2004 Volkswagen Beetle: airbag warning light

Filed Aug 31, 2020 · Airbags · 33,640 miles · CA

Air bag light never goes off, started at 33650 miles, right after my mom signed over the car to me.

Filed Jan 8, 2020 · Airbags · 94,000 miles · NJ

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 volkswagen beetle. The contact stated that the air bag warning light illuminated and remained illuminated for two months. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the air bag sensor which was a part of the driver's frontal seat belt system needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. A local dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was contacted and informed of the failure. The contact was informed by the manufacturer that the part needed for the repair was on back order. The approximate failure mileage was 94,000.

Filed Oct 15, 2019 · Airbags · 32,000 miles · TX

Air bag lights on and seems the dealer cannot get parts to fix ??

Filed Aug 23, 2016 · Airbags · 60,000 miles · NJ

Air bag light came on last year, resolved. Back on, I see old recall? What to do?

Filed Jun 23, 2016 · Airbags, Visibility · 122,000 miles · TX

1. Air bag: the air bag indicator light is illuminating. 2. Sunroof drain system clogged: there is leakage through the sunroof of the passenger side. All rain water is coming in from the passenger door. After about 2 weeks of thunder storms the car has water all over the inside and the ceiling and smells bad. (as soon as I found out the sunroof leakage problem of this car, I found that he u.s. Court of appeals for the third circuit has approved a $69 million settlement stemming from a class-action lawsuit that started in 2007 over leaking sunroofs. Http://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2014/volkswagen-settles-lawsuit-leaking-sunroofs.shtml)

Filed Aug 17, 2015 · Airbags · 2,500 miles · CA

In 2008 I took my vw beetle to the vw dealership service department in murrieta, ca on date street and they have record that they fixed the air bag light/ and replace the switch which was lit up on my dash instrument panel. Well I took the same car 2004 vw beetle back on 08/17/2015 at 8:15 am so they could take care of my airbag light which came on again at 107,000 miles. I understand that there are several switches from the seatbelts to the frontend and also behind the cars dash that can cause the airbag light to come on but, being this is a life saving part on my car I do not feel I should have to pay for a recall service and part on my return visit. As I see it this is a defect and a safety hazard and I should not be charged a $126.00 to diagnose the issue and pay more for the part and service to fix a defective item. If I'm incorrect please advise me so I can understand how this is my fault. I thought if you fixed the problem then it should be on the company or persons who repaired the recall issue. Thank you very much and I would appreciate a response to my frustration with this issue.

Filed Oct 9, 2014 · Airbags, Seat belts · 85,000 miles · OH

Driver's side seat belt wiring has failed thus illuminating the air bag light. The seat belt wiring is of minute diameter with little shielding and poor conduit. Because the seat belt must flex when moving the seat forward, the strain on the wiring in the seat belt rips the wiring from it's soldered joint. This causes the air bag light to illuminate and causes the air bag system to revert to a backup algorithm that puts the driver in a dangerous environment. This "backup" algorithm will not monitor vehicle speed and will automatically deploy the airbag at a default amount of force regardless of impact force. This means that a minor fender bender that reaches the airbag force threshold could deploy the airbag at a force too great and conversely a high speed impact may deploy the airbag with insufficient force. This is an extremely common problem on this model year vehicle. A quick internet search will alert you as to how common this problem is. After calling my local dealership, they told me "we replace a ton of those seatbelts." volkswagen should acknowledge this egregious manufacturing defect and recall this defective part before fatal consequences further prove this is a deadly and extremely common problem.

Filed May 4, 2014 · Airbags · 60,000 miles · MA

My air bag warning light came on yet again. This has happened in the past and was fixed by a vw dealer by changing the infrequently used passenger side seat belt buckle. The cost of this repair was $360. The warning light came on again less than one year later. It was brought back to the dealer and scanned and found to be a defective air bag control module. The estimate for the fix was about $800 with the advisory that it might not be fixed with that part replacement. The service report reads, "airbag crash sensors may need to be replaced as well if software is different from new module." it sounds like the vw technicians themselves are guessing about the repair. There is reportedly a vw recall on the 2003-2005 beetle airbag control module but the vw dealer as well as vw customer service (800‑374‑8389) both tell me that it does not apply to my vehicle. The internet vw beetle forums are replete with reports of airbag system problems. I am submitting this complaint to add to the current list of such complaints with the hopes that vw will take responsibility for what appears to be a serious safety related defect in their design and/or manufacturing process of the 2004 vw beetle.

Filed Apr 7, 2014 · Airbags · 59,000 miles · OH

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 volkswagen beetle. The contact stated that the air bag warning lamp illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technician diagnosed that the air bag warning lamp illuminated. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 59,000. The current mileage was 79,000. Updated 05/28/14*lj updated 8/17/17

Filed Aug 8, 2011 · Airbags · 27,000 miles · MO

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 volkswagen new beetle convertible. The contact stated that the airbag light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer, who performed a diagnostic test and stated that the failure was located at the airbag control module. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was 27,000 and the current mileage was 32,631.

Filed Mar 30, 2011 · Airbags · 30,000 miles · IN

Airbag light came on and stay on(concerned about not working properly in event of accident) taken into dealership for code read: airbag module shorted. Front passenger seat and carpet need to be removed for replacement of airbag because wire under the seat is too short that it torn when the seat was moved forward to allow access to rear seat. This should be a manufactured fault.

Filed Mar 25, 2011 · Seat belts · 14,000 miles · NJ

Vehicle is a 2004 vw new beetle - problem is airbag lights are on due to a broken wire in the wiring that leads into the driver's side seat belt latch. I had the code diagnosed by a mechanic and I visually inspected the 4 wires under the seat belt buckle and the yellow wire is broken. An obvious manufacturing flaw as this part gets a tremendous amount of movement due to the seatback moving forward and backward when putting the seat up to get into the back seat. My car only has 14,000 miles on it so it has not been driven very much in the 7 years we have had it. I contacted the dealer where I purchased the vehicle and their response was - we sell alot of those driver's side seat belt latch assemblies due to the same problem. They would not repair for free as there is no recall and no bulletin on the issue. Read numerous sites and entries all over the web and it appears many owners of these cars (many different model years) are all having the same problem. Called vw america to see if they would at least provide me with a free part as I would do the replacement myself. They checked and denied my request. As the airbags will not work when the airbag light is on, this is a dangerous situation. A recall should be placed on the seatbelt latches as the wiring used and the design are not at all industrial enough to hold up over time.