Consumer Complaint Detail
VOLKSWAGEN / BEETLE / 2000
0 Injured
0 Death
No Fire
| Components - Details | |
|---|---|
| NHTSA Complaint Number: 005004012 | Incident Date: Jan, 13 2005 |
| Consumer's City: APEX | Consumer's State: NC |
| Vehicle Transmission Type: MAN | Manufacturers Name: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| Model Name: BEETLE | Model Year: 2000 |
| Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No | Component's Description: Engine and engine cooling:engine:gasoline:belts and associated pulleys |
| Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No | Persons Injured: 0 |
| Vehicle's VIN#: | Date added to File: May, 23 2021 |
| Date Complaint Received: Jan, 26 2005 | Complaint Type: IVOQ |
| Incident Reported To Police: No | Purchase Date: - |
| Was Original Owner: Yes | Anti-lock Brakes: Yes |
| Number of Cylinders: 0 | Date of Manufacturer: - |
| Was Vehicle Towed: - | Description of the Complaints: Driving on a two lane road in an isolated area, limited shoulder; without warning car stopped running. had to be towed to a service station & then to a dealer. it turned out the timing belt had failed and had destroyed the vavles and pistons requiring a new engine to fix. my car had 99,000 miles on it. warranty on timing belt for first owner is to 100,000 miles. vw service recommendations say the timing belt should be replaced at 105,000 miles for year 2000 models. i am concerned not only about the extraordinary cost that is involved in repairing this failure but also in the fact that there is no warning and it caused complete failure of my engine. i have read about other timing belt failures on this vehicle. dealer asked for and was supplied invoices for every repair and oil change but repair under the warranty was denied because i did not have the vehicle serviced by a dealer at 60,000 & 80,000 miles. i called the 800 number for vw but volkswagen was completely uninterested in my story. the only time the issue of checking the timing belt was mentioned to me was after it broke! even when i had other service performed at 88,000 miles by the dealer. my feeling is this type of failure which is so severe that it requires a new engine is unacceptble and unexpected. i have owned other cars of a different make that had well over 100,000 miles with little or no problems. why would vw recommend replacing the timing belt at 100,000 miles if there is a probability that it may not even make it that far? what use is a 100,000 mile power train warranty if there are so many loop holes that vw does not expect to have to honor the warranty? *ak |