Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AIR BAGS - FRONTAL - SENSOR/CONTROL MODULE | ||||||
| PE08012 | VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INC | 02/15/2008 | 04/24/2008 | FRONT AIR BAG CRASH SENSOR FAILURE | 08V178000 | |
| Certain subject vehicles, model year (my) 2003 convertible and my 2004 sedan and convertible vehicles are equipped with an advanced dual-stage air bag system.the air bag crash sensors (#1f0 909 606) contain a solder joint on the circuit board that may crack under certain high temperature conditions.if this occurs, the air bag indicator light will illuminate and the control module will enable a fallback algorithm that will ensure that the front air bag always deploys in a frontal crash in which the vehicle's deceleration is high enough to activate the frontal air bags.however, in low-severity frontal impacts, the front air bags may deploy more forcefully than designed, increasing the possibility of injury to out-of-position front seat occupants.volkswagen will inspect for the defective crash sensor and replace with an updated design.in addition, 16,177 early-my 2005 new beetle sedan and convertible vehicles (built through oct 31, 2004) are also included in the recall campaign.this preliminary evaluation is closed (see recall 08v-178) | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIR BAGS | |||
| 12/27/2012 | 80000 | ||
| Car wouldnt excell while driving suddenly 1 mile from town suddenly traffic slowed from snow storm in town,the vehicle smell was funny black smoked slowly leaked inside the car windows up heard a misfire engine light went on blinked then i heard bloud blast like i thought it was a plow trucks miffler loudness realised ir was my vehicle stopped immediately less 1/3 mile at bank. shutt off motor m now seeing smoke slowly entered in the middle of the 2 front seatsand console. feeling hot under belly of floors. orange glow through electrical outlet in back of console appeared to be hotwith plastic casing in and under floors hot sizzling crackling under center casing/i try to call 911 misused the cell wouldnt operate effectively flagged down a man n woman at the corner light of bank they declined to help so i went to car put snow on compartment and wet it down and aired out smoke with passenger door open .iwent in bank for assistance .this vehicle was recalled for safety issues by manufacturer in the past .were said to be corrected by repairman also said seatbelt harness was a issue heated seats were a issue and airbags tranny also recalled for electrical issues and or transmission and air bags on some 2004 vw veicle beatles recalls so far occured to this vw were airbag sensors/ also the seatbelt harness cases were breaking repeartedly once purchased due to putting the seats up and bak to get in the vehicle. now this mysteriouse fire and headlamp issue.. | |||
| 05/10/2011 | |||
| I recently purchased a vw beetle in may of 2010, for my birthday from hollywood auto brokers in los angeles, ca. the car ran smooth for about a course of five to six months, i had to return to the dealership early on because my head lights were out when i first bought the car. as i continued to drive the car, a jerking and extremely weird deceleration of the car would begin, but it would pop back to normal after a while, maybe three to ten seconds. this had gone on and has been going on since five months after i brought it. i finally made it back into the dealership and he rode with me on a test drive around the corner and of course it didn't repeat the previous show of defects. he assured me the car is just being broken in. a year goes by and i decided i want to trade in my car for another car, so i head to nissan. i test drive a car and love it and then go in for the paper work. the guy runs my vin to see my car value and come backs and tell me my car title is salvaged. to my disbelief and disgust, i immediately called my financial company, al financial of glendale, ca that i am leasing the car from. they give me the run around and assure me that the title is clean and not a salvage. i continue on my investigation and come to a carfax website to get the real facts on my defected vehicle. the information reveals that not only is the title salvage but it had bodily damage and had been totaled out from the insurance company from it's previous owner. the car had been brought back from mexico and registered in the states again as a new car i believe. i would really love to get to the bottom of this situation asap and get some closure on a recurring problem that is messing with my income as i am a travel nurse for hospice patients. recently the water pump has gone out and i'm not sure yet if i need to replace the head gaskets. i hope i can hear an response in a good enough amount of time so i can work out an reimberursement of some kind with payment on either behalf. | |||
| 12/02/2009 | 13000 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2004 volkswagen beetle. whenever he started his vehicle the air bag warning light comes on and off and then remains illuminated. the dealer informed the contact that there were no related recalls and he would be responsible for the repair cost. the air bag light has been on for a month and a half. the failure mileage was 13,000. | |||
| 08/15/2009 | 75000 | 1 | |
| 2004 volkswagen beetle convertible turbo...2.0 liter engine...the transmission jerks when shifting down or up....feels like someone has rearened it in the back....have taken it to dealership and couple of other transmission places...they said they couldn't find any thing wrong while it was still under warranty...now that it has 94000 miles and is out of warranty they decide it needs a new transmission.....we have had it serviced just like we should...it doesn't matter...we don't have 6000.00 to get it fixed...something should be done...i've talked with many, many volkswagen owners experiencing the same problem..how many does it take before you guys do a recall? *tr | |||
| 03/15/2009 | 13000 | 1 | |
| The airbag warning light is on without apparent reasons. no collision or bumps. *tr | |||
| 05/05/2005 | 8000 | 10 | |
| The airbag light, among other things, in our 2004 new beetle has come on approximately 10 times in three years. each time, the vehicle was taken back to the dealer and supposedly fixed, but without fail, the light came back on each time. the seatbelt buckle was changed, connections were secured, they said it was shorted (guided fault findings, bumper cover removed, seat removed), and others. i have all copies of service records. after all these service visits, the airbag light is still on and we are very concerned that the airbag system is not working correctly and could cause serious damage and may not deploy correctly during an accident. i heard there was an investigation being conduct on the 2004 new beetles and wanted to let you know of our experience. *tr crash sensor.pco | |||
| AIR BAGS - FRONTAL | |||
| 08/28/2008 | 36000 | 1 | |
| Airbag light came on dash in late july. vw dealer contacted to see if safety hazard, told no. received recall letter from vw one month later for airbag sensor. called dealer to see if urgent safety matter. told no, come in at our leisure. one week later, airbag deployed while driving on the highway in rush hour traffic when hit minor bump in the road. *tr | |||
| 05/22/2008 | 24600 | ||
| Air bag sensor on my 2004 vw beetle diagnosed as defective by vw dealer. defect identified only 20 days past the expiration of new car warranty. dealer and vw - america declined to repair vehicle under warranty. i advised vw america that the nhtsa website informs that a safety recall for this issue begins on 7/31/08. they still refused to offset or partially offset the cost of the repair. *tr | |||
| AIR BAGS - FRONTAL - SENSOR/CONTROL MODULE | |||
| 01/29/2010 | 1 | ||
| My 2004 vw beetle showed an air bag warning light. i took it to vw under a recall and they fixed the problem for free. 3 months later the light came on again. vw said the car had a bad drivers seat belt buckle. cost would be $ 331.07 plus tax. i still have the air bag warning light on. it stays on constantly. i was under the impression that a bad seat belt was a safety issue and the responsibility of the car company. *tr | |||
| 01/01/2008 | 33000 | 1 | 01/01/2008 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2004 volkswagen beetle. ever since the vehicle was purchased, it has been taken to the dealer several times for the air bag indicator illuminating. the dealer replaced the frontal air bag crash sensor and reprogrammed the air bag system; however, the failure was not corrected. the dealer stated that if the indicator illuminated again, the air bag module will need to be replaced. the vehicle has not been repaired. the manufacturer stated that the vin was not included in nhtsa campaign id numbers 08v178000 (air bags: frontal: sensor/control module or recall) and 03v3560000 (air bags). the failure mileage was 33,000 and current mileage was 36,000. updated 06/23/09. *lj a diagnostic indicated failure of the drier seat buckle which had to be replaced. updated 06/24/09.*jb | |||
| 11/07/2007 | 54115 | 7 | 01/02/2004 |
| Purchased the car new on jan 2, 2004. the air bag light 1st came on in sept 2004 and was repaired. since that point, the air bag light has illuminated nearly every 6 months, and repaired. every, time, the car has been in the shop, it has been a crash sensor or seat module replacement. the car has been at vw seven times for this problem. in november 2007, our car was at 54,000 miles, the warranty had expired at 50,000 miles, the light once again illuminated. after a protracted battle with the dealer and vw regional, they agreed to replace the control module. and again, we were told by the dealer, this should do it. just this past week, the air bag light has illuminated. only this time, the dealer closed their dealership at the start of the year and we're staring at a $1200 repair bill. certainly, to drive around without an air bag isn't exactly a smart thing to do, but i don't have a lot of confidence this won't come back on 6 months after the repair, based on the history above. in my eyes, there is a systemic defect in the systems that control the air bag. *tr crash sensor.*pco | |||
| 01/13/2008 | 22925 | 2 | 08/13/2003 |
| Our air bag light came on. upon taking the vehicle to the dealership it was discovered that the front crash sensors were not operational. there was no damage to either sensor. they both had just failed. there is a concern that the bags would not have deployed in an accident. the vehicle has only 22,925 original miles. it seems odd that both sensors would fail at the same time. *tr srs.pco | |||
| 08/16/2007 | 41000 | 11 | 02/13/2004 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2004 volkswagen beetle. the contact stated that the air bag warning light has remained illuminated since the vehicle was purchased. the contact has taken the vehicle to the dealer several times. repairs were made, but the failure still persists. the contact called the manufacturer and they advised her to schedule an appointment with the dealer to have the vehicle diagnosed. the manufacturer also informed her to call them back after the diagnosis was performed. the contact has all of the repair orders for each time the vehicle was serviced. the current and failure mileages were 41,000. | |||
| 07/10/2006 | 55000 | 2 | 03/02/2004 |
| Both frontal crash sensors failed in a six month period. several months later, one of the replaced sensors failed. there was no accident involved. the diagnosis was alerted by air bag light indicating problem. *ak srs.pco | |||
| 04/03/2006 | 55000 | 2 | 03/10/2004 |
| I have two crash sensors that have failed within 6 months on my 2004 vw beetle. this a major safety device that vw us has failed to acknowledge that is a manufactue defect. *jb srs.pco | |||