Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIR BAGS | |||
| 12/07/2010 | 86000 | ||
| The state of virginia requires vehicle inspections, one item requires that dash waring lights for seat belt and airbags operate correctly. our 2001 vw beetle has an airbag warniing light that would not go out. the vw dealer charged $100 to diagnose the fact that the driver's seat belt (micro chip) was the culprit and for another $500 the problem could be corrected. feeling this dealer was trying to rip me off i sarched the internet for information on this problem. there are literally thousands of comments from owners of vw cars with trhe same complaint. i contacted volkswagen of america, customer care advocate, for information on this safety item and quieried why the excessive charge from their dealers. a simple reply was returned saying they did not see a need for a recall to correct a recurring problem. the problem is that if the sensor does not believe the seat belt is fastened, the airbag will not deploy in a crash. i wish to add my voice to the many complaints i found in the nhtsa web site regarding volkswagen of america's disregard for the lives of their customers, so their dealers can make money from a repeated correction to this problem. at your request i will provide facts, documents, and evidence concerning my complaint. | |||
| 06/08/2010 | 115000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2001 volkswagen new bettle. while driving at an unknown speed the vehicle was involved in a head on crash in which the passenger side air bag deployed but the drivers side air bag did not deploy. the vehicle was destroyed. a police report was filed and the driver was injured. the vehicle was towed to the contacts home and has not been examined for cause of failure. the failure and current mileages were 115,000. sm. | |||
| 11/19/2009 | 46500 | 4 | |
| I purchased a 2001 vw beetle new and i have had to take it to the shop 4 times due to seat belt warning light. this seems to be an on-going problem even after vw made a recall and supposedly fix the seat belt problem. this very first time this happened the car had less 1500 miles on it. *tr | |||
| 03/06/2009 | 70423 | 1 | |
| The checkered flag vabeach va dealership actually told me my check engine light was on because of a malfunction of an airbag fuse. if this is true, the airbag light does not work on 2001 new beetles. i suggest you follow up on this dealership for faulty information and consumer negligence . all they did was reset the code in the computer. t. forgey, customer *tr | |||
| 08/01/2008 | 151000 | 1 | |
| Air bag warning light - the light went on immediately after i adjusted my seat. i do not know if i have functioning air bags or an idiot light malfunction. i own 2001 vw new beetle. as i understand it, this issue happens a lot with vw jettas and new beetles 2000- 2004. there is a forum named freds tdi where you will note several complaints and issues. apparently you cannot just clear the faulty code. vw should make sure these devices are not malfunctioning. if the code was erroneously cleared the driver/passengers would be unaware if air bag is operational. *tr | |||
| 10/01/2002 | 20000 | 1 | 04/01/2001 |
| I was removing my seat belt and it slipped from my hand. after that the air bag default light came on and has stayed on. two dealerships have told me there is a problem with the seat belt latch, but that the air bags will still deploy. the dealers are autobarn vw in evanston, il and jennigs vw in glenview, il. however city vw tells me the air bags won't deploy due to the failure light being on and that the buckle has to be replaced. i heard of other people having the same problems on the vw blogs on the web. *tr | |||
| 10/10/2005 | 25000 | 1 | 02/18/2001 |
| 2001 brand new beetle started developing stains on the seat from day one. blue jeans and dark sweaters stain the interiors to that color everytime someone sits down in the car. the throttle body has gone out three times, costing me over countless dollars in repair fees and is now out for the fourth time. crown volkswagen in tyler, tx has repaired it each time, the longest repair lasting about four months. they've paid for the repair once, but do not provide me with a replacement rental vehicle, refuse to pick up the phone during the day or return phone calls, and has cost me tons of time and money traveling from dallas to tyler to check on the car and pick it up. once, i drove two hours from nacogdoches, tx to tyler, tx on the scheduled pick up day, having tried to call before leaving town to make sure it was ready, only to find that they hadn't gotten to the car when i arrived. this happened twice during the same repair which lasted a couple of weeks. they have been uncooperative, and the car is horrible. the arm rest broke one day as i lifted it, it just fell apart in my hands, the interior covering on the doors and dashboard flakes off, the sunroof broke numerous times while driving over a railroad track to get to work everyday. it finally jammed the visor so that it no longer works. the seat moving mechanisms no longer work. the airbag is in constant malfunction, the check engine and eps lights are always on. i constantly have to pull my car over onto the side of the road because it loses power and i have to restart it to get it to work again, although it never has a lot of power. this particular issue has nearly caused several wrecks. i am incredibly lucky. the cruise control no longer works, and it takes about 200 dollars a month to fill it up with gas because the engine problems effect the fuel efficiency. *tr | |||
| 12/14/2006 | 37000 | 2 | |
| Air bag light on for 2nd time since aug 2006 when car was bought used. newbeetle.org members all have had the same problem and i keep getting charged to read code and turn off the light because it's an intermittent code. i'm tired of driving around a vehicle knowing the air bags will not deploy if i get into an accident. *nm | |||
| 12/02/2005 | 1 | 12/28/2004 | |
| Air bag dashboard light came on. only a volkswagen dealer has the equipment to diagnose the problem and tell me what needs to be done. the dealer will not look at my car unless i give them $100. is this not price gouging? no automobile diagnosis with that expensive. it will not take but a few minutes to hook the computer up to the car and spit out a reason for the airbag light. so, i can pay them $100 to tell me what the problem is or i can ride around without airbags. this type of extortion should not be allowed.*ak | |||
| 02/04/2002 | 1 | ||
| No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak | |||
| AIR BAGS - FRONTAL | |||
| 12/12/2010 | 60000 | ||
| Air bag light came on due to a faulty seat belt buckle. | |||
| 11/28/2001 | 1 | 03/01/2001 | |
| Hit, while stopping for stopped traffic on freeway, in the rear by a car traveling at high rate of speed. extensive damage ($7800+) done to rear and side of car. side airbag curtain deployed, but did not inflate. front drivers airbag also did not inflate. driver suffered back and neck injuries. photos are available.*ak | |||
| AIR BAGS - FRONTAL - SENSOR/CONTROL MODULE | |||
| 09/13/2007 | 88540 | 1 | 06/21/2007 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2001 volkswagen new beetle. the contact stated that the air bag warning light illuminated. the dealer stated that the air bag switch was connected to the seat belt, which caused the light to illuminate. the air bag was not covered under the warranty. the repair costs were over $500. the powertrain was unknown. the current and failure mileages were 88,540. * updated 12/12/07 *bf updated 12/12/07 *tr | |||
| AIR BAGS - SIDE/WINDOW | |||
| 09/04/2009 | 50150 | 1 | |
| Sab deployed while driving on an expressway. *tr | |||
| 11/28/2001 | 1 | 03/01/2001 | |
| Hit, while stopping for stopped traffic on freeway, in the rear by a car traveling at high rate of speed. extensive damage ($7800+) done to rear and side of car. side airbag curtain deployed, but did not inflate. front drivers airbag also did not inflate. driver suffered back and neck injuries. photos are available.*ak | |||