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.
2000 Volkswagen Beetle electrical complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 58, newest first, as owners wrote them.
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.
Traveling on the crosstown freeway @ the posted speed, I started to engage the vehicle's heater and the power control switch started to malfunction. I turned the power control knob clockwise and noticed slippage of the control knob. I noticed smoke coming from the whole heater control assembly and then an arch, then a smallflame.
Tl* the contact owns a 2000 volkswagen beetle. The contact stated the vehicle failed to start normally because the instrument cluster module failed. The failure caused the vehicle to stall and made it difficult to start immediately. The contact stated the cluster was replaced twice. The contact stated the failure was a manufacturers defect. The current mileage was 152,000.
Bought used 2000 volkswagen new beetle for daughter. 102k miles. After having it one week, went to start it, battery dead (new battery). Noticed that the cosmetic mirror light in driver's side visor would go on even though mirror closed and visor not in use. In looking further, it appears that something in the movement of the car jiggles some loose wiring in the visor, and light remains on without our knowledge. We bought new battery, and have taped visor into secure position when parked.
Fire in engine compartment.
I have a 2000 vw beetle. I bought this car from the dealership with 100,000 miles on it. The first week it began acting crazy and I took it back to the dealership and I was told "sold as is". I have spent $3000 on this car fixing various electrical problems. This car is extremely unsafe. The transmission needs to be recalled immediately! It jumps and jerks at weird times and almost causes someone to rear end me. I've already invested a grand trying to resolve the transmission issue but the car will act fine for the first few days and then the problem will begin again. The third gear always slips and you get whiplash. It feels as if they gear is about to drop out of the car!! The engine misfires on the highway and no problem can be found by my mechanic. He tells me they are just random misfires! That is dangerous going down the highway at 70 mphs and the car shoot down to 50 and jerk on I-40 in winston salem. In the rain, it will jerk even worse, almost like the transmission is jumping out of the hood! My ABS lights will flash at weird times as well as my brake light. I have had my brakes checked, not the brakes. Something now stays on in the car that no mechanic can pinpoint which causes the battery to go dead everytime you turn the car off. The gauges tend to not want to work some of the time and the mileage will even stop reading. Sometimes the gas pedal does not connect and will stop accelerating eventhough your pushing on the gas upon take off. The alarm goes off at all times during the day and not for no reason and various times when I crank the car. To top this all off, the fuses on top of my battery caught on fire! I was told by my mechanic that this was a common problem, no problems could be blamed for this event. Someone needs to recall something before someone gets hurt!
My daughter was driving her 2000 vw beetle saturday when she smelled "something horrible." she rolled the windows down and the next thing she knew there was smoke and flames coming from the dashboard area. She pulled over and a gentleman behind her put the fire out using a fire extinguisher. She had had problems a few days earlier with the AC not coming on properly. She was planning to take the car to the shop on monday.
Tl* contact owns a 2000 volkswagen beetle. The contact states since day one of owning his vehicle he has had nothing but problems. The contact was driving at about 35 MPH when his dash lights blew out, his power door locks also stopped working. The contact states while his vehicle is parked outside and is not running his alarm would just go off on it's own. The vehicle was under warranty at the time so the contact didn't have to pay as much. The contact states he has spent about 353.00 on miscellaneous, and normal maintenance. There was 5,182 paid on repairs. The contact states he also had a new computer put in the vehicle about 3 years ago. There has been electrical problems back to back and the contact also states the check engine light is still coming on and off. The failure mileage was 1 mile and the current mileage is 58,000. Ar updated 06/22/11 updated 07/12/11
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.
Power windows and power door locks will not operate while I'm driving. Took to dealer and they could not diagnose the problem. Left it there for 2 days and they still could not find problem. When I stop the car and open the door, then the windows and door locks will operate. When I start driving again, they are "dead" once more and will not open or close. I cannot get them to operate unless I stop the car and open the door first. When I close the door, they are okay until I start driving again. Very dangerous and I can't go through a drive through bank, etc. Or if I just want to open the windows while I'm driving, I can't. If it starts to rain, I can't close the windows unless I stop the car.
We have a 2000 new vw beetle that we bought new in 2000. It has become a high maintenance vehicle that seems to have a lot of defective parts that has to be replaced. Mostly electrical. Window once fell inside of door. Fog light that has water in them. Today a week after taking the car into vw service to repair another thing for around $200.00. I had returned to the shop again because with in a day after car was out of the shop a new problem cropped up. The seat belt light was staying on. I took it into the shop to have the seat belt light repaired. It has been in the shop for most of the day. I just received a call from vw service dept. And was told the seat belt denser was the problem. It controls all the seat belt air bags and some other safety things. It is drivable and seat belt may be ok. I was also told it would cost approximate over $700.00. Our vw beetle only has 69,000 miles on it and we have spent thousands of dollars on it for repairs. It over heated last summer and was in the shop for a couple of weeks before they could find what was wrong with it..I think this was the air conditioner compressor and sensors. We have replace may\ny sensors it seem s several times. Most of these repairs was no under a recall. This is a very high maintenance car. It has been in the garage many times and cost is starting drain us. I am a retired iowa police officer on a fixed income..so this car is a strain on our budget. So many problems.. All our vehicles are paid for as well as our home.
We have a 2000 vw beetle with automatic transmission that has some sort of electrical problem that drains the battery if no one drives the car for a few days. We didn't really notice the problem until our daughters both went off to school and no one was driving the car on a regular basis. We are at the point where aaa and amoco motor club will no longer jump the car. We have purchased several batteries in the last 3-4 years or replaced them under warranty to the point where sears told us today to not come back. The vw dealer told us to go someplace else because they couldn't help us and vw itself has nothing to say other than go to the local dealer who told us to call vw. This car has been a problem from the beginning and we have done everything asked of us, expended funds and an inordinate amount of time to no avail. Today the vw dealer did say that there was a problem with vw's of this vintage because they had problems with cars sitting on the lot and dying. We now need to our daughter to use in chicago, but we can't risk giving it to her and having her come out to the car late at night after work and find that the car is dead.
Water inside automobile damaged electonics. Appeared to be a common problem.
The 2000 volkswagen new beetle ignition switch melted at contact wires in the steering column. The cause was the fog lights undersized wiring to the ignition switch. When it melted the contacts the headlights, turn signals, HVAC, and gauges became inoperable, to name a few. It was out of service for two months at my cost and my repair. I could not afford the repair through the dealership and there are no recalls although though conversations with vw mechanics and others this problem was not uncommon. There are still nuances with electrical components in the beetle to this day. I would hope there were no fires or injuries.
2000 vw new beetle- diesel: has had recurring problem with the glow-plug system. Components have been repeatedly replaced starting 11/2004. Service dates include, but not limited to 5/2005, 8/2006, 12/2006, not including separate diagnostics. Total charges to date in excess of $1200.00 of this single system. No help from manufacturer or acknowledgemet that a problem even exists. Vehicle is located in area (se texas) that would necessitate the use of glow plug only a few days a year. The system is supposed to be designed to activate only below a centian low temperature. It is otherwise a 'static' system with no moving parts that should not be subject to wear and tear. Yet, components of this system have regularly failed, causing dashboard warning light. Have totally lost confidence in the vehicle, or vw's authorized service providers to rocognize that there is a problem, and provide a solution from the manufacturer's side that is a permanent fix, rather than just replacing the same parts repeatedly.
Airbag short to ground coolant system short to ground.
Volkswagen new-bettle all the electrical system burn down.
Faulty instrument cluster that effects all electronics of the vehicle. Causes door locks and remotes to not work properly. Causes door warning and seat belt warning chimes to not turn off for a minute after either starting the car or turning on the headlights. May also effect engine immobilizer causing the car to shutdown at any time or place.
I drove an hour away in the rain, parked for 15 minutes, and when I returned the engine would start but I had no use of wipers, heater/blower, or directional signals. Since I dared not drive in the rain without wipers, and since it was a sunday, I had to get towed home. It was the ignition switch -- and when they tried to replace it, they found that its receptacle and nearby wires were all melted! Vw says tough luck, it's my problem.
I have a 2000 vw beetle. I bought the car used a little more than two years ago. Within a few months of buying the car I started having engine/electrical problems. I took it in........several times, same problem. As I am driving the car it just dies. I can be going 60 MPH on the highway or 1 MPH pulling to or away from a stop sign. With no warning the car cuts off. It always starts back up, but it will continually die. I lose all power to the car including steering. This is a serious concern and has been for two years and approximately ten times in the vw shop. The car definitely has a problem that no one can seem to fix. I have or my warranty company has repeatedly paid for the same and then some repairs to the vehicle. Some parts (the same part) were replaced within four months of each other. Mostly the shop determines it is the o2 sensors throughout the car (apparently you have several different o2 sensors) or something to do with the turbo (which has also been replaced once or twice now). Those things have been repaired. Some more than once. The car still dies. It gives no warning it just shuts off. Losing power at 70 MPH on a crowded interstate can shake one up. I have contacted the dealer, the manufacturer, and everyone in between. No one seems to care or want to help me. Someone please help this car is a death trap!
2000 vw new beetle ignition swtich - thousands of failures with documented photographic proof of overheated wiring burning through insulation within steering column. Fire hazard! My switch went back in the middle of the arizona desert. No headlights, no windshield wipers, no horn, no A/C, no turn signals, no fog lights, no rear defroster. Main concern is no headlights, and risk of fire obviously. Vw of america is aware of the problem across many models, and dealers have warned that cars are 'un-driveable' due to fire risk when problem surfaces. Vwoa refuses to replace or recall switches. Ignition swith requires replacment.
While driving between 20-40 MPH, suddenly the ventilation panel became hot. When the driver attempted to turn the ventilation system on the knob melted. This was followed by smoke coming out the air vent. Vehicle was engulfed in flames within minutes of the consumer exiting the vehicle, and calling the fire department. The insurance company and a factory representative inspected the vehicle. The cause of the fire was reportedly due to interior electrical system. The vehicle was totaled.
While parked vehicle caught on fire. Vehicle was totaled. *ak a pedestrian informed the fire inspector that the flames was noticed coming from the driver's side of the engine. (electrical fire)
Fuse block on top of battery melted, fuses not blown.
Battery has to be jumped whenever left for 5 days. Had tested at 39k but vw service said was fine. Progressively got worse until had to be replaced at 45k as would no longer start in mornings. Report states faulty battery and replaced with stateline (cannot afford vw battery with all the repairs I'm having to do) at $182.
Check mill light came on at 41k. Had to replace air mass flow meter, airflometer, hose, and install new vacuum valve. Also something to do with injection solenoid to the combi valve and a faulty mass airflow sensor. Cost me close to $300.
One relay sensor in my horn failed which caused horn not to function. Had to replace all four relay sensors in order to correct problem. Dealership charged me $ 300.
Fan switch would turn off, then started smoking and caught fire, burning the entire dashboard in a matter of minutes.
Check engine light has been on more often than not since 22,000 miles. On 8/28/01 o2 sensor replaced by dealer (#1). On 1/20/03 dealer (#3) told me that engine wiring harness needed to be replaced for an estimated cost to owner of $1306.25. Car brought to nondealer and repaired for $36.00, albeit temporarily. Incidentally dealer had completely run down battery, requiring replacement. On 5/8/03 car brought to dealer (#4) for overheating due to a puncture in oil pan, though owner was not aware of hitting anything. Of course engine light had been on and temperature sensor was replaced at that time. Again incidentally temperature light came on within 5 miles of dealership after oil pan had been "fixed". On 1/15/04 owner is not able to pass emissions testing and therefore not able to renew registration of vehicle because check engine light is on. On that day, vacuum leak was repaired but light returned within 24 hours. On 1/21/04 a hose in air injection system was replaced but light returned within 24 hours. Mechanic has now refused to continue working on the car. Do yourself a favor - never even consider for a moment buying a vw!! This is the worst car that I or anyone I've ever known has owned. Vw service is atrocious as well. They are incompetent, irresponsible and rude to boot. The fact that vw will not provide a rental car, especially when car is still under warrenty and problems occur that have known technical service bulletins, is absolutely unacceptable, particularly in light of all the problems that these cars pose. See additional problems that owner has experienced under "other".
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2000 Volkswagen Beetle?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history