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.
I was driving with my child sitting in the passenger seat and we had the heated seats turned on the setting of 2. After a few minutes she yelled out -??My butt is on fire!-?? She sat up off the seat to reveal a large black charred burnt hole in the leather seat!
The contact owns a 2008 Volkswagen Beetle. The contact stated that while at a red light, sparks began to emit from the passenger side glove box without warning. The contact immediately shut off the engine and all the occupants evacuated the vehicle. The motorist behind her witnessed what had happened and assisted with unhooking the battery cable as a small fire began to erupt on the passenger side floor mats. The motorist's wife was able to retrieve a fire extinguisher from a person's home and extinguish the fire. The authorities were not called to the scene. No injuries were reported and a police report was not filed. Due to the failure, the vehicle was initially towed to an independent mechanic who could not repair the vehicle and recommended the vehicle be towed to a dealer; the vehicle was then towed to her home. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000.
When driving her 2008 VW Beetle at approximately 15 mph during a light rainfall, my daughter hit a bump in the road (not a huge significant bump, just a bump) the entire driver's side headlight assembly headlamp/bucket and all came detached from the vehicle completely. They electrical assembly became unplugged and the entire unit came out of the cylindrical compartment that houses the headlight. The entire housing unit, including the bulb and all related parts came out and went crashing onto the pavement where it was struck by a car behind me and smashed into pieces all down the road. This is a major safety issue. It was a danger to both my child and the vehicle behind her and any pedestrians nearby. In fl the law requires you drive with headlights on in the rain, so although it was daytime, she was forced to drive illegally without her headlight causing her to be less visible to other drivers. The car is unusable in the evening or early morning now until we get it fixed. Clearly, after reading the many complaints, you tube videos on how to "fix" the loose electrical problem, and many VW bug drivers' horror stories of losing sometimes just the electrical connection (bad enough on its own), but also in some cases, like my daughter's, the entire headlight and it's housing unit came broke away from the vehicle just from hitting a bump in the road. Unacceptable.
The hood doesn't fit. Engine put together tape. Air condition system taped together. And and console lights on. Won't hold charge. Top made of plaster board. Miniature battery was installed. Needed jump if stopped rear breaks needed whole replaced. Needs radiator. Interior handles fell off. Key is not made for this car. My mechanic told me to junk
Headlight assembly electrical connection has a design flaw that allows the rear pin connector to slightly pull-away and loosen from the headlamp bucket resulting in intermittant headlight failure, especially in colder weather or going over a bump in the road. This has happened to my vehicle numerous times during the past several years, each time thinking the bulbs burned-out but in actuality, it is the wiring harness. The VW dealer says the entire assembly must be replaced, but it the too-short chassis wiring harness that is the issue. This sudden loss of headlight illumination presents a clear & present danger when traveling at night and reasonably must be addresses as soon as possible.
- Colquitt, GA, USA
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This car has had many electrical issues. The first time it was in the dealership due to lights, turning signals not working. The second time about 2 years later I lost all electrical controls. No lights, wipers, ac fan, ac adapter, radio, turn signals. Now just 5 months later I am noticing headlight issues. I have taken it back to the VW of ocala, they claim there is no electrical issue that I just need bulb replacement. After driving over an hour to get my car, I get in to find my windows are no longer working now.
The contact owns a 2008 Volkswagen Beetle. While the vehicle was idling at a stop sign, the driver's side air bag spontaneously deployed without warning or impact. The contact stated that smoke emerged from the center console and the vehicle caught fire. The details of how the fire was extinguished were not provided. There were no injuries and a police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified, opened case number: 180380670, and requested to inspect the vehicle. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.
Headlight assembly electrical connection has a design flaw that allows the rear pin connector to slightly pull-away and loosen from the headlamp bucket resulting in intermittant headlight failure, especially in colder weather or going over a bump in the road. This has happened to my vehicle numerous times during the past several years, each time thinking the bulbs burned-out but in actuality, it is the wiring harness. The VW dealer says the entire assembly must be replaced, but it the too-short chassis wiring harness that is the issue. This sudden loss of headlight illumination presents a clear & present danger when traveling at night and reasonably must be addresses as soon as possible. According to the VW online forums, this is a known issue that VW has ignored for years.
The automatic window motor and regulator went bad on rear passenger side when the car was stationary. VW knows about the issue but sells the cars anyway without warning, and then charges between $800 and $900 for the required repair kit. In order to repair the window, a mechanic must remove the entire back seat of the car. This takes more than four hours. Total cost to repair is more than $1200 per window. VW profits through selling a defective part which can only be repaired by an expensive repair kit - the price of which is determined by VW. All mechanics contacted (12) in the cincinnati area are aware of this VW window situation, and the VW owners forums online are full of the exact same complaint. VW dealers also have to get the part from VW, and charge the same thing. New buyers like me do not budget for this kind of repair, but have no option other than to pay VW their price.
On my 2008 VW Beetle convertible the rear drivers side window regulator/motor made a loud pop when rolling up the window (vehicle was in motion travling at about 20mph in my neighborhood) and is now broken. It will not roll up or down, the car only has 38,000 miles on it & is always garage kept. This is not the only electrical issue I've had with the windows. When pressing the 'all windows' button (whether up or down) the headlights will go dim and then go back to normal when you let off the button. This will happen while the car is in motion at any speed or parked. The headlights dimming from the 'all windows' button is dangerous because of the loss of visibility, and it's confusing to other drivers thinking that you are flashing them. Volkswagen should be held accountable for these defects that are causing safety issues. I believe VW is fully aware of both of these quality issues and even has 'technical service bulletins' on both. A recall needs be done!
Rear driver's side window stuck on convertible Beetle, would not roll up or down. Had window regulator replaced--$400 two months later, rear driver's side window again stuck. Made appointment to have it looked at. Day before appointment driver's side window stuck in open position. Would not roll up. Informed that I need new regulator for that window too, another $400. Back window just needed to be adjusted. Seems like this is a flaw in design. When will it be recalled and flaw fixed? I live up North. So glad this didn't happen in subzero weather!
Love my VW Beetle convertible but this is the 4th window that has stopped working and with the prices to fix them well over 300 I have about had enough. After looking on the internet this seems to be a common problem that has been happening for awhile. Is there a recall on these window regulators? if not there should be!!!
The contact owns a 2008 Volkswagen Beetle. The contact stated that while having the vehicle examined by an authorized dealer, he was informed that the starter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. A few months later, the contact attempted to start the vehicle and the key would not turn in the ignition. The vehicle was not taken to have the failure diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 42,000.
Faulty ignition coils, car will stall during driving in the middle of the road. When the weather is hot and after one -two hours driving stop and go the engine will stall or misfire. VW dealer identifies the problems by misfire of coil but replaces only one coil. The problem comes back within 2 month with different coil. VW should replace all 5 coils in order to avoid damage or accidents.
Sensor lights come on intermittently. Not consistent and go days between repeat issue. ABS/brake/esp: Comes on and when car is restart will not duplicate. Dealer replaced module and it came on again. Seat belt alarm: Will alarm even when seat belt is fastened. Airbag sensor: Came on then, when car was restart it would not duplicate. Happened 3 time in a week. Headlights replaced: Both replaced twice in one year. Locks: Will lock/unlock while driving when they already had been locked.
I currently own a 2008 VW Beetle and it's an automatic. When first getting the car I could tell the transmission seemed not smooth at all. When driving through an intersection from a red light my car had trouble when pressing the gas. It had a pause. Then when going down the high way when I was changing lanes to go infront of someone I pressed the gas and my car jumps. This happens all the time. Not something that happens once and a while. It happens every time I drive my car. The dealership replaced the transmission at on 5,000 but the problem still happens! then going down the road in the pouring rain my windshield wipers stopped working. They had to replace the motor. When I went through a drive through I rolled down my window and it made a horrible grinding noise that I thought the window was going to shatter. They had to replace the window motor. Then the same exact thing happened to the passenger side front and back window. Both my head lights keep going through $20 bulbs. They had to replace the fuses. On my convertible top the side covers stopped going in and out. They had to replace those. Then on my way to work all the lights for the what gear you were in blinking. Which caused me to have the car towed because it was running in emergency transmission mode. They had to replace something with that. Right after that was replaced going down the road my car made a grinding noise so I turned around to take it back and it was something with the fuel intake that they had to replace. The dash board lights go on and off. The dealership said they could not find anything wrong with that.
I purchased a 2008 new Beetle in 2008, trading in a 2005 new Beetle convertible model. I have also previously owned a 2000 model. After about two months of ownership with the 2008 new Beetle, I began experiencing problems with the key not being able to turn in the starter. I found I had to use a great deal of force and over the course of the next four months broke two keys off in the ignition. In March 2009, I was down to my last key when the starter became stripped, with the key spinning and not triggering the starter at all. At this point, the car was towed to the VW dealer, which ordered a replacement starter. I waited 17 days for the repair to be completed because, I was told, there were hundreds of backorders nationally for this starter part. When I received the car back with the new part, I immediately began experiencing the same problem. I also noted the same problem in two loaner cars (2009 models of the VW new Beetle) provided by my dealer. I never experienced this problem with my 2000 or 2005 models. I called to report this to the dealer and was told to call VW. I just called VW and they advised to take the car back for possible replacement of the part again. I told VW I would do so, but that I lack confidence that yet another replacement will solve the problem as I suspect there has been a change of design affecting the part. I asked VW if they had knowledge of a problem and was told they don't track warranty repairs for possible part problems, so I decided to file a complaint here.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Uniontown, OH, USA