Three problems related to emission control have been reported for the 2001 Volkswagen Beetle. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The contact owns a 2001 Volkswagen Beetle. Ever since the vehicle was purchased, the mass air flow sensor has been repaired 4 times. When the vehicle was started and placed into first gear, the vehicle would shutter, stall, and then fail. A local technician stated that the mass air flow sensor was failing and the vehicle was repaired at the cost of $350. The mass air flow sensor has been replaced four times since the vehicle was purchased. The contact is in the process of notifying the manufacturer. The failure mileage was 68,000 and current mileage was 69,900. Updated 02/05/09 updated 02/06/09.
On 8/21/07 took my vw to dealer due to a recognizable rattling noise coming from under vehicle and the mil light came on. Paid $126. 94 to "remove and replace oil pan shield". Eighteen days latter, 9/8/07, I received a "catalytic converter warranty extension" warning the catalytic converter was susceptible to degraded performance. If this happens, the owner me hear a readily recognizable rattling noise coming from under your vehicle in the area of the converter and/or the mil may illuminate due to the presence of specific fault codes caused by faulty catalytic converter. This I a real coincidence. The dealer claimed I had a "cracked oil pan shield" and 18 days later the factory states the same symptoms are caused by a faulty catalytic converter!!! I don't believe this.
Mass airflow sensor failure. I have had 4 fail, and the dealer has just been replacing these. I have come to the point of just disableing this sensor and running off of the manifold absolute pressure sensor. Several cars have had this problem.