Three problems related to engine and engine cooling have been reported for the 1998 Volkswagen Beetle. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The contact owns a 1998 Volkswagen Beetle. The contact stated that while driving 55 mph, the temperature light began beeping, then suddenly stopped beeping and a red light began flashing. The contact noticed a thump under the accelerator pedal so she stopped the vehicle on the left side of the highway. She attempted to drive the vehicle to the right side, but the vehicle would not start, so she coasted over to the right side of the highway. When the hood was opened, there were flames erupting and the entire vehicle was engulfed in flames. The vehicle was destroyed. The fire department was called but no report was filed. The manufacturer had not been notified. The VIN was unavailable. The current and failure mileages were approximately 136,000.
Since I purchased my Beetle in 2001, it has been an ongoing money drain. In 6 yrs. I have replaced the manual transmission twice, had the brakes worked on a number of times, been unable to open the gas "door" on the car w/ the gas cap latch, had to replace the hood opening latch, had repeated electrical failures, problems w/ front & rear light wiring, had door locks/alarm fail & subsequently had my laptop stolen from the car, the radio has not worked for 1+ year, & it's cover panel is loose & falling back into the dash, the rear-view mirror switches have failed, the power window switches have had to be replaced, the drivers side door fell off (!) of its top hinge when the hinge broke while opening the door normally at a gas station, the air compressor has failed many times, the a/c is currently not working, the drivers side door lock fell out of the handle(!!!!), the catalytic converter has been replaced twice, & the list goes on. Currently I have not been driving the car for several wks b/c though only a week or two out of the shop, again it is having transmission problems. I am at my wits end with this car & having recently graduated from college, am not in the greatest position to have to buy a new car. Moreover, I am so displeased w/ the car that I would literally feel guilty about trading it in to be sold to some other unsuspecting person. Vw should be so ashamed of themselves, & should be reimbursing owners of the 1998 Beetle in full for all of the strife & trouble that they have caused. In fact, after writing this & realizing how many problems this car has had, I may try to take legal action - this is totally unacceptable! finally, our local vw dealer is terrible, keeping my car for wks. Longer than expected, one time leaving a candy bar stuck to my passenger side seat!!!, and acting like they could care less about the poor quality of their products & labor.
While driving at any speed vehicle vibrated and jerked uncontrollably. Consumer was able to maintain control of the vehicle, and drove it to the dealer for inspection, but mechanic was not able to duplicate the problem. Two weeks later, vehicle was taken back to the dealer for the same problem, and mechanic determined that one motor mount bolt was missing and one needed to be tightened.