2004 vw beetle buy 8-19-04. Ransmission failure 4 since 9-8, letter 9-18 sent certified *vw tech hotline gave no case # service mgr gave customer two 800#s & customer spoke w/3 men but no case #s & said they would call back in 10-15 days. A/o 9-29, no return call & car back in shop for 4th time same thing. Dealer wants customer to drive around, leave service ticket open in case happens again. Customer requested full refund under lemon law, but no responses to request. Incidents: 1. 9-8 tried different gears and moved into first gear only, check engine light on and gear shift indicator light would not light up. Salesman advised to drive to service department, which took over 45 minutes at a top speed of 10 MPH. Work order #87669 indicates possible electrical contact and reads: hook-up vas 5051 codes po1626 data-bus power-train missing message from TCM, codes 01315 and 01315 inst cluster and data bus gearbox control unit no communication. Performed all test with vas 5051 and per tech hotline, no faults found advise to clear codes and test drive. If no further problem or codes, return vehicle to customer. Vw tech help contact no case #. Further overnite road test-all ok on test. Discrepancy-mileage wo #87669 reads 143 miles in, but mileage changed to 561 in and 602 out when car picked up. 2. 9-16 september 16 same happened around lunch, drove to dealer salesman said it was fine 3. 9-16 eve out of gear-towed, service ordered cluster to install 4. 9-27 vehicle wouldn't engage. Still at shop. They say they replaced more stuff, customer doesn't trust afraid of safety-self, family, others on the road.
Volkswagen New Beetle check engine light comes on
16 of the 191 owner complaints about the Volkswagen New Beetle describe check engine light, most of them for the 2000 model year.
- owner complaints
- 16
- worst model year
- 2000
- typical mileage
- 18,500
By model year
Often reported together
Trouble codes mentioned
P0226 1
What owners say
I have a 2001 volkswagon beetle and was very frustrated when my check engine light came on and the car started shaking. I took it in to the dealer where I was charged $100!!!! And they told me that they did not know what the problem was! I was so upset! The next day the light came on agian and I was furious! I took the car in again and was told it was the ignition coil and they wanted to charge me $100 agian. I copmplained and got the 2nd fee waved. I'm not an expert but it is very rare for an ignition coil to fail???
Check engine light came on, no drivability problems though. Dealer said not under warranty; 2001 vw beetle with 7,600 miles. Checked and charged $142.00 to diagnose problem, replaced cts, coolant temperature sensor. It appears that it is hard to find any shops with equipment to access vw's engine control system; only way is at vw or if a shop has a pc based system called morphus? Was this defect under warranty since it is part of the overall engine management system, controlling emissions? Thank you, [xxx].*ak information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Service engine light has come on repeatedly since purchasing the car from burnsville vw, burnsville, mn. Service dept. Stated "it's nothing to worry about" and reset the computer. After persistent reoccurance, requested they actually fix the problem, that is when they informed us the rivets to the secondary air pump had failed and it was no longer under warranty. Calls to vw north america resulted in the same, "no longer under warranty", "circumstances do not matter", etc. Estimated $650 to replace item. While we are being told it is a "minor" failure and will not affect the car performance, it seems that it triggers an "service engine soon" light for a reason. Also, we were told to "ignore" the service engine light. However if we ignore it then when a "significant" problem occurs, how would we know?! Vw north america customer service center admitted that this has been an ongoing problem but unless it is reported within the first 2 years it is no longer covered.
I own a 2000 new beetle 1.8t glx with approximately 30461 original miles. I have had a total of 7 repairs of the oxygen sensors and one repair to date of mass air flow meter. All of which have been covered by volkswagen of americas expense. I do however want to note that all the mechanical issues revolve around the mil malfunction indicator light on the dash. Each of the failures happens within one year from replacemnt of parts and with less than 6k miles between repairs. With my persistant calls to vwoa and my local dealer they have picked up all expenses. The warranty for this vehicle was 2 years or 24k miles. I now have 30k plus miles and am concerned about this persistant problem of o2 sensors and the like. If you require the VIN number for records or other pertinent information please feel free to contact me directly by mail, email, or telephone perhaps this is problem has been noted by other vehicle owners about this and orther models.
The 2000 new beetle that my husband and I purchased apparently has a defect in the electrical system. We purchased the car in february 2003. At that time there were no problems. The first time I put gas in the car the check engine light came on. My husband contacted a local volkswagen dealer to see about getting it fixed. He was told that this was a normal problem. If the gas cap wasn't put back on and clicked at least seven times, the light would come on. He was instructed to remove the gas cap, put it back on and turn it until there had been seven clicks. After that, we were supposed to do a cold start to make the light go off. This worked, but we have had to do it several times. The light will come on and go off, even though there are no engine problems. I have had another mechanic look at the car, and was told there were no problems with the engine, so it had to be a problem in the electrical system. After seeing some of the complaints that have been posted, I am worried about the possibility of the car stalling, malfunctioning, or, as in some of the other complaints have shown, the car catching on fire. I feel that the volkswagen company needs to really examine this issue. We had to have a sensor replaced for the braking system earlier this year that was under recall, and we only got it done because we were at the dealership for routine maintenance. We had not received a recall notice at all. I don't feel that the volkswagen company is concerned about any of the problems that are going on with this model. It is very distressing to think that I am stuck with a car that isn't worth what I paid for it because of defective equipment. This problem with the check engine is ongoing and I am not pleased with the response I have gotten from the dealer. It hasn't made the problem go away.
While driving my 2001 vw new beetle the car suddenly lost power and began to shake violently. I immediately slowed down but the car continued to idle very roughly. The ESC and check engine lights illuminated. I pulled the car off the highway and turned off the engine. I was able to re-start the engine and drive the car home. I took the car to the dealer and was informed that the o2 sensor and the throttle body had failed and required replacement. The total cost was $1097.00 and was my responsibility even though the car is a 2001 model with just over 18000 miles on the odometer. A call to the volkswagen "customer advocate" center proved hopeless as they refused to pay for the repair. I was told that the 2001 vw beetle came with a 2 year 24000 mile warranty. The lack of warranty leads me to believe that vw knew these cars were of substandard quality from the date of manufacturer.
2001 new beetle 1.9 l tdi, 55,000 mi.: check engine light comes on and stays on until car is turned off then it comes on once glow plug light goes off and car has started (witin 20 seconds). The dealer first told me it was the glow plug sensor. Then recanted and said the sensor was fine and told me I needed a new bridge wire and 4 new glow plugs. Should glow plugs only last for 55,000 miles? The car just turned over 55,023 when the check light came on.
I purchased a 2000 volkswagon beetle about two months ago and about two weeks after I brought it home the engine light went on. I read that these cars were coming with some kind of saftey defect in the engine and that's the same exact problem the dealer hasn't been able to fix twice already going on three times. The engine light keeps going on and these people seem to believe they know what they are doing. What should I do I don't want the car to cause some kind of accident or endanger my family or me.
Check engine light constantly comes on due to a vacuum hose constantly braking. Have had repaired 4 times.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Volkswagen New Beetle check engine light
Why does the check engine light come on in the Volkswagen New Beetle?
Owners who report it most often also describe sudden loss of power, won't start and stuck in gear or won't shift, and the codes they mention most are P0226.
Which Volkswagen New Beetle years have check engine light problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2000 (7 complaints), 2001 (7 complaints) and 2002 (1 complaints).
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