1996 Volkswagen Cabrio

Routine

Owners filed 6 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the engine and engine cooling › engine. No safety recall has been issued.

What fails
ComponentReportsCrashesFiresInjuries
Power Train › Automatic Transmission1
000
Latches/Locks/Linkages › Hood › Latch1
000
Engine and Engine Cooling › Exhaust System › Emission Control1
000
Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine1
000
Air Bags › Frontal1
101
Air Bags1
101

What owners reported

Newest filings
Air BagsCrash1 injured
Filed Mar 17, 2016200,000 milesNM

CAR INVOLVED IN FRONT END ACCIDENT AND THE PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAG DEPLOYED BUT THE DRIVER SIDE DID NOT AND PERSONAL INJURY WAS THE RESULT, THE CAR WAS TURNING LEFT ON CITY STREET AND WAS STRUCK IN RIGHT FRONT

Power Train › Automatic Transmission
Filed Aug 6, 2001WV

AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION WILL SURGE DURING NORMAL OPERATION. PROBLEM OCCURS MORE FREQUENTLY IN WARMER WEATHER. *NOTE: TRANMISSION WAS REBUILT BY DEALERSHIP PREVIOUSLY FOR SAME PROBLEM. PLEASE PROVIDE ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION/ATTACHMENTS REGARDING THIS PROBLEM.*AK

Air Bags › FrontalCrash1 injured
Filed Apr 16, 2001FL

UPON LOW SPEED IMPACT, 5 MPH, BOTH FRONT AIRBAGS EXPANDED CAUSING MINOR BURNS AND 'CUTS' ON PASSENGER IN FRONT SEAT. SINCE ACCIDENT ON 03-25-01, THE DEALER HAS YET TO RECEIVE THE NEEDED REPLACEMENT AIR BAGS-TODAY'S DATE, 04-16-01. IN SPEAKING WITH VWOA'S ENGINEERING & PARTS DEPTS, THEY SAID DO NOT USUALLY STOCK ITEM IN US AND THAT THE AIRBAGS RESPONDED "CORRECTLY" IN DECELERATION MODE. BESIDES THE COST OF REPLACING THE AIRBAGS, THE DAMAGE TO THE VW WAS MINIMAL (SCRATCH ON LT FT. FENDER & THE NEED TO REPLACE THE LT. FT. SIDE MARKER). IS THERE A PROBLEM W/THESE AIRBAGS? SHOULD THEY HAVE GONE OFF @ SUCH A LOW SPEED? IF SO, THEY COULD HAVE GONE OFF IN HITTING A PARKING GARAGE 'PYLON', NO? PLEASE INFORM ME ASAP ON WHY VWOA DOES NOT HAVE PARTS IN US! THANK YOU, [XXX]. *AK PARTS OF THIS DOCUMENT HAVE BEEN REDACTED TO PROTECT PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

Engine and Engine Cooling › Exhaust System › Emission Control
Filed May 12, 2000VA

FROM THE TIME I BOUGHT THE CAR THE GAS MILEAGE WAS GROSSLY LOW SO EVERYTIME I TOOK IT IN FOR SCHEDULED SERVICE I WOULD HAVE THEM CHECK OUT THE FUEL SYSTEM NOTHING WAS EVER DONE AND THE GAS MILEAGE HAS NEVER GOTTEN BETTER NOW I HAVE APPROX. 42,000MI ON THE VEHICLE AND STILL HORRIBLE GAS MILEAGE AND NO POWER II THOUGHT IT WAS CATALYTIC CONVERTER WHICH IS COVERED UNDER THE FED EMMISSIONS WARRANTY BUT WHEN I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER THEY SAID IT WAS THE OXYGEN SENSORS WHICH ARE CONNECTED TO THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER I HAVE DONE SOME RESEARCH ON THESE O2 SENSORS AND EVERYTHING I HAVE READ LEADS ME TO BELIEVE THAT THEY WERE FAULTY FROM TIME OF PURCHASE!*AK

Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine
Filed Jul 28, 1998SC

VEHICLE LEAKS GAS. GAS LEAK IS COMING FROM ENGINE AREA OF VEHICLE. ALSO VAVLE GASKET WAS REPLACED WHICH DID NOT CORRECT PROBLEM. DELAERS THEN NOTED THAT PROBLEM COULD NOT BE FOUND. *AK

Latches/Locks/Linkages › Hood › Latch
Filed Oct 27, 1997CA

HOOD LATCH FAILED.

6 of 6 complaints, reproduced as filed.

Across model years

Worst on record: 2001
YearComplaintsRecallsFiresDeathsAssessment
200223030Routine
200138130Routine
200016100Routine
199929020Routine
199821100Routine
199714020Routine
1996 — this page6000Routine
199515000Routine
19938010Routine
19929120Routine
19917300Routine

Compare every Cabrio year →

Reading this record

No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.

Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.

Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.