Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STRUCTURE - BODY - BUMPERS | |||||
| 9802 | 03/31/1998 | 600979 | Some vehicles are not produced with front bumper license plate mounts. *yc | 06/16/1998 | |
| STRUCTURE - FRAME AND MEMBERS - UNDERBODY SHIELDS | |||||
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| STRUCTURE | |||
| 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 | |||
| 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 | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY | |||
| 10/19/2001 | 3 | ||
| Consumer stated that the belly pan broke off of the car, dealer installed under body splash shields, and replaced left side piece. *tt | |||
| 05/29/1998 | 1 | ||
| Center console replaced due to blistering. | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - BUMPERS | |||
| 12/12/1998 | 1 | ||
| Splash guard failed. yh | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - DOOR | |||
| Door handle has come off passenger's side door. dealer contacted. *ak | |||
| Rubber and trim around driver side window is coming off. molding also around rear hatchback is coming off. dealer contacted. *ak | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - HOOD - HINGE AND ATTACHMENTS | |||
| 04/22/1998 | 2 | 04/22/1998 | |
| Vehicle had missing items at the time of delivery, hood prop and seat belt holder cover. *mjs | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - TRUNK LID | |||
| 09/13/1999 | 1 | ||
| Pin for rear deck lid broken. yh | |||
| 09/18/1998 | 1 | ||
| Rear trunk solenoid. yh | |||
| 08/21/1998 | 1 | ||
| Rear trim on trunk fell off. | |||
| STRUCTURE - FRAME AND MEMBERS | |||
| 04/14/1999 | 1 | 11/01/1998 | |
| Car damaged by dealer during maintenance. damage is prevalent to vw design and is evident on a number of cars (various owners & various dealers). is this a design flaw? vwoa has refused to investigate or issue a safety/maintenance bulletin to caution service personnel about improver lifting of the car. this has damaged the cars frame. see the following for an example of the damage: http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/downs/5610/beetle.html - thank you. *ak | |||
| STRUCTURE - FRAME AND MEMBERS - UNDERBODY SHIELDS | |||
| 02/18/2000 | 1 | 04/22/1998 | |
| Splash shield hanging down due to fastner failure. *mjs | |||
| 05/29/1998 | 1 | ||
| Splash shield falling down. | |||