general problems of the 2002 Volkswagen Beetle

Unknown.

I was driving on the highway with my daughter and girlfriend when suddenly the car caught an electrical fire out of nowhere. I pulled over and cloudy smoke was arising luckily the state trooper had a fire extinguisher to put it out before the car caught on heavy flames.

We purchase our 2002 vw beatle from a private 6 years ago. We have replaced the fuse box above the battery on 3 previous occasions as the box shorts out and melts causing the car to turn off and not restart. The first two times we had repair facilities fix the problem to the tune of $500 plus each time. The 3rd time this happened I ordered the part on line and did the repair myself. Well it just burned out again this week which now makes 4 times in a 6 year history this has occurred. I talked with vw concerning this and they said the cable was too small when vw first manufactured the car. So the 3rd time it went out I replaced the so called faulty cable as well. Well I guess that wasn't the problem as I said it now burned up again and that was replacing the cable and going to a larger gage size wire that vw suggested. Not what should I just expect it to happen again. Needless to say I have seen this same complaint several times when is vw going to stand up and take responsibility. I know have spent over $1500 fixing the same thing now for the 4th time. Very disappointing vw.

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.

On June 13th I was driving my car and I went to turn off the ac and it made a loud clicking noise, after the noise the ac wouldn't turn off so I ended up driving 3 hours with the ac full blast. A few days after this I was able to turn off the ac, and left it like this for about 2 weeks. At this point the middle knob was stuck and the ac would randomly work and no longer would turn at all. On June 30th as I was leaving the parking lot of my apartment and went to turned on the ac, it made a weird noise but I continued driving anyways. The ac stopped working so I turned the knob again and I started getting a burning smell, I looked down and saw smoke coming out from behind the knob so I drove back to my apartment because I decided it wasn't safe to drive on the freeway. In a matter of a minute the smoke got worse and started coming out from the entire area under my radio. I parked my car once I got back home and stood outside as I allowed my car to air out, not long after this I saw flames coming out from the middle knob and growing bigger. I was luckily able to put it out with a cup of water and was forced to call 911 to make sure the fire was completely out. This is one of the worst experiences that has ever happened to me and it was terrifying, if I didn't have a cup of water at the time the fire could have easily burned up the rest of my car in a matter of seconds.

The contact owns a 2002 Volkswagen Beetle. The contact smelled a burning odor throughout the vehicle. The odor caused him to have a headache. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for a diagnostic test. The failure mileage was 73,000 miles.

My fiancee and I purchased this Beetle in November of 2010 and have had nothing but problems with it. It has been in the shop a number of time (5-7) and we have spent hundreds in trying to fix it. Yet no luck. It is a danger to my fiancee and new born baby. On day it will run fine but then after driving for ten minutes the epc light come on and the brakes barely work if at all, and it wont speed up even if she has her foot to the floor. So now we have a $6000 dollar car that not even the vw dealership can fix. It sits on our road. I have seen so many complaints about people having the same problem and I believe its only a matter of time before some one gets seriously injured or even worse. Please do something about this monstrosity that vw refuses to admit.

2002 vw Beetle turbo 1. 8 while driving the red light sensor would come on stating my car was overheating. Nothing was leaking, sensors were replaced a few months prior due to the same issue along with a ring and it happened again. The red light flashes then about 2 miles later the oil light goes on and if the car is not pulled over immediately then you risk engine damage. The entire engine is made up of plastic parts pretty much which crack and melt very easy when heat gets to them. So now after spending money on water pumps, assemblies, hoses, sensors which total over 3k it is now an issue once again and the car is undrivable. I am extremely disappointed in this vehicle. Also my igniter coils were replaced 8 times (2x each one) prior to a recall and they do not reimburse you all the monies spent. Now there is a recall in my sunroof which the dealership will not fix since the water damage is already affecting the roof of the vehicle. So with all of my receipts not including rental cars for repairs only I have invested over 6k in a car worth less and I doubt no one will pay to take it off my hands which will leave a single mother car less.

Over the past two months, I have experienced problems shifting in between gears. The problem began on a road trip to houston, TX and was stuck on a back highway in low gear in the middle on nowhere. After bringing the car to a stop and restarting the vehicle it worked for some time but the issue progressively got worse over the last two months. I live in nacogdoches, TX where there are many hills throughout town, this past Friday on my way home from school my car would not shift gears and I could not get over the hills. Another car came over the hill and almost hit me as the speed limit is 55 mph in that area and my car was not even moving as I hit over 6000 rpm and I could not move forward to climb the hill. Now the vehicle will not even move forward once it was brought to my driveway, no matter how many times I have restarted.

The contact owns a 2002 Volkswagen Beetle. The contact was driving approximately 45 mph when the windshield wiper failed to function. In addition, the power windows, turn signals, headlights, air conditioner and defroster would not function. The brake and engine warning lights were also illuminated and the contact stated that the failures occurred at the same time. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostics or repairs. The approximate failure mileage was 65,000.

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 own two of the vw new Beetles. One is 2002 and the other is 2003. Both of them have trouble with the taillight/stoplight and turn signals not working due to a defective contact design in the bulb socket. In order to fix the problem you have to take the assembly out and bend the contact to put more spring in them which puts more pressure against the bulb. This may fix the problem for a time ( 1 to 60 days) then the problem reverts. All parts are oem equipment. I have contacted vw about this and there is not a recall. I would think that turn signals and tail lights would be considered a safety issue. I know I am not the only person to have this problem. I am concerned about my families safety and don't understand why a mandatory recall has not been issued.

2002 vw Beetle 2. 0 GLS w/ approx. 77,000 miles. Low fuel lights stays on / will not go off. The fuel gauge is working properly, the light just won't go off. We checked several web sites and contacted a couple of vw dealerships. We found out it is likely the instrument cluster and it's a fairly common problem. Vw wouldn't warranty the work.

Vehicle experiencing electrical problems, any electrical problem with this vehicle activates the motor protection circuit, this circuit remaps the computer to shut off the turbo, this has occurred while the vehicle is in motion which caused a hazardous situation.

Vehicle has been in the shop for various electrical problems. During one situation vehicle shut down in the middle of the road with no warning. Other problems were immobilizer failed again, affecting electrical system. Also, front light covers were retaining water, causing a short. Please describe details.