| NHTSA Complaint Number: 005026965 |
Incident Date: Jun, 30 2005 |
| Consumer's City: OKLAHOMA CITY |
Consumer's State: OK |
| Vehicle Transmission Type: MAN |
Manufacturers Name: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| Model Name: BEETLE |
Model Year: 1999 |
| Vehicle Involved in a Crash:
No |
Component's Description: Electrical system:12v/24v/48v battery |
| Vehicle Involved in a Fire:
No |
Persons Injured: 0 |
| Vehicle's VIN#: 3VWCA21C0XM |
Date added to File: May, 23 2021 |
| Date Complaint Received: Jun, 30 2005 |
Complaint Type: IVOQ |
| Incident Reported To Police:
No |
Purchase Date:
Apr, 21 2002 |
| Was Original Owner:
No |
Anti-lock Brakes:
Yes |
| Number of Cylinders: 4 |
Date of Manufacturer: - |
| Was Vehicle Towed:
- |
Description of the Complaints:
I own a 1999 new beetle with the 2.0 engine with 37,000 original miles. the car quit running approx. 2 1/2 yrs ago,approximately two months after i purchased it from a certified volkswagen dealer, used. a few days after delivery there was a rotten egg smell, check engine light on, engine sluggish. after one month the battery went dead completely. replaced the battery, car would not run. battery dead again after four days. i found info on the internet that security system must be set or the battery will last only four days. inspected plugs, found heavy carbon buildup. inspected pre o2 sensor, found same. decided to overhaul eng. found heavy carbon on tops of pistons and valves. machine shop had to replace pistons, rings, all bearings, oil pump, plane the cylinder head, plane the head mating surface, replace seals, turn the flywheel. i had to also replace the water pump, timing belt, clutch, throwout bearing, o2 sensor, plug wires, and the dipstick holder. after considerable money spent, engine would start but not run. i found out from the dealer that if electrical power is lost, vehicle must be towed to a volkswagen dealer and be reprogrammed. it will not run until that is done. the reason given was that volkswagen did not want any owners to fix their own car. this could be a signifigant safety issue in a life threatening situation! there are reports on several internet forums of the original batteries blowing up and even after replacement of the battery the vehicle would not run until it was reprogrammed. volkswagen should be required to fix this problem. i would like to see a full investigation on this model to see if it should be sold in the us. there are too many reported defects on this model to list here, some that apply to this car, that are much more dangerous than i described here. i hope that our government will straighten this company out and that owners will somehow be compensated.
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