Volkswagen / Beetle / 1999
1999 Volkswagen Beetle problems
Owners have filed 280 complaints about the 1999 Volkswagen Beetle with NHTSA. Electrical system accounts for 17.9% of them — narrowly the most common, ahead of engine and engine cooling at 12.5%.
Complaints280
Crashes19
Fires28
Injuries19
Deaths0
What owners report breaking
Electrical system 17.9% · 50
Engine and engine cooling 12.5% · 35
Power train 11.8% · 33
Visibility 9.6% · 27
Air bags 7.9% · 22
Exterior lighting 6.8% · 19
Structure 6.1% · 17
Service brakes, hydraulic 3.9% · 11
Severity
Of those complaints, 19 describe a crash, 28 describe a fire and 19 report an injury.
Reading the numbers
Across the 12 model years of the Volkswagen Beetle in this data, 1999 sits 7th by complaint volume. 2004 draws the most.
Filing volume has held steady, 10 in the last three years against 9 in the three before.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 58,000 miles.
In owners' own words
The consumer stated that 18 months after the purchase of the vehicle, the vehicle needed to be jump started. The consumer had taken the vehicle to the dealer and was told that it was a computer malfunction. The consumer had taken the vehicle in for an inoperative speedometer but it ended up being the instrument cluster. The low beam lights wouldn't work because of an error with the electronics. *Scc Electrical system
The contact owns a 1999 Volkswagen Beetle. The contact stated that while at a traffic light she smelled something burning then noticed smoke emitting from the dashboard. The vehicle was able to be driven to the contact home where the vehicle completely engolf into flames. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 166,500. Electrical system · reported at 166,500 miles
Vehicle caught fire on inside of ignition switch box. There was a bad connection in the ignition switch. Fire meleted wires inside the box which caused shutdown in dashboard ie/ headlights/ windshield wipers, and etc. Dealer's remedy was to tighten the wires in ignition box, but the electrical portion of dashboard would periodically go down. Electrical system
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…