel that the Volkswagen company needs to really examine this issue. We had to have a sensor replaced for the braking system earlier this year that was under recall, and we only got it done because we were at the dealership for routine maintenance. We had not received a recall notice at all. I don't feel that the Volkswagen company is concerned about any of the problems that are going on with this model. It is very distressing to think that I am stuck with a car that isn't worth what I paid for it because of defective equipment. This problem with the check engine is ongoing and I am not pleased with the response I have gotten from the dealer. It hasn't made the problem go away.
Check engine light has been on more often than not since 22,000 miles. On 8/28/01 O2 sensor replaced by dealer (#1). On 1/20/03 dealer (#3) told me that engine wiring harness needed to be replaced for an estimated cost to owner of $1306.25. Car brought to nondealer and repaired for $36, albeit temporarily. Incidentally dealer had completely run down battery, requiring replacement. On 5/8/03 car brought to dealer (#4) for overheating due to a puncture in oil pan, though owner was not aware of hitting anything. Of course engine light had been on and temperature sensor was replaced at that time. Again incidentally temperature light came on within 5 miles of dealership after oil pan had been "fixed". on 1/15/04 owner is not able to pass emissions testing and therefore not able to renew registration of vehicle because check engine light is on. On that day, vacuum leak was repaired but light returned within 24 hours. On 1/21/04 a hose in air injection system was replaced but light returned within 24 hours. Mechanic has now refused to continue working on the car. Do yourself a favor - never even consider for a moment buying a VW!! this is the worst car that I or anyone I've ever known has owned. VW service is atrocious as well. They are incompetent, irresponsible and rude to boot. The fact that VW will not provide a rental car, especially when car is still under warrenty and problems occur that have known technical service bulletins, is absolutely unacceptable, particularly in light of all the problems that these cars pose. See additional problems that owner has experienced under "other".
Within 5,500 miles of purchasing my 2000 beetle I started experiencing sudden major power loss while driving the car. When I took it in they would run a diagnostic and come up with nothing. According to them the problem did not exist. They said to me, they were not going to start throwing parts at it. They refused to take any corrective steps to try and correct this problem because it wasn't showing up on the diagnostic equipment. Now with a total of 12,455 mile on this car ( I don't drive it much because of this problem) VW has recalled their vehicles with the 1.8 liter engines due to an ignition coil problem. I have this same type engine but the recall did not cover my model year. I had to argue and insist that they look at my vehicle. The dealer finally agreed, according to them my coil is fine. They did not replace it and they still refuse to take any corrective action to start to fix this problem. I can not sell my car because I will be held responsible for any accident created by this pre-existing problem, and if I disclose this problem to a perspective buyer they will not buy it. If I was able to afford to trade it in, let's say, on a new VW, the dealer would not give me much on the trade in ( knowing it has this problem) and then they would have to turn around and finally fix it. They couldn't resell it otherwise. This is a major potential accident problem waiting to happen. Update: The dealer called me. They finally did something. They replaced the "fuel pump relay". they would not cover it under the original warranty so now I have a big repair bill to deal with. That is another issue I will have to deal with separately. I hope this will correct my problem, time will tell. I will still file this complaint for the record (hoping the replacement part works). If the problem continues I will follow up with another complaint.
Ongoing electrical problems/false positives for the check engine light. Gel-like substance in the oil. Frequent replacement of interior/exterior lights. Nlm
Vehicle: 2000 Volkswagen new Beetle. Instrument cluster failed resulting in a lack of ability to properly gauge speed. Also, lost the ability to determine whether fuel level was low. VW dealer's service department advised the cluster needed replacement. The vehicle is 3 years and 1 month old. The warranty period was 24 months or 24,000 miles. The vehicle has 16,000 miles. I contacted VW "customer advocate" (their name, not mine) department and requested their help. I referenced service bulletin number 0103; "some vehicles may experience instrument cluster nonfunctional". after review the "advocate" said they would not do anything in regards to 'goodwill' based on age (1 year out of warranty) and mileage. When I asked about their application of mileage (the vehicle only has 16,000 while warranty is 24,000) the advocate restated the reason for decline, but without mileage. Further, the advocate stated that since I was not the original owner, they would not apply goodwill. When I asked what the basis was for ownership discrimination, she indicated the lack of service records. When I, again, indicated that I purchased the vehicle from the original owner three months ago and could provide the prior service records, she said basically "too bad", I could send them a copy, but upon review VW customer advocate would not likely revise their decision.
My 2000 Volkswagen New beetle glx caught fire fifteen minutes after I parked it in my garage, causing the destruction of the garage, the beetle, and two other cars.
Consumer states the headlights will burn out without warning while driving. Has happened twice over last 2 months. Consumer has to replace entire headlight unit.
Due to electrical system problems power windows and door locks intermittently lose operation. Emergency warning lights come on, and alarms intermittently sound off. Dealer is having a hard time correcting the problem because cannot duplicate it.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Cedar Rapids, IA, USA