general problems of the 2001 Volkswagen New Beetle

The state of virginia requires vehicle inspections, one item requires that dash warning lights for seat belt and airbags operate correctly. Our 2001 vw beetle has an airbag warning light that would not go out. The vw dealer charged $100 to diagnose the fact that the driver's seat belt (micro chip) was the culprit and for another $500 the problem could be corrected. Feeling this dealer was trying to "rip me off" I searched the internet for information on this problem. There are literally thousands of comments from owners of vw cars with the same complaint. I contacted Volkswagen of America, customer care advocate, for information on this safety item and inquired why the excessive charge from their dealers. A simple reply was returned saying they did not see a need for a recall to correct a recurring problem. The problem is that if the sensor does not believe the seat belt is fastened, the airbag will not deploy in a crash. I wish to add my voice to the many complaints I found in the NHTSA web site regarding Volkswagen of America's disregard for the lives of their customers, so their dealers can make money from a repeated correction to this problem. At your request I will provide facts, documents, and evidence concerning my complaint.

I was removing my seat belt and it slipped from my hand. After that the air bag default light came on and has stayed on. Two dealerships have told me there is a problem with the seat belt latch, but that the air bags will still deploy. The dealers are autobarn vw in evanston, IL and jennigs vw in glenview, IL. However city vw tells me the air bags won't deploy due to the failure light being on and that the buckle has to be replaced. I heard of other people having the same problems on the vw blogs on the web.