Two problems related to ignition switch have been reported for the 2000 Volkswagen New Beetle. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2000 Volkswagen New Beetle based on all problems reported for the 2000 New Beetle.
I drove an hour away in the rain, parked for 15 minutes, and when I returned the engine would start but I had no use of wipers, heater/blower, or directional signals. Since I dared not drive in the rain without wipers, and since it was a Sunday, I had to get towed home. It was the ignition switch -- and when they tried to replace it, they found that its receptacle and nearby wires were all melted! vw says tough luck, it's my problem.
The ignition switch on the car failed sometime between 8:00pm Monday 8/02 and 5:30am on Tuesday 8/03. I went out to my car and started it, only to notice, I had no fan, no a/c, no defroster, no rear defroster, no headlights, no foglights, no power to some of my gauges. I researched the problem and found it to be the ignition switch, which I called my dealer for and had to spend $90 to replace. Upon removing the old unit, I noticed a wire that connects to the 30 fuse on the unit was melted and corroded, the plastic housing that connects the wires to the switch it self had melted in a small portion and the old unit had visible burn marks on it. The failure has been fixed, but the potential safety hazard still exists in my opinion, just based on the numerous people I've read about with the same problem.