10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
4 / 0
Average Mileage:
0 miles

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problem #2

Dec 092000

Beetle

  • miles
On Dec. 9th, 2000, our Beetle was hit in the drivers side and side airbags did not deploy. "experts" at Volkswagen claimed that our forward motion at the time of impact lessened the side impact. I can understand this to some degree but by their reasoning, if we were going twice as fast, would the damage have been halved" oy. The side was so caved-in that I had to be cut out of the car with the jaws of life. People who have seen the car, including the repair shop foreman, can not believe that the airbag did not deploy. On contacting VW, I was told that being that I was moving at the time of impact, it lessened the side impact. I can understand this to some exent, but does this mean that if we were doing 100mph instead of 50mph would the damage would have been halved".

- Groveport, OH, USA

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problem #1

Dec 092000

Beetle

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
Consumer complaint is that the side air bag on his vehicle failed to deploy when another vehicle hit the drivers side at approximately 15 mph. Consumer was traveling forward at approximately 50 to 60 mph. A pick-up truck hit consumer's car broadside on driver's side, an engineer at VW claims stated that the forward motion of vehicle lessened the side impact enough that the air bag did not activate.

- Grove Port, OH, USA

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