10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 2 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 1 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 69,460 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
The contact owned a 2006 Volkswagen Beetle. While driving at an unknown speed, the contact's vehicle was rear ended and pushed into a yard. The vehicle struck a water meter and crashed into a concrete covert. The air bag deployed. The contact sustained third degree burns from the Volkswagen emblem on the air bag, and cuts and bruises to the face that required medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an insurance lot and deemed destroyed. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and provided case number: 190802695. The failure mileage was approximately 260,000. Consumer stated found car was sold to Tennessee auto salvage (knoxville, tn) sold 9/14/19. Phone number 865-281-5420. Pictures that VW (larry West) received from copart knoxville, tn.
- Sale Creek, TN, USA
There is a sensor that is connected to my airbag in my car that has gone out 4 times and counting. This "sensor" makes the airbag useless. Within a year to 16 months of fixing the problem, it has reoccured each time. Volkswagen refuses to pay for the parts or warranty them past a year. The part is clearly faulty and endangers peoples lives. This is not a part that should be subject to wear and tear replacement on a yearly basis. Especially with a pricetag of around $650 per fix. With the number of complaints about the same problem online, this should clearly be a recall. I don't understand how it isn't.
- North Hollywood, CA, USA
The contact owns a 2006 Volkswagen Beetle. The contact stated that the seal from the rear windshield was deteriorating and caused water to enter the vehicle. In addition, the air bag warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 94,000.
- Conyers, GA, USA
My 2006 Volkswagen Beetle has had 4 failures of the air bag system. According to Volkswagen certified dealerships, the part that keeps failing is a sensor in the seatbelt. When this sensor malfunctions the entire airbag system is rendered useless. It goes off randomly, with no trauma or incident to the vehicle. The part costs more than $600 to fix. I have had it repaired in 2008, 2010, 2013 and now the same part has failed again. Each time it went out it was within a year of the previous failure, although until recently I did not realize that the airbag system was disabled - I waited to take it in because of the inconvenience. The light also randomly turns off one out of every 10-15 drives. The Volkswagen regional case manager informed me that - despite the fact that the part is clearly faulty and has continuously failed due to no fault of my own or any factors I could control - they will not replace it and expect me to pay the cost for the yearly/bi-yearly failure because my car has 102,000 miles on it. The failure has nothing to do with mileage and the same problem was fixed multiple times when the car had lower mileage. (plus, I purchased the extended warranty to 100,000) this part clearly needs to be recalled. I have seen hundreds of postings from other people online suffering from the same issue and Volkswagen is sticking the consumer with the bill for their shoddy workmanship. When I asked "if I pay to fix it now, will you be covering the rest of the replacements it will obviously need down the line?" the answer was a "no." It is a serious safety issue that needs to be handled by some body with authority over this company. The vehicle is not meeting basic safety standards. I maintain the parts of my vehicle each year that I am required to - Volkswagen needs to do their part to make their vehicles work properly.
- Chicago, IL, USA
The contact owns a 2006 Volkswagen Beetle. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the air bag warning light illuminated. The contact was concerned that the air bag could deploy inadvertently or would not deploy if involved in a crash. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the mechanic stated that the seat belt buckle assembly would need to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 55,141. The VIN was not available.
- Columbus, OH, USA
The contact owns a 2006 Volkswagen Beetle. The contact stated that the air bag off warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection where they informed the contact that the seat belt sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 62,000.
- Garden Grove, CA, USA
I own a 2006 VW new Beetle convertible. The air bag warning light started to light intermittently and now it always remains lit. I have taken it into my VW dealership a few times for this issue. At first, they were able to reset the code and the air bag light went out. However, the last time I went in they were unable to reset the light. To correct the problem, the VW dealership says that I need to pay them a signifiicant amount of money to troubleshoot and correct the problem. I have never before had a problem with any air bag warning lights on any of my other vehicles. I believe that this is a definite safety issue that is caused by the unreliability of VW's design implementation of their air bag safety system. People should be able to have high confidence that their safety systems will be utra reliability throughout the life of the car and should not have to expect to pay additional for that assurance. My daughter was just in a minor rear end collision. The air bags did not deploy either because the collision was insufficient to set off the air bag system or because the air bag sensor light was on. Thankfully, my daughter was no seriously injured.
- Round Lake, IL, USA
Air bag light on.
- Des Moines, IA, USA
- Dublin, CA, USA