Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - COOLING SYSTEM - HOSE | |||||
| 010702 | 01/11/2007 | 10021315 | Dtc's p1297 (17705) or p1557 (17965) stored in dtc memory. this may be caused by intake hoses leaking (during boost conditions) due to incorrect torque on clamps or improper placement, worn or torn intake hoses. *kb | 04/03/2007 | |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE | |||||
| TT-21-10-01 | 04/02/2012 | 10051241 | Volkswagen: diagnosis n75 solenoid valve on turbocharger, with fault codes p0299 and p0234, that leads to testing on which vacuum ports that would hold and which ones will not. no models were listed. model years 2006-2013 with 2.0t gaso | 02/25/2013 | |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE - TURBO-CHARGER | |||||
| TT-21-10-01 | 04/02/2012 | 10051241 | Volkswagen: diagnosis n75 solenoid valve on turbocharger, with fault codes p0299 and p0234, that leads to testing on which vacuum ports that would hold and which ones will not. no models were listed. model years 2006-2013 with 2.0t gaso | 02/25/2013 | |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - EXHAUST SYSTEM | |||||
| 2015831 | 08/28/2008 | 10026848 | Volkswagen: exhaust heat shield, replacement guidelines. heat shields are to be inspected after completion o any type of repair to the underbody (exhaust system transmission, etc.), and if damaged, replaced. *pe | 12/29/2008 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | |||
| 09/29/2010 | 136000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 1998 volkswagen beetle. the contact stated that while driving at 55 mph, the temperature light began beeping, suddenly stopped beeping and began flashing red. the contact noticed a thump under the accelerator pedal so she stopped the vehicle on the left side. she had to move to the right but the vehicle would not start so she coasted to the right side of the highway. when the hood was opened, there were flames erupting and the entire vehicle was engulfed in flames. the vehicle was totaled. the fire department was called but no report was filed. the manufacturer had not been notified. the vin was unavailable when the complaint was filed. the current and failure mileages were approximately 136,000-bk | |||
| 09/01/2008 | 77000 | 1 | |
| My car began to over heat in july and i took it to the mechanic. i had to replace the water pump, thermostat and timing belt. @ months pass and again its overheating again now i'm told the head gasket is bad. i fix the head gasket and its overheating. they do not know what is causing it to overheat. $1500 later i'm still in the same boat. *tr | |||
| 08/01/2007 | 50000 | 1000 | 05/01/2001 |
| Since i purchased my beetle in 2001, it has been an ongoing money drain. in 6 yrs. i have replaced the manual transmission twice, had the brakes worked on a number of times, been unable to open the gas door on the car w/ the gas cap latch, had to replace the hood opening latch, had repeated electrical failures, problems w/ front & rear light wiring, had door locks/alarm fail & subsequently had my laptop stolen from the car, the radio has not worked for 1+ year, & it's cover panel is loose & falling back into the dash, the rear-view mirror switches have failed, the power window switches have had to be replaced, the drivers side door fell off (!) of its top hinge when the hinge broke while opening the door normally at a gas station, the air compressor has failed many times, the a/c is currently not working, the drivers side door lock fell out of the handle(!!!!), the catalytic converter has been replaced twice, & the list goes on. currently i have not been driving the car for several wks b/c though only a week or two out of the shop, again it is having transmission problems. i am at my wits end with this car & having recently graduated from college, am not in the greatest position to have to buy a new car. moreover, i am so displeased w/ the car that i would literally feel guilty about trading it in to be sold to some other unsuspecting person. vw should be so ashamed of themselves, & should be reimbursing owners of the 1998 beetle in full for all of the strife & trouble that they have caused. in fact, after writing this & realizing how many problems this car has had, i may try to take legal action - this is totally unacceptable! finally, our local vw dealer is terrible, keeping my car for wks. longer than expected, one time leaving a candy bar stuck to my passenger side seat!!!, and acting like they could care less about the poor quality of their products & labor. *tr | |||
| 08/18/2004 | 1 | ||
| Upon starting the vehicle the side air bag deployed. there was no collision. consumer was injured. one month prior to the air bag deployment, the air bag light illuminated on the dash board. also, the engine light illuminated prior to the side air bag deployment. recall 98v100000 was issued. *ak | |||
| 05/15/2004 | 48000 | 3 | |
| While driving at any speed vehicle vibrated and jerked uncontrollably. consumer was able to maintain control of the vehicle, and drove it to the dealer for inspection, but mechanic was not able to duplicate the problem. two weeks later, vehicle was taken back to the dealer for the same problem, and mechanic determined that one motor mount bolt was missing and one needed to be tightened. *ak *jb | |||
| 06/04/2004 | 5 | ||
| While driving check engine light appeared on dashboard and remained on. then, vehicle stalled. consumer tried to restart vehicle, but was unable to do so. consumer had the vehicle towed to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic could not duplicate the problem. consumer informed the mechanic that problem occurred more than once, and had not been resolved. *ak | |||
| 07/15/2003 | 0 | ||
| I bought a 1998 volkswagen beetle from torrance nissan on 5 january, 2003: since the date of purchase, this car had been overheating off and on. i returned it to the dealership but was informed that it was nothing to worry about.? they went as far as taking it to a vw service rep on 5 and 6 january, 2003 for confirmation. i found out later that vw has no record of ever servicing or even seeing the vw until 1 april, 2003! during the months of february and march, 2003 i still experienced the vehicle overheating and each time i called amir, i would follow up with a visit to torrance nissan. their replies were always the same, they could not find a problem for the overheating? there were many times i told the dealership that i no longer wanted this car and even submitted it in writing on 15 april, 2003. on 1 april, 2003 i took the beetle to volkswagen myself and had it fixed, but the water pump broke again and was replaced on 4-9-03. three days later, the car was getting hot. i told both volkswagen and torrance nissan that i no longer want this car! i have proof of all the repairs performed and still it overheats! on 12 april, 2003 i took the car once more to volkswagen to thoroughly check it out and they called their technical support. a few days later they found a cracked head on the engine block. to top it off, i had a car accident on 28 april, 2003 on my way to work and had to be towed to the long beach honda body shop. later that night the car caught fire and was burned down with 3 other cars in the body shop. before the car caught fire, i was in process of a valid claim under the lemon law & magnuson-moss warranty act with the adam krohn of the consume law center. issues: rental car $1,607.78 (my insurance only covered $600.00, my insurance covered only actual value of $10,788.31; leaving me with a balance of $1,043.00 out-of-pocket. which my insurance informs me make a claim against the body shop for difference on balance and $ 1007.78 of the car rental. | |||
| 1 | |||
| Consumer replaced brake lights/headlights/rear brake pads and rotors/ engine shield and cooling system. *ak *jb | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - COOLING SYSTEM | |||
| 05/01/2001 | 1 | 03/01/1998 | |
| Car overheats routinely. initially in for repair on 1/25/01 when dealer claimed to have replaced the water pump and thermostat. since then, car has overheated on three occasions, and water leakage has been observed. dealer says they can not replicate the issue. driver's side door does not lock and unlock reliably, forcing me to enter and exit car through passenger door. reported to dealer three times (initially 5/31/00). one time dealer lubricated lock; currently they say they can not replicate the issue and will not fix. after water pump repair in 1/01, car exhibited a whining noise and power steering stiffness at low rpms -- likely due to improper workmanship during that repair. dealer claims power steering fluid was low, and has been topped off to alleviate problem. however, i recently had rountine maintenance at another establishment just 4 days prior to taking into shop; during that service, power steering fluids were indicated as ok. oil consumption is excessive. despite repeated reports to vw (initially 5/00), have received no resoluion or investigation into this issue. through research, i have learned that this is a common beetle problem, and some beetle owners are receiving new engines or valve stem repairs to remedy. transmission jerks severly when shifting from reverse to drive. initially reported 9/29/98 at 9596 miles and not addressed by dealer. recurring problems with headlight sealant leakage and water getting into headlight assembly, causing headlights to be unreliable and potential electrical/fire hazard. have researched vw and learned during initial beetle production in puebla, mexico, they experience an abominal 40% defect rate. from research into other consumer issues with 1998 beetles, i am certain that vw passed these defective vehicles on to consumers. please contact me for further details. i have also experienced window reglator failures, dead battery, interior pieces falling apart and other issues. thank you!*ak | |||
| 06/01/1999 | 0 | 03/01/1998 | |
| Plastic clip in cooling system broke, causing all coolant to be discharged all over the engine and engine to overheat. dealer replaced plastic clip with metal clip. vw sent dealer 8 metal clips the week previous. they said other beetles probably had this problem, that's why vw sent them 8 metal clips ahead of time. *ak | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - COOLING SYSTEM - FAN | |||
| 07/16/2009 | 106000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 1998 vw beetle diesel. driver was traveling about 5mph on a clear day when she noticed a squeak in the engine. took to dealer for a new battery and to check squeak in front end and check air conditioner. the technician discovered fuses were burnt and that both fans were melted. after repairs made contact states that squeak still present and fans still not working. technician informed contact that repairs made correctly. contact took vehicle back to dealer and it is still there. failure mileage was 106,000. current mileage 106,075. | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - COOLING SYSTEM - RADIATOR ASSEMBLY | |||
| 05/01/2001 | 1 | 03/01/1998 | |
| Car overheats routinely. initially in for repair on 1/25/01 when dealer claimed to have replaced the water pump and thermostat. since then, car has overheated on three occasions, and water leakage has been observed. dealer says they can not replicate the issue. driver's side door does not lock and unlock reliably, forcing me to enter and exit car through passenger door. reported to dealer three times (initially 5/31/00). one time dealer lubricated lock; currently they say they can not replicate the issue and will not fix. after water pump repair in 1/01, car exhibited a whining noise and power steering stiffness at low rpms -- likely due to improper workmanship during that repair. dealer claims power steering fluid was low, and has been topped off to alleviate problem. however, i recently had rountine maintenance at another establishment just 4 days prior to taking into shop; during that service, power steering fluids were indicated as ok. oil consumption is excessive. despite repeated reports to vw (initially 5/00), have received no resoluion or investigation into this issue. through research, i have learned that this is a common beetle problem, and some beetle owners are receiving new engines or valve stem repairs to remedy. transmission jerks severly when shifting from reverse to drive. initially reported 9/29/98 at 9596 miles and not addressed by dealer. recurring problems with headlight sealant leakage and water getting into headlight assembly, causing headlights to be unreliable and potential electrical/fire hazard. have researched vw and learned during initial beetle production in puebla, mexico, they experience an abominal 40% defect rate. from research into other consumer issues with 1998 beetles, i am certain that vw passed these defective vehicles on to consumers. please contact me for further details. i have also experienced window reglator failures, dead battery, interior pieces falling apart and other issues. thank you!*ak | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||
| 09/15/1999 | 10000 | 3 | |
| When cruise control was engaged vehicle would suddenly accelerate beyond the set speed. the dealer examined the vehicle, and found that the throttle control module was defective. *ak the vehicle's speedometer would not go past 60 mph. the a/c compressor failed which caused a loud squealing noise when turning the a/c on. the mil light illuminated intermittently. the dealer replaced the air hose , air pump and mass air flow sensor. *nm | |||
| 12/12/2003 | 1 | ||
| While driving at an undetermined speed the vehicle stalled. the consumer took the vehicle to a mechanic. please add any additional information. *nlm | |||
| While driving plastic cover that protects engine/ exhaust system and plugs disengaged from under vehicle. please give any further details.*ak | |||
| 05/05/1998 | 1 | 04/22/1998 | |
| Mil light is on in the dash due to faulty secondary air change valve. *mjs | |||
| The pistons in the engine had to be replaced because they were leaking oil. dealer does not know the cause. *ak | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE | |||
| 08/08/2005 | 55000 | 2 | 07/29/2005 |
| I have invested in a 1998 volkswagen beetle i only drove it 3 times it when down on me 6 miles from my house the guy that's working on said my headon motor was crack , then i had ele , problems everyday i call it is something else i pay down to ezway auto 5,000.00 then i pay 383.00 a month i have only had this car for 2 weeks . i ask for my money back they said no .what such i do i am disable on a limit income. *nm | |||
| 1 | |||
| Consumer stated prior to trading in the 1998 volkswagen beetle, the vehicle would stall while decelerating and stopping at traffic lights and the dealer could not resolve the problem.*jb | |||
| 09/13/2002 | 1 | 03/01/2000 | |
| Vehicle caught on fire, possible engine failure, while driving the vehicles brake system failed and the driver had to use the emergency brake to stop vehicle. *mr the head light malfunctioned and the vehicles is flling apart after one month of ownership. the dealer refused to fix it. *yh | |||
| 12/20/1999 | 8 | 12/16/1999 | |
| While driving vehicle stalls out and engine completely shuts down, also engine check light illuminates. *ak *tt | |||
| 06/15/1999 | 10 | 02/01/1999 | |
| This car drinks oil, the engine knocks, vw has done nothing to even aknowledge the problem. the window regulators are defective and one broke completely with the window falling out. the passenger side door can not be opend with a key and has been corode | |||
| 08/05/1999 | 5 | 05/01/1999 | |
| Bad wiring, alarm goes off in the middle og the night, rear hatch light comes on and off, wiring is bad in cold weather, front headlights keep burining out, excessive oil consumption, at about 2000 miles engine will be bone dry, excessive road nosie, radio no longer works, in general the car is in bad shape after two years of use and it seesm to be all factory related type of problems. | |||
| 03/02/2001 | 2 | 07/01/1998 | |
| Coolant loss on two occasions causing engine to blow, no warning until last minute, all fluids and maintenace done and under extended warranty, dealer refused to pay for new engine. *ak | |||
| 07/01/2000 | 1 | 06/01/2000 | |
| Multiple problems with car since purchase. | |||
| 02/03/2000 | 1 | ||
| Possible engine failure and missing oil cap caused fire. yh | |||
| 02/03/2000 | 1 | 08/03/1998 | |
| Possible engine failure caused vehicle fire. yh | |||
| 02/02/2000 | 1 | ||
| Check engine light came on due to evaporation system purge control valve failure. yh | |||
| 08/01/1998 | 0 | 03/01/1998 | |
| Oil consumed at rate of 1qt/1500 miles. no leak or smoking exhaust. vw recommends oil change every 10,000 miles. engine would have no oil by 6,000 miles. could cause engine to seize and possible accident. other new beetle owners i know have told me they have the same problem with their gas 2.0l engine, 5spd new beetle. this situation is very unsafe. *ak | |||
| 05/13/1999 | 4 | 03/01/1998 | |
| Vehicle has high oil consumption, radio/cassette failure which resulted in fire, previous incident radiator failure, computer failure, defective control switches and defectice engine. | |||
| 03/01/1998 | |||
| Losing oil at rate of 1qt every 1,500 miles. vw ordered new engine for me. service said nothing could be done about it, and it is normal. i don't think so. owner's manual recommends oil changes at 10,000 mile intervals. the engine would be bone dry at 6,000 miles. *ak | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE - TURBO-CHARGER | |||
| 05/04/1999 | |||
| While driving at 45 mph, engine turbo went out, causing vehicle to accelerate to 120 mph. consumer applied brakes/emergency brake, and downshifted vehicle, it didn't work. consumer kept pushing on the emergency brake, vehicle started slowing down, and then it accelerated back to high speed. finally, slowed back down and came to a stop. *ak | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - EXHAUST SYSTEM | |||
| 07/15/2003 | 0 | ||
| I bought a 1998 volkswagen beetle from torrance nissan on 5 january, 2003: since the date of purchase, this car had been overheating off and on. i returned it to the dealership but was informed that it was nothing to worry about.? they went as far as taking it to a vw service rep on 5 and 6 january, 2003 for confirmation. i found out later that vw has no record of ever servicing or even seeing the vw until 1 april, 2003! during the months of february and march, 2003 i still experienced the vehicle overheating and each time i called amir, i would follow up with a visit to torrance nissan. their replies were always the same, they could not find a problem for the overheating? there were many times i told the dealership that i no longer wanted this car and even submitted it in writing on 15 april, 2003. on 1 april, 2003 i took the beetle to volkswagen myself and had it fixed, but the water pump broke again and was replaced on 4-9-03. three days later, the car was getting hot. i told both volkswagen and torrance nissan that i no longer want this car! i have proof of all the repairs performed and still it overheats! on 12 april, 2003 i took the car once more to volkswagen to thoroughly check it out and they called their technical support. a few days later they found a cracked head on the engine block. to top it off, i had a car accident on 28 april, 2003 on my way to work and had to be towed to the long beach honda body shop. later that night the car caught fire and was burned down with 3 other cars in the body shop. before the car caught fire, i was in process of a valid claim under the lemon law & magnuson-moss warranty act with the adam krohn of the consume law center. issues: rental car $1,607.78 (my insurance only covered $600.00, my insurance covered only actual value of $10,788.31; leaving me with a balance of $1,043.00 out-of-pocket. which my insurance informs me make a claim against the body shop for difference on balance and $ 1007.78 of the car rental. | |||
| While driving plastic cover that protects engine/ exhaust system and plugs disengaged from under vehicle. please give any further details.*ak | |||