Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | |||||
| TB-94-10-02 | 08/09/2010 | 10036467 | Volkswagen: headlights may intermittently dim slightly at idle. the headlamps or inside lights intermittently dim slightly at idle speed. at idle speed the alternator voltage can fluctuate, as the alternator cannot fully compensate the f | 03/16/2011 | |
| 0502 | 01/14/2005 | 10012457 | Diagnostic trouble code (dtc) p1603 (18011) stored in dtc memory. *tt | 03/02/2005 | |
| 0412 | 05/19/2004 | 10007887 | Malfunction indicator light (mil) on, diagnostic trouble codes (dtcs) stored in diagnostic trouble code (dtc) memory. *mj | 07/14/2004 | |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - ALTERNATOR/GENERATOR/REGULATOR | |||||
| TB-09-10-02 | 08/09/2010 | 10035204 | Volkswagen: headlights may intermittently dim slightly at idle. at idle speed the alternator voltage can fluctuate, as the alternator cannot fully compensate the fluctuations. some electric consumers come on in cycles or have no constant | 02/11/2011 | |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - BATTERY | |||||
| TB-09-10-02 | 08/09/2010 | 10035204 | Volkswagen: headlights may intermittently dim slightly at idle. at idle speed the alternator voltage can fluctuate, as the alternator cannot fully compensate the fluctuations. some electric consumers come on in cycles or have no constant | 02/11/2011 | |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - IGNITION | |||||
| SAC-28F3/P1-REV | 08/01/2010 | 10036496 | Volkswagen: gasoline engine vehicles inspect, and if necessary, replace ignition coils. vehicles affected by this action may have ignition coils that could malfunction under certain conditions. models passat and wagon; golf; gti; jetta a | 03/23/2011 | |
| WG | 04/01/2004 | WG | 10005665 | Replacement of the ignition coils. it is possible that if one of the vehicle's ignition coil fails, rough idling or reduced driving power could occur in addition to illumination of the malfunction indicator lamp light. *tt *mj | 03/10/2004 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - WIRING | |||||
| TB-94-10-02 | 08/09/2010 | 10036467 | Volkswagen: headlights may intermittently dim slightly at idle. the headlamps or inside lights intermittently dim slightly at idle speed. at idle speed the alternator voltage can fluctuate, as the alternator cannot fully compensate the f | 03/16/2011 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | |||
| 10/11/2011 | 53657 | ||
| My fuse panel has burnt out four times in a year and a half at a cost of $100.00 each time plus all the other parts it ruined when it burned. i had to get a new a/c compressor a new battery. i know from looking online trying to find out info about this problem that its happening to alot of people and this should have been a recall a long time ago. | |||
| 11/08/2010 | 86361 | ||
| Generator pulley failure | |||
| 04/02/2010 | 40000 | ||
| The alternator harness has burnt up twice in less than 12,000 miles. the first time it melted everything and they replaced it and now it has done it again. it has stranded me on the side of the road and almost caused a fire under the hood. the delership told me that they have had trouble with this on 2001 to 2004 models but then vw customer service says no. i am concerned that it will do it again and that a fire will be next. | |||
| 08/20/2009 | 66 | 1 | |
| 2003 volkswagen beetle--electrical problem engine compartment fusebox melted due to a short. the car was maintained. it just passed inspection 2 weeks before meltdown. the battery was checked as well. no warning or dash lights indicating a problem. the car was nearly not possible to start in recent hot humid weather. i took it to a garage and they found the melted fusebox. this has to be changed asap because it could affect the car's computer and they aren't sure about the alternator yet as it was having a hard time starting the car. this repair is going to cost me $400.00 out of pocket so far. if this is a design flaw by vw which causes damage because they don't protect the engine fuse box or any related wiring from heat from the battery, there should be a recall. i noticed a similar post from houston, texas on this site. my car seems to be among several which have had this problem. the mileage of this vehicle is 66,417. *tr | |||
| 11/15/2005 | 49491 | 1 | |
| Air bag light and the warning light for malfunction indicator lamp comes on and does not go out also driver seat is stuck. the vehicle was taken on 11/15/2005 at that time it was only the air bag cause; 00591. drivers seat belt switch faulty it was replaced on 12/12/2007 the same problem and more but,this time i have done a lot of research on the internet and i have found a alot of people have had the same problem and nhtsa is aware of it.the car is no longer under warranty i have had repair driver seat slider. it has been very frustrating, never purchase another vw. *tr | |||
| 06/07/2006 | 16800 | 4 | 04/04/2003 |
| Own a 2003 volkswagen beetle. brake and tail lights failure intermittently fail dealer as replaced the epc switch twice in the last 2-months comment today was oh, we have been having a lot of problems with that switch. *nm | |||
| 07/21/2003 | 4 | ||
| Texas lemon law/ texas deceptive trade practices act/ breach of warranty.*mr *cb | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - ALTERNATOR/GENERATOR/REGULATOR | |||
| 09/28/2004 | 16000 | 1 | 05/05/2004 |
| While driving at night the epc light came on. i wanted to pull over since the car is fairly new and had never seen that light on while driving. i pulled the car off the road to check the manual and see what the light meant. the car was in park. i could not get the car to shift out of park. after calling road side assistance...i had the car towed to the dealership. thing is, road side assistance had heard about this before. they had me do a procedure to get the car to shift out of park and be able to drive home. once home the car got stuck into neutral. i then had it towed. *ak | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - IGNITION - ANTI-THEFT CONTROLLER | |||
| 09/28/2004 | 16000 | 1 | 05/05/2004 |
| While driving at night the epc light came on. i wanted to pull over since the car is fairly new and had never seen that light on while driving. i pulled the car off the road to check the manual and see what the light meant. the car was in park. i could not get the car to shift out of park. after calling road side assistance...i had the car towed to the dealership. thing is, road side assistance had heard about this before. they had me do a procedure to get the car to shift out of park and be able to drive home. once home the car got stuck into neutral. i then had it towed. *ak | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - IGNITION - SWITCH | |||
| 09/28/2004 | 16000 | 1 | 05/05/2004 |
| While driving at night the epc light came on. i wanted to pull over since the car is fairly new and had never seen that light on while driving. i pulled the car off the road to check the manual and see what the light meant. the car was in park. i could not get the car to shift out of park. after calling road side assistance...i had the car towed to the dealership. thing is, road side assistance had heard about this before. they had me do a procedure to get the car to shift out of park and be able to drive home. once home the car got stuck into neutral. i then had it towed. *ak | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - WIRING | |||
| 10/15/2007 | 37621 | 2 | 03/09/2007 |
| Headlight went out while starting the car. dealer found a burned wiring harness to be the cause. cost to repair $ 159.31. this could have been a major problem if both head lights would have gone out while traveling on a dark hwy at high speed. burned wiring harness is in my possession. second problem was with a brake light that went out date 10/30/07. cause as per dealer was a faulty light socket. cost to repair $ 73.61. *tr | |||
| 10/21/2005 | 22246 | 4 | 06/11/2004 |
| Like many others we had high hopes and dreams for our new 2003 beetle, we thought wrong. like many others i am finding more and more complaints about these vehicles and this car just follows the trend. as for the classic volkswagen dealership, they have blessed us with one of the worst customer service experiences that we have ever encountered from a car dealership. the vehicle is now sitting at the dealership awaiting a new wiring harnesses for the turn signals and headlights (since the electrical jobs did not correct the problem the first 3 times). we are very calm and understanding people and gone in every time with a semi-positive attitude and asked them to just fix the problem. after biting my lip the 4th time i went to the service manager (pierre andre) and explained the issue to him. pierre's immediate reaction was to pawn the issue to a service advisor (brian alexander who gives excellent presentations on partially burned out bulbs). after becoming a thorn to pierre he made an un-grateful attempt to diagnose the problems with the car, i had to force him to take accountability for the issue. to keep a long story short i have heard every excuse from this deal ship including but not limited to: partially burned out bulbs, corroded sockets, loose wiring harnesses, defective wiring harnesses, sun damage, user damage, road damage. we also made several attempts to contact the dealership head manager/president ken emerson who never attempted to contact us by any means. in several attempts to escalate the issue to a higher authority i was given the vw corporate 1-800-blowup number, which provided us several useless options. at this point we are biting the bullet and planning an attempt of the florida lemon law; if we do not succeed we will sell it to some person who wants a project vehicle. *jb | |||