NHTSA Complaint #10218805 — 2003 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE

I OWN A 2003 VOLKSWAGEN NEW BEETLE CONVERTIBLE. IT HAD MULTIPLE FAILURES WHILE STILL UNDER WARRANTY THAT WERE NEVER PARTICULARLY CORRECTED. WOULD GO OUT AND CAR WOULD NOT START - COMPLETELY DEAD. BATTERIES WERE REPLACED, ALTERNATOR WAS REPLACED, SOMETHING WITH THE STEREO SYSTEM WAS REPLACED, ETC. THIS HAPPENED MANY TIMES OVER THE COURSE OF TWO YEARS, FROM APPROXIMATELY 2005 TO 2007. I COULD PROVIDE SPECIFICS IF NECESSARY SINCE I HAVE ALL RECEIPTS. IT SOMETIMES HAPPENED WITHIN A WEEK OF GETTING THE CAR BACK FROM THE PREVIOUS "REPAIR." NEEDLESS TO SAY IT HAS BEEN VERY FRUSTRATING, AND WE WILL NEVER PURCHASE ANOTHER VW. THE REASON I AM JUST NOW WRITING IS BECAUSE MY LOCAL NEWSPAPER HAD A SMALL PARAGRAPH MENTIONING THAT THE NHTSA IS INVESTIGATING A POSSIBLE CRASH SENSOR MALFUNCTION IN THE AIRBAG SYSTEM. I HAVE HAD TO REPLACE BOTH OF THE SENSORS AT MY OWN EXPENSE SINCE THE CAR IS NO LONGER UNDER WARRANTY. THE AIRBAG INDICATOR LIGHT FIRST CAME ON IN JUNE 2007 AND THE DRIVER'S SIDE FRONT CRASH SENSOR WAS REPLACED. JUST A SHORT TIME LATER, SEPTEMBER 2007, THE AIRBAG INDICATOR LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN. THIS TIME THEY TOLD ME IT WAS THE PASSENGER SIDE CRASH SENSOR THAT NEED TO BE REPLACED. THESE REPAIRS COST ME ROUGHLY $1000 OUT OF POCKET. I THINK THE NHTSA WOULD LIKE TO BE AWARE OF THIS AS PART OF THE INVESTIGATION. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. PS: WHILE LISTING "FAILURES" BELOW I WILL STICK WITH JUST THE TWO AIRBAG FAILURES AND ONLY PROVIDE INFO ON OTHER ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS IF REQUESTED TO DO SO. *TR CRASH SENSOR.PCO