Air Bag Light On problems of the 2002 Volkswagen Beetle

The contact owns a 2002 Volkswagen Beetle. The contact stated that the air bag warning indicator remained illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The VIN was not available.

Bought this vw Beetle used. Had terrible smell, like burnt crayons. Cleaned it intensely, inside and outside. Thorough detail job. Still smells, causing headache. Air bag light and buzzer stayed on even after latching seat belt. Cruise control works erratically, lunging forward suddenly, then chugs, then lunges forward quickly again. Speed works consistently when cruise control is not engaged. Very unsafe with cruise control in use. Lighting issues. Interior lights would not work, unable to see interior gauges in the dark. Turn signals blinking erratically, and not in sync. Took vehicle in for repairs at an authorized vw dealer, paid $1,300. 00. Still not working properly. Took it back in 4 days later because drivers side window almost fell out while driving, and interior lighting issues still did not work. Was charged another $600. 00. Vehicle will not engage into drive position easily, and sometimes not at all unless the steering wheel is jerked on. Dealer said sensors were the problem, and that I will need to bring it back again to have the cruise control fixed at a cost of $250. 00. I am scared to drive this vehicle now. There should be some recalls on the smell issue, and the air bag/seat belt issue. Also cruise control issue, because I have been told it is associated with the electrical problems.

The front seat belt buckle becomes defective and sets an airbag code making the air bag light turn on and possibly not work. This is the third time I have had to replace the buckle on this vehicle in 187,000 miles. I have checked a number of vw club forums and have found this is a very common issue on these vehicles. I feel this is a safety issue that NHTSA should look into.

I own a 2002 vw Beetle,the air bag light came on,and took it to the dealership and they want to charge around $600. 00 dollars to get it fixed. I was doing some research on line about the airbag light coming on,and found out that alot of people who owned the same model year are having the same issue. I think this issue should be a recall since lots of other consumers are having exactly the same issue with the airbag like me.

Seat belt/air bag light came on. Took to local, qualified mechanic. They said only vw dealer could fix and reset. Dealer said it was lower seat belt harness ($380), but could be more (above $800) and the service writer encouraged us to do the more expensive work. Told them to do the harness and see if light would go out, which it did. Light came back on around 12/10/2010 at approximately 79,000 miles. Just prior to this, we purchased another vw Beetle, a 2003 convertible with 69,500 miles with the seat belt/airbag light on. Seller said he could not get it fixed by his mechanic and had to have vw dealer repair it for around "$380", maybe more. Since he made other repairs, we let it go. Now we have two to fix at the mercy of the vw dealer. My concerns are several: 1. This is a recurring problem for us and for numerous others (vw Beetle forum) 2. The repairs can only be completed by a high cost vw dealer and the computer reset by them only 3. The materials appear to be deficient/defective and the engineering of the harness/wiring system substandard 4. Repairs need to be made in the 60-85,000 mile range - a contrived maintenance/repair item that brings windfall revenue/profit to vw dealers in the $400-1,000 range per occurrence when many of the cars are worth only $4,000-7,000. 5. Since it is a basic safety item and we don't know if the airbag system works or not, we are forced to repair this problem because it makes us appear as if we are negligent when in fact this problem should not exist and be covered by the manufacturer like emission systems to well past 100-150,000 miles. In summary, vw has colluded with its dealers to create this situation and allow this "repair" to emerge as a way to generate revenues and profits on cars that would normally not have a reason to be brought in to a vw dealer. It is non-competitive, fraudulent and unnecessary.

I own a 2002 Beetle. It has 55,000 miles on it. Two months ago the air bag light came on and won't go off. Now, the turn signals won't work. To add to this once in awhile the sun roof will open on it's own!!! the dealer said it will cost about $650 to fix. This is not the first time with electrical problems with this car. The complete lighting system went out, the security door lock system stopped, the rear brake lights quit working, both windows have stopped going up and down. A couple of times the engine won't start and three times it will just shut down while driving. This car has a mind of it's own. Luckily no one has been hurt yet. Some of this has been recalled and some not.

I have a 2002 vw Beetle. I had an airbag light come on 3 years ago. I had it fixed once. About 6 months later the light came back on and I was told that the propblem may continue. I did not have it fixed again. I am now reading that this is a common problem. Why has this not been recalled?.

Air bag light has been on for about 3 weeks. Not sure what it means.