Consumer Complaint Detail

VOLKSWAGEN / BEETLE / 2000

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 005035993 Incident Date: Aug, 17 2005
Consumer's City: CHELTENHAM Consumer's State: PA
Vehicle Transmission Type: 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:exhaust system:emission control:catalytic convertor
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: Aug, 26 2005 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: -
Was Original Owner: No Anti-lock Brakes: No
Number of Cylinders: 4 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: While driving on the highway my car suddenly began making a loud, horrendous noise. i pulled over to the side and looked at the muffler, it appeared intact. i drove slowly to a service station where they told me that the pipe of the exhaust system that leads to the catalytic converter had detached. they told me the pipe was stainless steel and they were not even sure how it had ever attached. they called volkswagen to ask what could be done. the people at volkswagen wanted to know what year the car was and the mileage, 61,000 miles. after a hesitation they told the man at the service station that it would cost $800 - $900 for a new system. the man at the service station did an emergency weld, although he didn't think that it would hold. he also told me that he saw no damage under the car that would have caused this pipe to detach. he also said he was suspicious of the manner in which the volkswagen representative had questioned him about the year and mileage and suggested i contact volkswagen myself. i called volkswagen and was told that the warranty on the catalytic converter on that model had been extended to 80,000 miles or 8 years. i explained that i wasn't sure if it was the converter but it was the pipe leading to it, i was assured that it was probably covered. i took my car to pitcairn volkswagen in langhorne, pa. the people at the dealership told me that they contacted volkswagen directly and showed them pictures of the undercarriage of my car. it was determined that i had caused the damage. when i argued that there was no damage, i was told it was not covered because i had the emergency weld done. they agreed to reinforce the weld but that was all. *jb