Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| VISIBILITY | |||
| 05/29/1998 | 2 | ||
| Windshield seals failed several times causing wind to leak. | |||
| VISIBILITY - GLASS, SIDE/REAR | |||
| 04/01/1998 | 1 | 04/01/1998 | |
| The rear window or rear hatch glass is severlydefected such that viewing through the rear view mirror or directly through the glass is substantially impaired. the defect creates a terrible danger on rainy nights when it is impossible to view through the window trafic as it approaches because the glass is deformed in such a way that it blurrs the headlights and or environment lights such as; street lights. you are unable to judge whether the other car is going to pass or will be able to stop in time to prevent a collision. | |||
| VISIBILITY - POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS | |||
| 04/27/2008 | 85000 | 1 | |
| Driver side power window stuck in down position. pressing the window up toggle results in grinding noise and burnt/electrical smell. *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 | |||
| 04/14/2004 | 1 | 09/10/2002 | |
| I own a 1998 vw beetle and two years ago the driver window would not go up or down so i took it to my mechanic and he then notified me of a recall on the windows so he transported it to the nearest vw dealer they repaired it they also scratched the window during the repair and after that repair took place i still had problems with it i called the dealership that supposedly repaired it and left message for gm to call me well i never got a return call and the problem with the window still was there the service manager at this dealership located in colerain twp cincinnati ohio northgate volkswagon was very rude to me and never did the general manager return my call well long story short i had to have this window problem repaired now originally this was covered under a recall issued by volkswagen but the problem still existed and they told me sorry we cannot re-fix this sorry well my feelings are that's crazy if the problem still existed they should fix it or volkswagen should refund my money for having it fixed due to their lack of doing it incorrectly. *jb | |||
| 06/16/2004 | 30000 | 2 | 04/01/1998 |
| The electric window would not move in the consumers vehicle. the manufactured issued a recall for the same problem , however they refused to pay for the repair since the vehicle was originally registered in canada. the (the owner bought the parts and repaired the vehicle. *jb | |||
| 11/13/2003 | 53000 | 1 | |
| The power windows rolled down by themselves without warning. please provide additional information. *jb | |||
| 02/01/2003 | 40000 | 2 | 09/20/1998 |
| 1998 vw beetle, passenger power window switch defective. the driver side broke for the same reason last yr. and was reported to nhtsa on this web site. i have been told by vw part that these break all the time. *nlm | |||
| 10/04/2002 | 2 | 04/01/2098 | |
| Power window regulator failed. passenger side window now stuck in down position. same failure happened on driver's side window one year ago. obviously outside of 24,000 mile warranty. mr | |||
| Power window switch on passenger's side is broken. can't get window down. dealer contacted. *ak | |||
| 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 | |||
| 07/10/2000 | 05/01/1998 | ||
| The vw is not as reliable as the old ones. nosafety defect. *ak | |||
| 11/01/2000 | 3 | 03/01/1998 | |
| Driver's side window switches replaced twice, window regulator failed as well. *ak | |||
| 01/01/1998 | 0 | ||
| There is an electrical problem, such as the headlights and the power windows malfunctioning. *ak | |||
| 01/01/1998 | 0 | ||
| Vehicle has an electrical problem, headlights and power windows do not work. *ak | |||
| 06/19/2000 | 1 | 06/01/2000 | |
| June 19, 2000 - driving at 40 mph and heard a loud noise that sounded like a rock had hit the passenger side. no damage found upon inspection. shortly after, put passenger window down and it sounded bad, power window failed to close. *ak | |||
| 12/20/1999 | 1 | 04/22/1998 | |
| Power window switches failed. *mjs | |||
| 10/27/1999 | 1 | ||
| Driver and passenger side window switch is sticking due to window regulator switch failure. yh | |||
| 4 | 06/01/1998 | ||
| Power window switch not operable. yh | |||
| 01/01/1999 | 1 | 03/01/1998 | |
| Rear left window will not go down. yh | |||
| 1 | 05/01/1998 | ||
| Power window switch failed. *yc | |||
| 11/01/1998 | 1 | 10/01/1998 | |
| Driver side window switch out of order. yh | |||
| Consumer rolled down the passenger's power window for the first time and the inside mechanism for the window broke, causing the window to be inoperative.the cable and regulator for the power window is on backorder. dealer cannot determine when part will be available. *ak | |||
| VISIBILITY - REARVIEW MIRRORS/DEVICES | |||
| 11/01/1998 | 1 | 07/01/1998 | |
| Motor for electrical mirror failed. yh | |||
| VISIBILITY - REARVIEW MIRRORS/DEVICES - EXTERIOR | |||
| 09/27/1999 | |||
| The outside rear view mirrors on the doors of the car are placed exactly in the line of vision and in order to see when turnng a corner the consumer has to put his head down and look under hthe mirror, the consumer feels this design is unsafe. nlm | |||
| 09/18/1998 | 1 | ||
| The pillar on which the driver side mirror is attached hinders the driver's vision severely. yh | |||
| VISIBILITY - WINDSHIELD | |||
| 04/19/2006 | 78000 | 1 | 03/30/2006 |
| Dt*: the contact stated the windshield was replaced and the replacement part distorts the view along the bottom passenger side and the outer driver side. the independent repair shop where the work was performed has been alerted. the windshield was manufactured by sekurit model #43r-004527. updated 05/10/06. *jb | |||
| 08/01/2000 | 2 | ||
| Passenger and driver's window failed. *slc | |||
| 11/01/1998 | 1 | ||
| Window glass malfunctioned. yh | |||
| 08/21/1998 | 1 | ||
| Door glass eteched. | |||
| VISIBILITY - WINDSHIELD WIPER/WASHER | |||
| 06/08/2007 | 84500 | 1 | 08/12/2003 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 1998 volkswagen beetle. when the contact activated the windshield wipers, the wiper arm detached. the dealer was unable to diagnose the cause of failure. the current mileage is 85,000 and failure mileage was 84,500. | |||
| 53000 | 2 | 02/01/2002 | |
| Headlights will go out while in use without warning. when vehicle is in cruise control mode it will either surge or continue to accelerate. dealership stated they need to separate the engine and transmission in order to fix the problem. *ak the windshield wiper works intermittently. the dealership replaced the motor but the problem recurred. consumer noted he has seen a lot of one headlight beetles and that the problem is widespread. *ph *nm | |||
| 05/29/1998 | 1 | ||
| Wipers do not clean windshield properly causing poor visibility. | |||