The car, a 2001 VW Gti 1.8T, was being driven at low (residential street -- 25 mph or less) speeds and made a right turn. The right rear wheel probably grazed the curb, or possibly hit a pothole. The passenger side airbag and side curtain airbag deployed. The car lost power, possibly due to the engine stalling (it's a manual) though that's not certain. The dealer service department inspected the car and they confirm there is no damage other than the (substantial!) damage of the airbag deployment. Fortunately there was nobody in the passenger seat and traffic was minimal so no one was injured. It seems as though a curb or pothole hit should not have been enough to cause airbag deployment. The car has very low mileage, less than 60,000, and has been well-maintained.

- Ann Arbor, MI, USA

The contact owns a 2001 volkwagen Gti. The contact was traveling 35 mph when he abruptly turned the wheel to avoid a crash. The contact drover over a pothole and the air bags deployed independently. The vehicle was not inspected or repaired for the air bag failure. The contact believed the failure to be a manufacture ring defect. The VIN was unavailable. The failure and current mileage was 126,000.

- Portsmouth, NH, USA

I have a 2001 VW Gti and my side curtain airbags wrongfully deployed. I received minor damage to my rear rim from a street curb that caused my airbags to wrongfully deploy. I was not in a collision, nor in serious danger, although when my airbags deployed I was frightened and veered to my left lane. Luckily no one was in that lane, but I could have received major injuries.

- Miami, FL, USA

I was traveling down a highway at 60 mph. Suddenly without impact both the drivers side curtain airbag and drivers seat side airbag deployed, for no reason. What made it even more scary is that it turned off my car while coasting at highway speeds, also disoriented me. Was able to barely turn the car to an off ramp with out a wreck resulting. Nothing has been replaced at this time.

- Garland, TX, USA

: the contact stated while driving 65mph the frontal airbags deployed for no apparent reason. There were no known road hazards and gasoline had not been put into the vehicle for two days. The vehicle was driven to the dealership and is currently awaiting inspection.

- New York, NY, USA

Car was fine at night when parked. Airbag fault light came on in the morning, and will not turn off. Already as happened before and had airbag replaced. As happened again less than two years later. Will keep parts replaced this time.

- Spokane, WA, USA

Air bag default light and buzzer has come on many times. Jan 2001, April 2001, Aug 2005, Jan 2006 and now again Feb 2006. VW of America has repaired and paid for first three problems. In Jan they said that they could only cover 75% of cost of repair. Each time I have been without my car for as long as a week. I now have a call into the dealer for this fifth problem and am waiting and obviously am frustrated. The fault code has been 00588 032-resistance being too high in the air bag ignighter...I am thankful I have not been involved in an accident so I am unable to know whether the air bag would be of any help. But this does keep me wondering...I expect VW of a to pay for all such repairs and provide me with a loner car. They are not standing behind their product.

- San Jose, CA, USA

I was rear ended in Nov 2003. My car was pushed into the vehicle in front of me with enough force to signal the airbags to deploy. The airbag did not deploy. I did not find this out until after the accident when the airbag light came on and it was at the dealer for repair. The dealer told me that the signal had gotten scrambled and lost. The problem was fixed. In Apr 2005, during my 60K service I was told that my airbag resistance was set too high and the airbag may not deploy. The dealer said this repair would cost $1000 in parts plus the labor which is intensive. I do not feel that I should have to pay to repair faulty safety equipment, especially when this is not the first problem with the airbag.

- Baltimore, MD, USA

Took the car to dealer after airbag light came on. I was told the on board computer says fault code 00591 for driver's belt switch resistance being too high, which is due to broken wiring in belt switch harness in driver's seat belt buckle. I was told this could lead to airbag not functioning properly in the case of a collision. I believe failure of the wiring in the belt switch harness is probably due to a design flaw/manufacturing fault since it is a relatively new car.

- Seattle, UT, USA

Due to the "airbag" symbols displayed on the A- and B-pillars of my car, I and my dealer assumed that curtain airbags were installed. The monroney sticker listed only front and side airbags. Volkswagen customer service informed me that curtain airbags were a running change during the model year and that my vehicle did not have curtain airbags based on its date of manufacture, despite the "airbag" symbols indicating that curtain airbags were installed (curtain airbag installation began in March, 2001, while my vehicle was assembled in February, 2001). The VW customer service operator was unconcerned and suggested that I contact my local dealer if I was dissatisfied. My local dealer subsequently "confirmed" the installation of curtain airbags through the vehicle computer diagnostic system. While I have chosen to rely on my local dealer's information rather than information provided by Volkswagen's corporate customer service and the monroney sticker, I am troubled by Volkswagen's ineptitude and lack of concern in providing information on a critical safety system. Most troubling, Volkswagen customer service was unconcerned that the vehicle interior trim badging indicated installation of curtain airbags where their records showed that none were installed. Of lesser concern to me is that the monroney sticker omitted an important safety feature. At least I think it did. If I'm ever unfortunate enough to resolve the debate between my local dealer and Volkswagen experimentally and find that no curtain airbags are in fact installed in my car, I or my heirs will be contacting you again.

- Parkersburg, WV, USA

Air bag sensor light stayed on. Vehicle been into dealer on two occasions, and problem still reoccurring. The fog light burn out while the vehicle was new. Also, the interior lights were defective. Check engine light comes on repeatdly and fuse panel replaced. Fuel pump relay replaced.

- Walnut Creek, CA, USA