2000 Volkswagen Beetle

I PURCHASED MY VW BEETLE IN 2005 WITH THE CARFAX - NO ACCIDENTS OR MAJOR REPAIRS. WITHIN MONTHS, THE ENGINE LIGHT AND AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON. THE WINDOWS STOPPED WORKING. I'VE PROBABLY SPENT MORE THAN WHAT I PAID FOR IT. I JUST SPENT OVER $1800 AT VW SPRINGFIELD IN VIRGINIA AND THE ENGINE LIGHT IS BACK ON AGAIN AFTER ONLY A FEW MONTHS. IN ADDITION, THE TRANSMISSION CODES WERE DISCOVERED BY OTHER REPAIR SHOPS, BUT THEY TOLD ME I HAD TO GO TO THE DEALERSHIP FOR THE REPAIR. NEITHER VW SPRINGFIELD OR VW WOODBRIDGE EVER CHECKED THE TRANSMISSION. IN FACT, WOODBRIDGE TOLD ME TO TRADE IT IN AND PURCHASE A NEW ONE FROM THEM.SOME KIND OF LIGHT OR PROBLEM OCCURS IN MY CAR EVERY TIME I'VE TAKEN MY CAR TO THIS DEALERSHIP AND VW WOODBRIDGE IN VIRGINIA. THEY CONTINUE TO CLAIM THAT IT IS A DIFFERENT PROBLEM EVERY TIME WITH THE SAME COMPONENTS. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE FOR DIAGNOSTICS? EVERY TIME I TAKE MY CAR TO ANY OF THE VW DEALERSHIP, I WILL HAVE TO BRING THE CAR IN MULTIPLE TIMES WITHIN MONTHS. SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT. HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE SAME ISSUES, AND NO ONE IS INVESTIGATING THIS. IT APPEARS THAT VW IS BEING PROTECTED FROM SELLING US POORLY MADE VEHICLES WITH HEFTY REPAIR COSTS, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T MAKE SINCE THAT IT'S THE SAME PROBLEM FOR HUNDREDS, PERHAPS THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE. IS IT THAT THESE REPAIRS ARE MAJOR AND BRAKE LIGHTS AREN'T. A RECALL FOR THESE VEHICLES FROM 99 ON SHOULD BE PROCESSED. THE FACT THAT VW WAS IN THE NEWS RECENTLY AS SELLING PEOPLE CARS THEY KNEW HAD ENGINE, AIRBAG, ABS, TRANSMISSION, ELECTRICAL, AND WINDOW MAJOR PROBLEMS IS ASTONISHING, BECAUSE NOTHING IS BEING DONE. I'M DISGUSTED WITH VOLKSWAGEN AND THEY SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR ALL THIS. I UNDERSTAND THAT THE ECONOMIC SITUATION, BUT PEOPLE ARE IN JUST AS MUCH A SITUATION AS MANUFACTURING COMPANIES. WE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY TO KEEP GIVING AWAY TO VW. IT'S A MORAL SHAME. *TR

WE OWN A 2000 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE...IN 2008 THE WATER PUMP WENT IN IT...HAD THAT REPLACED AND 4 WEEKS LATER HAD TO HAVE IT REPLACED AGAIN THEN THE FOLLOWING YEAR 2009 THE WINDOW MOTORS IN BOTH WINDOWS WENT..HAD TO HAVE THOSE REPLACED... THE HEADLIGHTS AND TAIL LIGHTS ARE FALLING OUT HAVE TO CONSTANTLY PUSH THEM BACK IN....NOW 2011 THE WATER PUMP WENT IN IT AGAIN..NOW THE CAR IS SITTING IN THE DRIVE WAY ACTING AS A PAPER WEIGHT..HAD I KNOW THAT THERE WERE SO MANY ISSUES WITH THIS TYPE OF VEHICLE I WOULD HAVE NEVER BOUGHT ONE..I HOPE THAT VOLKSWAGEN IS HAPPY RAKING PEOPLE OVER THE COALS BY SELLING THEM NOTHING BUT JUNK AND GOD FORBID IF YOU HAVE TO TAKE IT TO A DEALER THEY WANT EVERYTHING UP TO AND INCLUDING YOUR FIRST BORN CHILD... *TR

ODBI CAME ON WAS TESTED INDICATING CYLINDER MISFIRE TOOK IT FOR REPAIR WAS INFORMED TWO WIRES WERE BROKEN AND SPARK PLUG WAS SEVERELY FOULED NOW THERE'S A COMPRESSION PROBLEM WHICH REQUIRES THE ENGINE TO BE TORN APART. COST OF REPAIRS EXCEEDS AMOUNT VEHICLE'S VALUE AND PURCHASE PRICE I HAVE HAD THIS VEHICLE FOR FIVE MONTHS WHEN VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED IT HAD A LITTLE OVER 51000 MILES ON THE ODOMETER RAN GREAT AND THE VEHICLE BODY IS IN EXCELLENT SHAPE. *TR

2.0 AEG MOTOR USES EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF OIL AND EXHIBITS PISTON SLAP ON COLD START. ENGINE USES A QUART OF OIL EVERY 500 MILES. I HAVE BEEN TOLD THE PISTON RINGS HAVE BEEN INSTALLED UPSIDE DOWN AT THE FACTORY, WHICH IS THE REASONING BEHIND THE POOR OIL CONTROL. VW IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM. CAR HAS BEEN IN THE FAMILY FOR TWO OUT OF THE LAST THREE OWNERS. *TR

MY SON WAS DRIVING OUR 2000 VW BEETLE ON THE WESTBANK EXPRESSWAY IN NEW ORLEANS, HE HEARD A LOUD POP, AND THE CAR STARTED TO FILL WITH "WHITE SMOKE", HE PULLED OVER IMMEDIATELY, AND TURNED THE ENGINE OFF. WITHIN MINUTES, THE CAR WAS ON FIRE. THIS CAME WITHOUT WARNING, WE DID NOT HAVE ANY ISSUES WITH THE CAR PRIOR TO YESTERDAY, 7-17-10. *TR

VW CATALYTIC CONVERTER WARRANTY EXTENSION. WAS 8 YEARS/80K MILES. EXTENDED TO 10 YEARS/120K MILES. I HAVE A 2000 VW NEW BEETLE GLS, WHICH I PURCHASED NEW IN 1999. MY MODEL IS CURRENTLY COVERED UNDER THIS EXTENDED WARRANTY. MY CAR IS NOT PASSING SMOG - GROSS POLLUTER STATUS. ONLY HAS 73,000 MILES ON IT. THE ISSUE: BECAUSE THE CAT CONVERTER IS NOT FORMALLY LISTED AS A "RECALL" BY VW AMERICA, THE DEALERSHIP WANTS TO RUN A DIAGNOSTIC (EVEN THOUGH I'M PROVIDING THE DETAILED PAPERWORK FROM MY SMOG STATION), AND WHEN THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON, THEY WANT ME TO REPAIR ANY AND ALL ISSUES THAT ARISE AT A COST TO ME, BEFORE THEY WILL REPLACE MY CATALYTIC CONVERTER UNDER WARRANTY. THE PROBLEM WITH THIS IS, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COVERS NUMEROUS ISSUES THE CAR MAY BE HAVING, INCLUDING SOME THAT MAY NOT BE RELATED TO THE CAR NOT PASSING SMOG. AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ALWAYS ON. DEALERSHIP TURNS IT OFF - COMES RIGHT BACK ON WITHIN DAYS. I WANT THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER REPLACED FIRST, THEN SEE IF IT PASSES SMOG, THEN I WILL REPAIR ANY OTHER PROBLEMS. I DON'T WANT TO PUT MONEY INTO PROBLEMS POSSIBLY UNRELATED TO SMOG, IF THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER WON'T FIX THE ISSUE. BUT PER THE VW DEALERSHIP, I CANNOT PROCEED WITHOUT SPENDING MONEY ON SUPPOSED OTHER PROBLEMS, BECAUSE THE CAT CONVERTER WAS NOT TECHNICALLY LABELED A RECALL. I WROTE THE EPA - THE EMAIL I RECEIVED BACK FROM THEM SAID THEY CONSIDER IT A RECALL, BUT BECAUSE VW AMERICA DID NOT SEND OUT A FORMAL RECALL NOTICE ON THE CAT CONVERTER, AND INSTEAD JUST PROVIDED AN EXTENDED WARRANTY, THERE'S NOT MUCH THAT CAN BE DONE. DEALERSHIPS CAN REQUIRE A DIAGNOSTICS RUN AND ASK YOU TO PAY TO FIX OTHER PROBLEMS PRIOR TO FIXING THE CAT CONVERTER. VW EXTENDED THE WARRANTY, SO CLEARLY THEY ARE AWARE THERE IS A CONSISTENT PROBLEM. THEY SHOULD JUST CALL IT A FORMAL RECALL (SINCE THE EPA DOES), FIX THE PROBLEM THEY KNOW EXISTS. CURRENTLY, I'VE BROUGHT TO ANOTHER DEALERSHIP. SAME ISSUE. DON'T HAVE ANY OTHER CHOICE. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2000 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE ENGINE WARNING INDICATOR REMAINS ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. A DIAGNOSTIC WAS PERFORMED, WHICH PRODUCED "ERROR CODE 5". A MECHANIC REPAIRED THE VEHICLE AND RESET THE COMPUTER; HOWEVER, THE INDICATOR CONTINUES TO ILLUMINATE. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 126,000. UPDATED 02/24/09. *LJ UPDATED 02/26/09. *JB

ON APRIL 4, 2008, OUR 2000VW GLS BEETLE CAUGHT FIRE AS IT WAS BEING DRIVEN ON THE INTERSTATE. CAR HAD BEEN HESITATING AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WOULD COME ON, SO WE HAD IT SERVICED AT OUR LOCAL VW DEALERSHIP ON MARCH 28. DIAGNOSTICS DID NOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG. WE WENT AHEAD AS ASKED FOR FUEL FILTER AND THE COOLANT SENSOR TO BE REPLACED. FOR THE NEXT WEEK, THE CAR CONTINUED TO HESITATE, ESPECIALLY AFTER BEING DRIVEN FOR MORE THAT 20 MINUTES. WE MADE ANOTHER APPOINTMENT WITH THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT TO HAVE IT REPAIRED AND AS MY DAUGHTER WAS DRIVING TO THIS APPOINTMENT SHE NOTICED THE HESITATION AGAIN, AND ABOUT 10 MILES LATER, NOTICED SMOKE IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR. SHE PULLED OFF THE HIGHWAY AND SMOKE STARTED POURING INSIDE THE CAR. ALL OF THE DASHBOARD LIGHTS CLICKED ON, THEN OFF. WITHIN 2 MINUTES, THE CAR WAS COMPLETELY ENGULFED IN FLAMES. MY DAUGHTER WAS ABLE TO GET OUT OF THE CAR AND WAS NOT PHYSICALLY HARMED. THE CAR WAS A TOTAL LOSS. *TR

I RECENTLY PURCHASED A 2000 VW NEW BEETLE ON OCTOBER 10, 2007. MY SIGNIFICANT OTHER DROVE THE CAR TO WORK. WHEN SHE GOT READY TO LEAVE THE CAR WOULD NOT START. SHE CALLED A MECHANIC AND THEY CHECKED THE VEHICLE. THEY DETERMINED THAT THE TIMING BELT HAD BROKEN. THE CAR HAS LESS THAN 90,000 MILES ON IT. I WENT A RESEARCHED AND FOUND OTHER SIMILAR COMPLAINTS ABOUT LOW MILEAGE BEETLES OF THIS YEAR HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM. I AM CONCERNED THAT SUCH AN EXPENSIVE REPAIR IS REQUIRED AT SUCH LOW MILEAGE IN ORDER TO OWN THIS VEHICLE AND HAVE IT OPERATE PROPERLY. I AM NOT THE ORIGINAL OWNER SO I REALIZE THAT THIS REPAIR IS NOT COVERED FOR ME. THERE SHOULD BE SOME FORM OF DISCLAIMER PLACED ON THIS YEAR OF BEETLE SO THAT PERSPECTIVE OWNERS WILL KNOW THAT THEY HAVE AN EXPENSIVE REPAIR COMING UP (TIMING BELT) IF IT HASN'T BEEN CORRECTED ALREADY. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2000 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE. WHILE DRIVING 60 MPH, THE ENGINE LOST POWER. THE BATTERY AND THE ECP WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A LOCAL MECHANIC WHO DIAGNOSED THE FAILURE AS THE TIMING BELT. THE MANUFACTURER WILL NOT PERFORM THE REPAIR FOR FREE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE WATER PUMP WAS REPLACED AT 38,000 MILES AND 49,000 MILES. THE TIMING BELT WAS REMOVED TO REPLACE THE PUMP. THE PURCHASE DATE WAS UNKNOWN. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 74,000.