10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
47,466 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

1998 Volkswagen Beetle seat belts / air bags problems

seat belts / air bags problem

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1998 Volkswagen Beetle Owner Comments

problem #5

Oct 042021

Beetle

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The driver was driving the speed limit (55 mph) and tried to slow down as they approached a red light. The brakes failed to work, and the driver rear-ended the vehicle waiting at the stoplight. The airbags did not deploy.

- Carrollton, VA, USA

problem #4

Jan 122008

Beetle

  • 81,000 miles
Airbag lamp turned on without any physical incident.

- Kearny, NJ, USA

problem #3

Dec 112008

Beetle

  • 100,000 miles
The contact owns a 1998 Volkswagen Beetle. The contact was not the driver at the time of the incident. While driving approximately 55 mph on a snow covered road, the driver noticed an 18-wheeler heading towards the vehicle. The driver applied pressure to the brakes in order to avoid a crash. The brakes failed and the driver rear ended the preceding vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. There were no injuries. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a body shop and an insurance agent informed the owner that the vehicle was destroyed. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified. The VIN was unavailable. The current and failure mileages were 100,000.

- Rayne, LA, USA

problem #2

Mar 212004

Beetle

  • Manual transmission
  • 56,331 miles
Drive time sold me a car that had the air bag light on, and said they were going to fix it, but they never did, now they have changed management and the person who promissed to repair is no longer there, leaving me in a position where the new manager says that the cost to fix the problem is not covered by their business. The car spent a week and a half on their repair shop, and nothing was fixed, my dash was scratched from the outside and they broke a piece between the seats.

- Irving, TX, USA

problem #1

Aug 112002

Beetle

  • miles
No summary listed for above vehicle.

- Orinda, CA, USA

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