While driving 45 MPH the vehicle was involved in a left frontal collision yet the air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was totaled. *nlm *cb
1999 Volkswagen Beetle airbags complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 22 of 22, newest first, as owners wrote them.
1)driver's side window had difficulty going up since vehicle purchase, have to push with hand to assist. 2) just a few months after purchase sensor behind brake pedal failed, vehicle would shift from park, replaced. 3) air bag came on and then engine light soon after, catalytic converter replaced. Both warning lights off and replaced. 4) headlights are constantly blowing out, evidence of a short when replaced. Burn marks, and exposed wiring because plastic on connectors got brittle and cracked off. 5) air bag light on again, two weeks later engine light on. Told two sensors on mass air flow and some others are malfunctioning and now been replaced. Told there is a broken clock spring in steering column along with bad wiring harness, both affecting air bags. Also, told air bag is now bad and needs to be replaced because other defective components have shorted igniter in air bag out. I am a college student and cannot continue to fund repairs to this vehicle. Cannot sell either because of these problems, and now reputation of beetle for problems. Vehicle has never been in an accident, even so much as bumped. Meticulously maintained. Dims 11 ivoq entry posted after 12/12/02 cut-over to artemis----------------770755. *ak
Shortly after I bought the vehicle, engine"check light came on and stayed on. Also, cd player was not operating correctly and temperature display (by rear view mirror) did not work. Took in to dealer's svc dept. Many times, but problems persited . Dealer svc. Dept. Claimed everything working fine. Recently, the window on the driver side failed and it would not go up. Took car in to dealer svc. Dept. And got repaired. Shortly after that, car died. It was not the battery, so car was towed to dealer service dept. On 8-14-02. Dealer examined car and said it was the tri-lock system and didn't know how to fix it. Tri-lock system removed by dealer but car still not working. Problem: power windows did not work, push window button and trunk would pop open, air bag light stayed on, etc. Etc. Etc. The car has been at dealeship for over a week and dealer keeps telling me it's fixed, but when I go pick it up (3 times), the car is still doing the same thing, and the air bag light is still on all the time. Very frustrated and disappointed.
While driving the car I noticed the speedometer & odometer weren't working (mileage froze at 26,139). The gas gauge was not working either. Then the check engine light came on and the airbag light. Brought into dealership and was told there were 19 failures when it was tested on their computer. Dealership claims the transmission needs parts replaced. (will be covered under powertrain warranty possibly). Still waiting on parts. They said after they replace parts of transmission they will let me know what else needs to be done and how much it will cost me. The standard warranty ended march 2001. The vehicle has low mileage (26,139). The battery had to be replaced last year. Many times the car wouldn't start and had to be jumped. The check engine light came on the first year I had the car and the dealership claimed it was a sensor problem.
On dec. 9th, 2000, our beetle was hit in the drivers side and side airbags did not deploy. "experts" at volkswagen claimed that our forward motion at the time of impact lessened the side impact. I can understand this to some degree but by their reasoning, if we were going twice as fast, would the damage have been halved? Oy. The side was so caved-in that I had to be cut out of the car with the jaws of life. People who have seen the car , including the repair shop foreman, can not believe that the airbag did not deploy. On contacting vw, I was told that being that I was moving at the time of impact, it lessened the side impact. I can understand this to some exent, but does this mean that if we were doing 100mph instead of 50mph would the damage would have been halved?.
Consumer complaint is that the side air bag on his vehicle failed to deploy when another vehicle hit the drivers side at approximately 15 MPH. Consumer was traveling forward at approximately 50 to 60 MPH. A pick-up truck hit consumer's car broadside on driver's side, an engineer at vw claims stated that the forward motion of vehicle lessened the side impact enough that the air bag did not activate.
Is there any way to find out if the previous owner of this vehicle had problems with the airbags. We bought this car for our 18 year old twin daughters with saftey in mind. We really need your help on this. Please contact us. Thank you.
Car hit highway on ramp guard rail on right front side. Airbags did not deploy. Extensive damage to right front side bumper and to hood.
The air bag sensor light came on the first time on oct.6,'99, the airbag was replaced along with the ring, then on oct. 11th, it came on again, again it was replaced. On oct.18th it came on again and again it was replaced. On december 31, 1999 the light once again came on and on monday, january 3rd 2000, I will take it to the sevice center again. This seems to be an ongoing problem and I certainly don't want to be billed for this once the warranty runs out. Please help me!!! Do I have a lemon or what????
Intermittently the air bags sensor light would come on/off. Dealer notified and informed consumer that there was nothing to worry about, the air bag will not deploy. Seeking the federal safety agency help or provide additional information on this matter.
Car simply drove over an impact wrench that fell out of a toolbox from a vehicle prior on the road. It hit the underside of the car. Small dent in a component brace in undercarriage. No side impact or damage occurred at all. Manufacturer refuses to replace.
Airbag controller knocked off vehicle in single vehicle accident; airbags failed to deploy.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 1999 Volkswagen Beetle?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history