2001 Volkswagen New Beetle

WE HAVE A 2001 VW BEETLE AND WHILE DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE IN MN, THE ENTIRE PLASTIC BOTTOM PANEL SEPARATED FROM THE AUTO. THE PANEL GOT CAUGHT IN A REAR TIRE, CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO TEMPORARILY LOSE CONTROL, THEN THIS PIECE OF PANEL THAT IS ABOUT 3' SQUARE BLASTED INTO THE WINDSHIELD OF THE CAR BEHIND. THIS PANEL IS REMOVED FOR OIL CHANGES, ENGINE REPAIR AND FLUID FILLS. THE MECHANIC SAID THIS HAPPENS WITH ALL THE BEETLES, BUT THE PANEL HAD TO BE REPLACED. I AM CONCERNED ABOUT THE ASPECT OF ROAD DEBRIS AND THE LOSS OF CONTROL WHILE DRIVING 70 MPH. *JB

DRIVING AT 65 MPH, ENGINE SPEED 2200 RPM, VEHICLE SUDDENLY DECELERATES TO ENGINE SPEED 1200 RPM (35 MPH). APPROX 5-10 SECONDS LATER THE MIL ("CHECK ENGINE") LIGHT COMES ON SOLID AND THE GLO-PLUG LAMP BLINKS. OBD-II DIAGNOSTIC CODE "P0226" (THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR) CODE WAS SUBSEQUENTLY READ. THROTTLE CONTROL MAY BE MOMENTARILY REGAINED BY TURNING VEHICLE IGNITION OFF AND BACK ON IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN SPEED (OBSERVING CARE THAT ROAD IS STRAIGHT SO THAT STEERING WHEEL LOCK DOES NOT LOCK UP). FAILURE MAY RE-OCCUR WITHIN 50-100 YARDS, REPEATEDLY REQUIRING IGNITION TURN-OFF/TURN-ON SEQUENCING FOR 'BURSTS' OF THROTTLE FUNCTION BETWEEN FAILURES BEING CAREFUL TO TRY TO AVOID STEERING WHEEL LOCK. ALTERNATIVE TO RECOVERY FROM LOSS OF FOOT THROTTLE IS TO QUICKLY ENGAGE CRUISE CONTROL (LIMITING ACCELERATION IS LIMITED TO 1 MPH 'CLICKS'). VW OF AMERICA ([XXX] 3-MAR-03, 1210 PST, - CUST. CARE #30108450) DENIES KNOWLEDGE OF A PROBLEM WITH THROTTLE POSITION SENSORS AND VEHICLE DEFAULTING TO 1200 RPM 'LIMP MODE'. LITHIA MOTORS (MEDFORD, OR - VW SALES & SERVICE) HAS ALSO NOTED THE P0226 ("THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR") CODE WHEN VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO SERVICE DEPARTMENT FOR DIAGNOSTIC TROUBLE INVESTIGATION BUT UNABLE TO CORRELATE THE "THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR" CODE WITH 1200 RPM ENGINE LIMITATION AND LOSS OF THROTTLE FUNCTION. INDEPENDENT SERVICE SHOP SAYS THAT THROTTLE POSITION SENSORS HAVE BEEN MODIFIED AND ARE ON BACK ORDER AND THAT THE TPS IN THIS VEHICLE (VIN # [XXX]) FAILS TO PROVIDE PROPER SIGNAL ("DRIVE-BY-WIRE" THROTTLE) AT BETWEEN 7% AND 17% OF FOOT THROTTLE ACTUATION. PROBLEM HAS OCCURRED APPROX. 100-200 TIMES SINCE FIRST NOTED ON 19-FEB-2003. VERY CURIOUS THAT PARTS HAVE BEEN MODIFIED AND ARE BACK-ORDERED WHEN THERE IS "NO KNOWN PROBLEM" AND VW AND THEIR DEALERS CANNOT CORRELATE AN OBD-II "P0226" CODE WITH THIS HAZARDOUS VEHICLE CONTROL FAILURE. *NLM INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

INSTRUMENT CLUSTER MALFUNCTION: (PURCHASED THIS USED CAR MARCH 1, 2003. STARTED NOTICING PROBLEMS SHORTLY THEREAFTER, DECIDED TO REPORT IT AFTER THE MOST CURRENT INCIDENT AND UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS AT FIXING). - WHEN TRYING TO START THE CAR, IT WILL START THEN DIE IMMEDIATELY, I HAVE ALMOST BEEN STRANDED A FEW TIMES. I HAD TO KEEP TRYING TO RESTART THE CAR UNTIL THE ENGINE FINALLY STAYED RUNNING (THIS HAS OCCURRED AT LEAST 7 TIMES FROM MARCH 1, 2003 AND IS GETTING PROGRESSIVELY WORSE). COULD THIS POTENTIALLY CAUSE THE ENGINE TO DIE WHILE DRIVING? - THE SEAT BELT WARNING BUZZER HAS NEVER FUNCTIONED DURING MY OWNERSHIP. - THE DOOR BUZZER HAS NEVER FUNCTIONED DURING MY OWNERSHIP, NOT IF THE LIGHTS ARE LEFT ON OR IF THE KEYS ARE STILL IN THE IGNITION. *JB

2001 NEW BEETLE 1.9 L TDI, 55,000 MI.: ENGINE MIL LIGHT COMES ON SOLID AND GLO-PLUG LIGHT BLINKS ON/OFF AT STEADY RATE (NO APPARENT CODE TO BLINK RATE). FOOT THROTTLE CONTROL IS LOST AND ENGINE CHANGES FROM (NORMAL) IDLE (950 RPM) WITH FOOT-THROTTLE ("ACCELERATOR") CONTROL TO COMPLETE LOSS OF FOOT THROTTLE AND STEADY 1200 RPM ENGINE SPEED. THIS MAY HAPPEN AT RANDOM TIMES DURING DRIVING OR (ONCE) EVEN WITHIN SECONDS AFTER STARTING ENGINE BEFORE VEHICLE IS PUT IN GEAR OR BEGINS MOVING. MOST TIMES, IT OCCURS WHEN VEHICLE IS AT SPEED, CAUSING IMMEDIATE LOSS OF SPEED (I.E. 2000 RPM IN 5TH GEAR = 55 MPH CHANGES TO 1200 RPM = 35 MPH). INDEPENDENT GARAGE HAS 'READ' OBD-II DIAGNOSTIC CODES AND DETERMINED "THROTTLE OUT OF RANGE". TWO "REMEDIES" (1) "RE-BOOT" THE VEHICLE (TURN IGNITION OFF AND THEN BACK ON --- REQUIRING STRAIGHT/WIDE STRETCH OF ROAD BECAUSE OF INTERLOCK WITH STEERING), AFTER WHICH THROTTLE CONTROL IS REGAINED FOR SOME RANDOM PERIOD OF TIME (FRACTION OF A KM TO SEVERAL KM'S) BEFORE THROTTLE CONTROL IS LOST AGAIN... OR RESORT TO VEHICLE OPERATION WITH "HAND THROTTLE" (CALLED "CRUISE CONTROL". WITH 1200 RPM ENGINE SPEED LIMIT, VEHICLE CAN BE DRIVEN IF VERY GINGERLY SHIFTED GEARS, GETTING UP TO 20-25 MPH IN 3RD GEAR AT WHICH POINT "CRUISE CONTROL" ("CC") CAN BE ENGAGED. SUBSEQUENTLY HIGHER SPEEDS CAN BE OBTAINED BY INCREMENTAL (1 MPH) INCREASES ON CC, EVENTUALLY REGAINING 55 MPH (2000 RPM) ENGINE SPEED. DRIVING IN TRAFFIC REQUIRED CONTINUOUS ENGAGEMENT & DISENGAGEMENT/RE-ENGAGEMENT OF HAND THROTTLE ("CC") AS FOOT THROTTLE IS USELESS. STARTING FROM TRAFFIC SIGNALS, MERGING WITH HIGH SPEED TRAFFIC, ETC. IS INCONVENIENT AT BEST AND, TYPICALLY, QUITE HAZARDOUS WHEN CONSIDERING THE CONSTANT 1200 RPM ENGINE SPEED LIMITATION (UNTIL THE PAINSTAKING HAND THROTTLE INCREMENTS SLOWLY ALLOW SPEED INCREASES FROM 20-25 MPH TO HIGHWAY SPEEDS. VW CUSTOMER CARE CLAIMS THERE IS NO RECALL AND THEY ARE "UNAWARE" OF A PROBLEM. *NLM

I STARTED MY CAR ON 1/31 AND THE EPC, CHECK ENGINE AND TRACTION CONTROL LIGHTS CAME ON. THE CAR WOULD DRIVE HOWEVER HAD MUCH LESS POWER AND WAS VERY ROUGH. I BORUGHT IT INTO THE DEALERSHIP ON 2/3 AND THEY STATED IT WAS A COIL. THEY REFUSED TO REPLACE ALL 4 COILS, ONLY THE FAULTY ONE, AND I WAS TOLD THAT ONLY IF THIS POWER FAILURE OCCURS AGAIN AND IT IS DUE TO ANOTHER COIL...THEN THEY WOULD REPLACE ALL FOUR. I AM QUESTIONING THE RELIABILITY OF MY CAR, SINCE IT APPEARS THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN WIDE SPREAD THROGHOUT THE US. I FEEL VERY UNSAFE IN MY YEAR AND HALF OLD BEETLE THAT WAS BOUGHT BECAUSE OF THE HIGH RELIABILITY RATING AT THE TIME.

THE COIL PACK ON MY 2001 VOLKSWAGEN NEW BEETLE BURNED OUT CAUSING ME TO PRACTICALLY STALL ON A VERY BUSY FREEWAY. SO FAR, VW DOESN'T SEEM TO THINK THIS A SAFTEY ISSUE YET AND WILL NOT REQUIRE A RECALL ON THESE PARTS. THESE COILS WILL BURN OUT. NOT IF, BUT WHEN. I WOULD HATE TO BE GOING UP A HILL WHEN ONE OF THESE COIL PACKS GO OUT.

COIL PACK FAILURE IIN VW NEW BEETLE WITH 1.8T ENGINE -- LAST WEEK, I HAD MY 2ND COIL PACK FAILURE (THE FIRST BEING IN NOVEMBER 2002) WHILE COMMUTING TO WORK ON THE GEORGE WASHINGTON PARKWAY AT ABOUT 45 MPH. THE CAR SUDDENLY BEGAN TO SHAKE VIOLENTLY, AND I NARROWLY AVERTED AN ACCIDENT WHEN I HAD TO SLOW DOWN TO 30. FORTUNATELY, I WAS ABLE TO EXIT SAFELY, AND I FOLLOWED SURFACE STREETS TO THE DEALER, WITH THE CAR SHUDDERING WHENEVER MY RPM EXCEEDED 2,500. THE DEALER (ALEXANDRIA VW) REPLACED THE COIL PACK THE SAME DAY, BUT, AFTER CHECKING WITH VW OF AMERICA AT MY INSISTENCE, THEY REFUSED TO REPLACE THE REMAINING TWO DEFECTIVE COIL PACKS DESPITE THEIR ADMISSION THAT THE OTHER TWO WOULD ALMOST CERTAINLY FAIL IN THE FUTURE. I CALLED VW'S COMPLAINT LINE THE NEXT DAY AND WAS TOLD THAT VW COULDN'T ISSUE A RECALL BECAUSE OF INSUFFICIENT SUPPLY OF THE REPLACEMENT PARTS. VW DOESN'T, APPARENTLY, CONSIDER THIS A SAFETY ISSUE -- PLEASE SEE THE COMMENTS ATTRIBUTED TO VW'S REPRESENTATIVE IN THIS BOSTON GLOBE STORY FROM YESTERDAY: HTTP://WWW.BOSTON.COM/DAILYGLOBE2/026/AUTO/NO_EASY_FIX_FOR_FAILING_IGNITION_COILS_IN_AUDIS_VWS+.SHTML I WOULD SUBMIT (1) THAT, BASED ON MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, THE COIL PACK PROBLEM IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE AND THAT VW SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO REPLACE ALL DEFECTIVE PARTS WHETHER OR NOT THEY HAVE ALREADY FAILED AND (2) THAT THIS IS AN EPIDEMIC ISSUE, INVOLVING POTENTIALLY 500,000 AUTOMOBILES, WHICH VW CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE TO SWEEP UNDER THE TABLE. PLEASE INVESTIGATE AND FORCE VW TO AMEND ITS IRRESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR AND TO ISSUE A RECALL.

I AM FRUSTRATED AND SCARED BY A PROBLEM VOLKSWAGEN AND AUDI ARE HAVING WITH THE IGNITION SYSTEM ON THEIR TURBOCHARGED FOUR-CYLINDER ENGINES. THE SIBLING AUTOMAKERS, PARTS OF VOLKSWAGEN AG OF GERMANY, ADMIT THERE IS A "HIGHER-THAN-NORMAL" FAILURE RATE OF THE FOUR IGNITION COILS ON 2001 AND 2002 TURBOCHARGED, 1.8-LITER ENGINES USED IN ABOUT 300,000 VEHICLES, INCLUDING THE GOLF, NEW BEETLE, JETTA, PASSAT AND AUDI A4. I HAVE ALREADY HAD ONE COILPAC REPLACED, AND FEAR FOR THE TIME WHEN THE OTHERS WILL GO TOO. I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT THEY ARE GOING TO FAIL AT SOME POINT. SO WHY DIDNT VW JUST REPLACE ALL OF THE COIL PACKS WITH THE IMPROVED ONES.