2000 Volkswagen New Beetle Recalls, Ratings & Complaints

Incident: October 5, 2004 · Filed: November 25, 2004

TWO WIRES ON IGNITION SWITCH MODULE SHORTED. CAUSED FAILURE OF HEADLIGHTS, WIPERS, BRAKE LIGHTS, AIR CONDITIONING, INTERIOR LIGHTING, ETC. IGNITION MODULE WAS REPLACED. PROBLEM REMEDIED.*AK THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM. VOLKSWAGEN, AND VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA REFUSE TO RECOGNIZE THIS DEFECT, OR INITIATE A RECALL. HERE IS A LINK TO AN ONLINE FORUM WITH OTHER CONSUMERS THAT HAVE HAD THE EXACT SAME SAFETY ISSUE AS I HAVE. HTTP://FORUMS.NEWBEETLE.ORG/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?S=0667E7E7A9388BFAAA8A71DCDD6574F2&POSTID=499275#POST499275 THIS IS A FIRE HAZARD, AND COULD POTENTIALLY HURT SOMEONE. UPDATED 07/24/2012. *TR

Incident: August 17, 2004 · Filed: August 23, 2004

CAR STALLED OUT SEVERAL TIMES RIGHT AFTER STARTING IT. IT WOULD ALWAYS START RIGHT BACK UP NORMALLY, ONCE THE VEHICLE DIED ON THE INTERSTATE AT APPROX. 70MPH ALSO CAME RIGHT BACK ON. TOOK IT TO AN INDEPENDANT REPAIR SHOP (GOT NO HELP FROM VW DEALER AT ALL) THEY TOLD ME IT WAS AN IDLE MOTOR WHICH IS CONNECTED TO THE THROTTLE BODY ($700 REPAIR). WE'LL SEE IF IT WORKS OR NOT.*AK

Incident: June 1, 2003 · Filed: August 16, 2004

SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT HAS COME ON REPEATEDLY SINCE PURCHASING THE CAR FROM BURNSVILLE VW, BURNSVILLE, MN. SERVICE DEPT. STATED "IT'S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT" AND RESET THE COMPUTER. AFTER PERSISTENT REOCCURANCE, REQUESTED THEY ACTUALLY FIX THE PROBLEM, THAT IS WHEN THEY INFORMED US THE RIVETS TO THE SECONDARY AIR PUMP HAD FAILED AND IT WAS NO LONGER UNDER WARRANTY. CALLS TO VW NORTH AMERICA RESULTED IN THE SAME, "NO LONGER UNDER WARRANTY", "CIRCUMSTANCES DO NOT MATTER", ETC. ESTIMATED $650 TO REPLACE ITEM. WHILE WE ARE BEING TOLD IT IS A "MINOR" FAILURE AND WILL NOT AFFECT THE CAR PERFORMANCE, IT SEEMS THAT IT TRIGGERS AN "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" LIGHT FOR A REASON. ALSO, WE WERE TOLD TO "IGNORE" THE SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT. HOWEVER IF WE IGNORE IT THEN WHEN A "SIGNIFICANT" PROBLEM OCCURS, HOW WOULD WE KNOW?! VW NORTH AMERICA CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER ADMITTED THAT THIS HAS BEEN AN ONGOING PROBLEM BUT UNLESS IT IS REPORTED WITHIN THE FIRST 2 YEARS IT IS NO LONGER COVERED.*AK

Incident: August 1, 2004 · Filed: August 11, 2004

CLUTCH SUDDENLY AND COMPLETELY FAILED AT 27,000 MILES. DRIVEN ONLY BY PREVIOUS OWNER OF TWO OTHER VWS. HAVE LEARNED NO REPLACEMENT CLUTCH IS AVAILABLE. WAS ATTEMPTING TO SELL IT SINCE ANOTHER CAR HAS ALREADY BEEN PURCHASED. THIS HAS PRESENTED A FINANCIAL HARDSHIP. I AM LIVID LIVID LIVID. NO MORE VWS FOR ME EVER. *JB

Incident: August 3, 2004 · Filed: August 4, 2004

THE IGNITION SWITCH ON THE CAR FAILED SOMETIME BETWEEN 8:00PM MONDAY 8/02 AND 5:30AM ON TUESDAY 8/03. I WENT OUT TO MY CAR AND STARTED IT, ONLY TO NOTICE, I HAD NO FAN, NO A/C, NO DEFROSTER, NO REAR DEFROSTER, NO HEADLIGHTS, NO FOGLIGHTS, NO POWER TO SOME OF MY GAUGES. I RESEARCHED THE PROBLEM AND FOUND IT TO BE THE IGNITION SWITCH, WHICH I CALLED MY DEALER FOR AND HAD TO SPEND $90 TO REPLACE. UPON REMOVING THE OLD UNIT, I NOTICED A WIRE THAT CONNECTS TO THE 30 FUSE ON THE UNIT WAS MELTED AND CORRODED, THE PLASTIC HOUSING THAT CONNECTS THE WIRES TO THE SWITCH IT SELF HAD MELTED IN A SMALL PORTION AND THE OLD UNIT HAD VISIBLE BURN MARKS ON IT. THE FAILURE HAS BEEN FIXED, BUT THE POTENTIAL SAFETY HAZARD STILL EXISTS IN MY OPINION, JUST BASED ON THE NUMEROUS PEOPLE I'VE READ ABOUT WITH THE SAME PROBLEM.*AK

Incident: July 8, 2004 · Filed: July 9, 2004

I OWN A 2000 NEW BEETLE 1.8T GLX WITH APPROXIMATELY 30461 ORIGINAL MILES. I HAVE HAD A TOTAL OF 7 REPAIRS OF THE OXYGEN SENSORS AND ONE REPAIR TO DATE OF MASS AIR FLOW METER. ALL OF WHICH HAVE BEEN COVERED BY VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICAS EXPENSE. I DO HOWEVER WANT TO NOTE THAT ALL THE MECHANICAL ISSUES REVOLVE AROUND THE MIL MALFUNCTION INDICATOR LIGHT ON THE DASH. EACH OF THE FAILURES HAPPENS WITHIN ONE YEAR FROM REPLACEMNT OF PARTS AND WITH LESS THAN 6K MILES BETWEEN REPAIRS. WITH MY PERSISTANT CALLS TO VWOA AND MY LOCAL DEALER THEY HAVE PICKED UP ALL EXPENSES. THE WARRANTY FOR THIS VEHICLE WAS 2 YEARS OR 24K MILES. I NOW HAVE 30K PLUS MILES AND AM CONCERNED ABOUT THIS PERSISTANT PROBLEM OF O2 SENSORS AND THE LIKE. IF YOU REQUIRE THE VIN NUMBER FOR RECORDS OR OTHER PERTINENT INFORMATION PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME DIRECTLY BY MAIL, EMAIL, OR TELEPHONE PERHAPS THIS IS PROBLEM HAS BEEN NOTED BY OTHER VEHICLE OWNERS ABOUT THIS AND ORTHER MODELS. *AK

Incident: June 6, 2003 · Filed: June 7, 2004

TRANSMISSION LOCKS ITS SELF INTO PARK. YOU CANNOT RELEASE THE CAR FROM PARK. DEALER CANNOT REPLICATE PROBLEM. WILL NOT FIX TE BRAKE SWITCH WHICH HAS CAUSED TEH SAME PROBLEM IN OTHER CARS. *AK

Incident: February 17, 2003 · Filed: April 28, 2004

THE 2000 NEW BEETLE THAT MY HUSBAND AND I PURCHASED APPARENTLY HAS A DEFECT IN THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM. WE PURCHASED THE CAR IN FEBRUARY 2003. AT THAT TIME THERE WERE NO PROBLEMS. THE FIRST TIME I PUT GAS IN THE CAR THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. MY HUSBAND CONTACTED A LOCAL VOLKSWAGEN DEALER TO SEE ABOUT GETTING IT FIXED. HE WAS TOLD THAT THIS WAS A NORMAL PROBLEM. IF THE GAS CAP WASN'T PUT BACK ON AND CLICKED AT LEAST SEVEN TIMES, THE LIGHT WOULD COME ON. HE WAS INSTRUCTED TO REMOVE THE GAS CAP, PUT IT BACK ON AND TURN IT UNTIL THERE HAD BEEN SEVEN CLICKS. AFTER THAT, WE WERE SUPPOSED TO DO A COLD START TO MAKE THE LIGHT GO OFF. THIS WORKED, BUT WE HAVE HAD TO DO IT SEVERAL TIMES. THE LIGHT WILL COME ON AND GO OFF, EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE NO ENGINE PROBLEMS. I HAVE HAD ANOTHER MECHANIC LOOK AT THE CAR, AND WAS TOLD THERE WERE NO PROBLEMS WITH THE ENGINE, SO IT HAD TO BE A PROBLEM IN THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM. AFTER SEEING SOME OF THE COMPLAINTS THAT HAVE BEEN POSTED, I AM WORRIED ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF THE CAR STALLING, MALFUNCTIONING, OR, AS IN SOME OF THE OTHER COMPLAINTS HAVE SHOWN, THE CAR CATCHING ON FIRE. I FEEL THAT THE VOLKSWAGEN COMPANY NEEDS TO REALLY EXAMINE THIS ISSUE. WE HAD TO HAVE A SENSOR REPLACED FOR THE BRAKING SYSTEM EARLIER THIS YEAR THAT WAS UNDER RECALL, AND WE ONLY GOT IT DONE BECAUSE WE WERE AT THE DEALERSHIP FOR ROUTINE MAINTENANCE. WE HAD NOT RECEIVED A RECALL NOTICE AT ALL. I DON'T FEEL THAT THE VOLKSWAGEN COMPANY IS CONCERNED ABOUT ANY OF THE PROBLEMS THAT ARE GOING ON WITH THIS MODEL. IT IS VERY DISTRESSING TO THINK THAT I AM STUCK WITH A CAR THAT ISN'T WORTH WHAT I PAID FOR IT BECAUSE OF DEFECTIVE EQUIPMENT. THIS PROBLEM WITH THE CHECK ENGINE IS ONGOING AND I AM NOT PLEASED WITH THE RESPONSE I HAVE GOTTEN FROM THE DEALER. IT HASN'T MADE THE PROBLEM GO AWAY.

Incident: February 2, 2004 · Filed: February 5, 2004

SUDDEN LOST OF SHIFT ABILITY. VEHICLE WAS PARKED, SHIFTED IT INTO REVERSE, BACKED UP, AND THEN SHIFT TO FORWARD GEAR AND NOTHING WOULD ENGAGE. TOWED TO DEALER WHO SAYS LINKAGE CABLES AND SHIFT LEVERS SNAPPED, "FROZEN" STATES DEALER. TRANSMISSION HAD BEEN COMPLETELY REPLACED 3 MONTHS AGO. SAYS THIS IS NOT PART OF DRIVE TRAIN AND NOT COVERED BY WARRANTY. WANT $500 FOR REPAIR. *JB

Incident: August 28, 2001 · Filed: February 4, 2004

NUMEROUS NUISANCE PROBLEMS SINCE PURCHASE OF THIS VEHICLE AS FOLLOWS: PASSENGER WINDOW WILL NOT CLOSE WITH ELECTRIC SWITCH AT 42,000 MILES, TRUNK LATCH DEFECTIVE AT 35,000 MILES SO THAT TRUNK RELOCKS PREMATURELY, ELECTRIC MIRROR SWITCH BROKEN AT 35.000 MILES, HORN INOPERATIVE AT 35,000 MI, FLOOR MAT SNAPS NEARLY ALL BROKE AT 35,000 AND WERE NO LONGER AVAILABLE, DRIVER WINDOW SWITCH BROKE AT 20,000 MI. LEAVING WINDOW IN OPEN POSITION, IGNITION LOCK CYLINDER BROKEN AT 19,000 MI. LEAVING RADIO ON AFTER CAR TURNED OFF, CIGARETTE LIGHTER INOPERATIVE UPON PURCHASE, AIR BAG LIGHT ON SPONTANEOUSLY AT17,000 MI., PASSENGER VANITY MIRROR SPONTANEOUSLY BROKEN AT 17,000 AND THEN AGAIN IMMEDIATELY AFTER REPLACEMENT BY DEALER. FINALLY CAR STALLED AT 31,000 MI. DEALER CLAIMED THAT NEW CLUTCH WAS NEEDED. NONDEALER, HOWEVER, FOUND THAT WHEN DEALER HAD INSPECTED ENGINE AFTER A COLLISION 3 MONTHS EARLIER, THEY HAD NOT PUT BOLTS BACK ON PROPERLY, CAUSING BOLTS TO BE LOST LIKELY ONE AT A TIME OVER THE 3 MONTHS. TRANSMISSION SLIPPED WHEN LAST BOLT WAS LOST (WHICH I HAD FOUND ON THE ROAD AT THE TIME OF THE STALL). DEALER IS INCOMPETENT AND IRRESPONSIBLE. COMPLAINT FILED WITH MANAGER WHO MADE NO AMENDS. RUN, DON'T WALK, AWAY FROM ANY VW!!!!*AK