Owner reports filed with NHTSA about this vehicle, newest first and reproduced as filed. They are unverified accounts: one proves nothing, and a pattern across many is the thing worth reading. Back to the full 2001 record →
CONSUMER WAS TRAVELING ABOUT 10MPH ON A SIDE STREET AT A TRAFFIC STOP, AND WHEN LIGHT TURNED GREEN, HE APPLIED GAS AND STEERING WHEEL COLUMN LOCKED UP. HE COULDN'T TURN STEERING LEFT OR RIGHT. DEALERSHIP WAS AWARE OF PROBLEM. ALSO, TRANSMISSION LEAKS COOLANT, AND WHEELS LOCKED UP. *AK
WAS DRIVING 40MPH AND ANOTHER VEHICLE TURNED IN FRONT OF VOLKSWAGEN. OTHER VEHICLE WAS "T" BONED. UPON IMPACT, NEITHER AIR BAGS DEPLOYED. DRIVER SUFFERED MINOR INJURIES & HAD EMERGENCY TREATMENT. *AK
VEHICLE EXPERIENCES DELAY IN ACCELERATION ALMOST CAUSING SEVERAL ACCIDENTS, DEALER INFORMED CONSUMER THAT THIS VEHICLE HAS A DESIGN USING A STEPPING MOTOR THAT CAN CREATE A LAG TIME DURING ACCELERATION. *SLC
NHTSA publishes every complaint as the owner wrote it and investigates only a fraction. Spelling, capitalisation and judgement are the filer’s own. What carries weight is repetition: the same component failing the same way across many filings, and whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
Full record for the 2001 Volkswagen Beetle → · Every Beetle year → · How the figures are calculated →