2000 Volkswagen New Beetle problems
Owners have filed 45 complaints with NHTSA about the 2000 Volkswagen New Beetle. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 31% of complaints. Next are engine (18%) and air bags (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 45 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 31% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 2 and 5
- Injuries and deaths
- 2 and 2
- Typical mileage
- 26,000 miles 16 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 5 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 7 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 2 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 1 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 0 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 0 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 16 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 26,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 2 complaints mention a crash; 5 complaints mention a fire; 2 injuries reported; 2 deaths reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 92% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2000 ranks 2nd most-complained-about out of 6 model years of the Volkswagen New Beetle with enough data (44 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
No deployment of both drivers and passenger side impact air bags possible resulted in the death of the driver robert mcgary. Nlm
Car began to hesitate but did not stall. All panel lights began to flash, also a ''clicking'' sound. There also was a smell of burning wires. The car became fully engulfed in flame in less than 10 minutes. The fire began on drivers side.
On 12/27/01 while driving my 2000 VW beetle to work all the dashboard lights started to flash and make a clicking sound. I then smelled wires burning. I got out of my car , called my husband as I was not expecting the car to catch on fire. Within minutes I noticed smoke and then flames coming from beneath the drivers side dash. I then called 911 but the car was fully engulfed in flames by the time the f.d. Got there. The fire station is aprox. 1 mile from the incident. VW has been deaf to my complaint.
Ongoing electrical problems/false positives for the check engine light. Gel-like substance in the oil. Frequent replacement of interior/exterior lights. Nlm
Transmission locks its self into park. You cannot release the car from park. Dealer cannot replicate problem. Will not fix te brake switch which has caused teh same problem in other cars.