6.0

fairly significant
Typical Repair Cost:
$300
Average Mileage:
25,000 miles
Total Complaints:
1 complaints

Most common solutions:

  1. dealership replaced cable and button to gas cap (1 reports)
Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2003 Volkswagen Beetle:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

problem #1

Apr 092008

Beetle

  • Manual transmission
  • 25,000 miles

I went to fill up my car on the way to work and I couldn't open the locking gas cap cover. The button inside the car didn't work and when I called the dealership they said there was an "emergency" method for opening it from inside the trunk, but that didn't work for me. Took it in and they said that the cable that controlled the cap open/close was too tight and put so much strain on the motor that ran the open/close button that it burned out the button motor. They attributed this to "wear & tear" but as my car is over 5 yrs old and only has 25,000 miles on it, I doubt that I have been opening that gas cap cover anywhere near as often as most owners. I suspect that if I had still been on warranty they would have covered the repair as a defective part.

- susanwa, Seattle, WA, US