2001 Volkswagen New Beetle problems
Owners have filed 56 complaints with NHTSA about the 2001 Volkswagen New Beetle. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 25% of complaints. Next are brakes (20%) and engine (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 56 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 25% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 7 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 6 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 21,000 miles 28 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 | 13 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 12 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 3 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 0 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 0 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 0 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 28 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 21,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 7 complaints mention a crash; 6 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2001 ranks 1st most-complained-about out of 6 model years of the Volkswagen New Beetle with enough data (49 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 3 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.
Hit, while stopping for stopped traffic on freeway, in the rear by a car traveling at high rate of speed. Extensive damage ($7800+) done to rear and side of car. Side airbag curtain deployed, but did not inflate. Front drivers airbag also did not inflate. Driver suffered back and neck injuries. Photos are available.
2001 new beetle 1.9 l tdi, 55,000 mi.: check engine light comes on and stays on until car is turned off then it comes on once glow plug light goes off and car has started (witin 20 seconds). The dealer first told me it was the glow plug sensor. Then recanted and said the sensor was fine and told me I needed a new bridge wire and 4 new glow plugs. Should glow plugs only last for 55,000 miles? The car just turned over 55,023 when the check light came on.
Windshield wiper linkage arm nut securing the bracket to the wiper motor nut has no locking mechanism to prevent the nut from loosening during wiper operation. This results in the nut working its way off the wiper motor and the wipers ceasing operation. Reattaching the nut only works briefly until the nut works loose again. In addition, I receive no recall notifications for this vehicle in the entire time I have owned it and I am the original owner.