Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIR BAGS | |||
| 06/15/2009 | 135000 | 1 | |
| 2000 volkswagen new beetle recently my 2000 volkswagen new beetle had the airbag light come on. i scoured the internet to find possible causes and to my amazement, many people suffer from the same problem. it appears that the sensors and wire harnesses in the new beetles frequently fail triggering the airbag light to come on. i was told by an service tech. that when the airbag light is on, the airbags become deactivated, which seems to pose an extremely huge safety concern, seeing as the new beetle suffers many defects regarding the airbags. thankfully, the problem in mine is the driver side airbag wire harness located under the driver seat. the wire length is not sufficient enough to with stand a lot of seat movement. moving the seats forward too many times can actually cause these wires to break in half, which happened in my case, deactivating all the airbags and bringing up an error in the system. the dealership doesn't make the matter any better, by saying that i will have to pay $600.00 to replace not only the wire harness, but the side airbag as it comes as a complete package and the harness is not sold separately. in this economy, i cannot afford to replace an entire perfectly good airbag for a simple wire, so i am stuck having to drive around knowing that my airbags will not deploy if i get into an accident or possibly deploy prematurely without any cause. i believe that this issue should be looked at, since it not only affects the 2000 model, but all models up to 2006. volkswagen should be held accountable for selling a product designed for occupant safety, that fails before the rest of the vehicle. *tr | |||
| 09/08/2006 | 1 | ||
| I turn on my car and suddenly the airbag sensor turn on without reason. *jb | |||
| 01/03/2002 | 30000 | 11 | |
| Airbag system defective, requiring repairs and replacements, including airbag replacements, 11 different times. since system does not work and airbags do not deploy when sensors are on, this is clearly a safety issue. *ak | |||
| 11/06/2006 | 35500 | 2 | 02/14/2000 |
| Air bag dashboard light lit at 24,635 miles. repair made by dealer 2/9/05 for $308 labor and $44.76 part (small cable under driver's seat). text on dealer work order: found the d/s airbag assm. to have a fault in the connector of harness. removed seat assm and replaced harness. seat airbag codes. t/drive to confirm repair. at 35,500 air bag dashboard light has lit again. *nm | |||
| 07/10/2001 | 4 | ||
| 2000 vw beetle airbag light. my wife's 2000 beetle's air bag light keeps coming on. it has been back to vw service four times to correct the problem. it started well before the warranty ran out. each time they replace either the driver seat wiring harness or driver seat airbag or both. one time they replaced the controller. it has happened again and again and most recently they replaced the airbag and wiring harness for the fourth time. this took care of the problem for a week and then again the light comes on. vw has been good to cover these repairs even though the car is now out of warranty but as we see it, the problem has never really been fixed correctly in the first place so it's only right that they keep spending their dollar to get it right. it has been explained to us by vw service that if the light is on, the airbags system will not function in a crash and this causes us great concern. the vw service manager contacted vwoa tech support and they suggested bypassing a wiring connector by running a wire from the controller to the airbag. (sounds like they are grasping at straws). problem is they want us to pay the $550 to perform this. vwoa has refused to pay for this procedure. www.newbeetle.org is littered with air bag problems so it is not just our car that this affects. please look into these problems and make vw accountable for their air bag systems. sooner or later someone is going to be killed by their airbag failing to inflate. thank you. *nm | |||
| 03/13/2000 | 7 | 03/01/2000 | |
| Consumer states vehicle has been in the shop 7 times for repairs, each time he is assured that the car is fixed. vw customer services position is that if it is currently fixed they have no further obligation. the car was back 4 times under its 24,000 mile warrenty but each time consumer was assured that the problem was found and necessary repairs were made, all seven times the car was taken in for service it was because the air bag light was on. *ak | |||
| 04/11/2001 | 1 | 02/01/2001 | |
| Engine would not start, after several attempts it started but check engine & air bag light was on. check engine light went off after 23 miles, but air bag light stayed on until instrument cluster was replaced by dealer. *ak | |||
| AIR BAGS - FRONTAL | |||
| 07/13/2010 | 46000 | ||
| Safety restraint system failure has occurred in this 2000 volkswagen new beetle multiple times. volkswagen responded by replacing the wiring harness under the driver's seat the first time that the failure occurred but refused to actually correct the engineering issue causing the failure to return. the wiring harness is too short under the seat and feeding to the switch in the seat belt of the driver. the car is now out of warranty and failed yet again. if you will notice, there are many issues with the 2000 new beetle but only 4 recalls of third party lighting products and no actual volkswagen recalls. volkswagen is being allowed to get away with abuse to the consumer. | |||
| 11/01/2009 | 49000 | 1 | |
| For the fifth time in 10 years, the airbag warning light has come on in my 2000 volkswagen new beetle (less than 50,000 miles and never in a crash). according to manufacturer when the airbag warning light is on the airbags are deactivated providing no protection in the event of a crash. dealer has twice previously replaced driver side airbag harness and recommends doing so again. *tr | |||
| 11/21/2008 | 40800 | 1 | |
| Problem: chronic failure of driver's air bag circuit purchased february 2000. since july 2004 we have had repeated (eight) repairs done in response to the airbag light illuminating continuously, indicating the air bag circuit is faulty and the air bag won't fire should an accident occur. despite repeated repairs, twice completely replacing the wiring harness, and once replacing the airbag itself, the airbag light has illuminated again this week and a ninth repair is needed. all repairs have been done and documented by our vw dealer. to date repair costs exceed $1500. the problem continues to occur. *tr | |||
| 11/06/2007 | 1 | 11/14/2006 | |
| On the 2000 beetle, you can telescope the driver steering column. well, the airbag spring coil uncoiled on my car when i telescoped the column and the only way i know this is because the airbag light came on. the dealer and other mechanics are saying the whole airbag needs to be replaced which will cost anywhere from $600 to $800. now, i don?t feel as if this is a problem i should have to pay for. the vehicle was designed to have the steering column telescope so why would the coil uncoil when i use the feature? also, they have told me that the airbag will not work if something where to happen. is this something vw should look into and replace for me free of charge? *tr | |||
| 04/24/2007 | 2 | ||
| While driving on a highway at 65 miles per hour, i attempted to turn the cruise control off. it did not go off. then i applied the brakes and the brake pedal went all the way to the floor with no tension. there was no braking action at all. i drove along some grassy areas on the side of the highway to slow the car, turned off the ignition because the car was no decelerating, and hit a tree at about 50 mph. the airbags did not go off. the car was totalled. the car was sold to a junk yard because the repair costs were too high and because the repair facility said they could not determine why the cruise control and brakes failed. | |||
| 09/14/2005 | 71500 | 1 | 11/01/2001 |
| Air bag fault light on. *nm | |||
| AIR BAGS - FRONTAL - DRIVER SIDE INFLATOR MODULE | |||
| 09/23/2003 | 10/20/2001 | ||
| My 2000 vw beetle has recently had it's airbag safety light come on. i took it to bill black vw dealership in greensboro nc. they say it's a comon problem that is not covered under any factory defect or warranty. according to the service manager the airbag may not deploy if i was to be involved in an accident. the service manager also said it's connected to the seatbelt. i thought seatbelts and airbags were government mandates on all vehicales. should this not be covered under a vw recall? they want $400.00 to change out the wiring harness for the seatbelt/airbag. that's not acceptable. not for an airbag or seatbelt safetly equipment. the vehicle has never been involved in an accident, or had the airbag deployed. the dealership could not explain to me a mechanical reason why this harness could wear out (which is the exact words they used). as stated they say the defect is also connected to the seatbelt, and that excessive wear or strain of the seatbelt may be the cause. hello? the law in my state requires that i wear a seatbelt. i weigh 105 lbs, and if that can cause excessive wear or strain then the majority of all drivers will not be safe driving a vw. i am actually playing russion roulet every time i step into my car. can someone direct me on how to get help on this issue. sincerely, tracey mccall | |||
| AIR BAGS - FRONTAL - SENSOR/CONTROL MODULE | |||
| 06/13/2007 | 29000 | 1 | 05/16/2000 |
| I got in my car one day and the air bag light was on for no apparent reason. no consequences other than it is probably the sensor rather than the air bag that is damaged. it has to be repaired or replaced. not sure if that means the sensor or the air bag as well to be on the safe side. i am driving with the light on. *tr | |||
| 07/03/2007 | 10 | 04/22/2003 | |
| Air bag fault lights has been coming on and going off for over a year,,, everytime i get time to go by and get it fixed, it goes off, hooked the computer up and it shows no fault... now it is on all the time, i was told that it needs to be repaired but at great expense to me,,, however it was not really hurting anything.. i was told that it does not affect the air bag deploying, but i wonder... the only way to find out is have an accident and i do not want to do that, so we , the owners are at the mercy of the vw corporation. *jb | |||
| 04/22/2003 | 17500 | 1 | |
| The air bag warning light came on and stayed on. the dealership indicated the instrument cluster was bad and needed to be replaced.*jb | |||
| AIR BAGS - SIDE/WINDOW | |||
| 10/13/2008 | 111370 | 1 | |
| Airbag system malfunction: airbag (srs) system warning light illuminated in the instrumental panel, originally on 9/24/2001. vw dealer stated driver's seat side airbag needed replacement due to an internal cause and was replaced on 10/2/2001 at 15365 miles. airbag light illuminated again and system was serviced on 4/8/2003 where vw dealer repaired connection under driver's seat at 36405 miles. recently, airbag light illuminated again and was serviced on 10/13/2008. the driver's seat was removed and dealer repaired connection to driver's seat side airbag at 111370 miles. if this problem were not repaired, the driver's seat side airbag would not have deployed in the event of a side collision. vw dealer stated that numerous vw new beetles have had air bag connection repairs for the driver's seat side airbag. vw dealer stated they put an extension on the connecting wire and this problem shouldn't occur again. again, vw dealer stated the air bag system connection under the driver's side front seat appears to be a recurring problem. this concerns me because there is a recurring connection problem with the airbag system, which diminishes the air bag system?s safety and reliability during a collision. vw should recall and repair new beetles with this airbag connection problem so that the airbag system will no longer malfunction due to a faulty wire connection. my local vw dealer stated the problem was remedied with a new ?extension? part and the problem should no longer occur. if i had three malfunctions with my vehicle?s airbag system and my local dealer recognized this is a problem in my area, this may be a widespread, recurring problem among new beetles. vw new beetle owners should be officially notified of this potential safety problem with the airbag system so that the proper repair can be made to the airbag system to ensure the safety of the driver in the event of a side collision. *tr | |||
| 12/04/1999 | 1 | 08/10/2000 | |
| No deployment of both drivers and passenger side impact air bags possible resulted in the death of the driver robert mcgary. nlm | |||