Three problems related to underhood wiring 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.
At 4:20pm on 5/28/02 my wife was on interstate 95 near georgetown, MA on the way to the dealership in amesbuy for service because the car's airconditioner had quit and some of the dashboard indicator lights would not stop flashing. Suddenly she saw smoke in the rearview mirror and pulled the car over to the side of the road. Then more smoke came from under the hood, so she got out of the car. Minutes later the car was engulfed in flames and black smoke. Ten minutes later it was completely destroyed. The georgetown fire department and state police had responded, but by the time they got there, there was nothing they could do. We have not contacted Volkswagen directly because we feel they would not be responsive. Maybe the insurance company or the NHTSA can force the manufacturer to look into this, since this seems to be happening to other 2000 beetles as well, and sooner or later someone will be seriously injured or killed because of this apparent defect.
Car began to hesitate but did not stall. All panel lights began to flash, also a ''clicking'' sound. There also was a smell of burning wires. The car became fully engulfed in flame in less than 10 minutes. The fire began on drivers side.
While coming to an intersection and downshifting, instead of the car slowing down, the cruise control turned itself on and proceeded to accelerate. By pressing the brake pedal, the cruise control turned off. The cruise control switch has already been replaced one time. My car has now been in the shop 8 times for numerous electrical problems and vw of America doesn't seem too interested on solving the problems.