2000 Volkswagen Golf Air bags Problems

“I own a 2000 vw GOLF which I purchased brand new from a vw dealer. In january of 2007 I had to replace the driver side seat airbag and wiring harness for a cost a little over $600. On 7/14/2008 my airbag light came on again. I need to have the main driver side air bag and wiring harness replaced. My car has never been in an accident, yet this is the second airbag I've replaced. I was told by the dealership, if I do not replace the airbag, it may not deploy if I am in an accident, or it could deploy when I am just driving down the road. …”

“The airbag light came on. When I took it to the dealership I was told it was because my owners manual was under the passenger seat. This caused the connectors to break. Perhaps people should be told not to put anything under the seat. There is nothing in the owners manual that states that. It cost me $300 to have this fixed. I feel Volkswagen should cover the cost of this repair. I have an extended warranty and was still told since it was an outside source (the owners manual) which caused the breakage, it was not covered.”

“Air bag light came on so I took the car in for service at 38247 miles. The notes on the Volkswagen service invoice stated: tested module response and wiring. All ok performed guided fault finding. Determined that the airbag in the drivers seat needed to be replaced. Estimate $443.43 . I asked them to explain why the airbag had to be replaced. Response: a wire got to hot and fried a component in the air bag. Then I asked how a hot wire was not a manufacture defect and why it wasn't covered by the warranty. Response: it just isn't covered and it's not our fault . …”

“2000 vw GOLF. The airbag light is stuck on. There is no way for me to know if the bag will deploy or not. In order for the dealer to look at it it would cost me $100 for the diagnostic test and between $500 and $700 to fix the problem. They also told me there is no guarantee that they will fix the problem. So after I pay $500 or $600 they still wont guarantee the bags are safe. How do I go about figuring this out. It seems like a very big safety issue for the manufacture of volkswagens and to put me and my family in danger is unacceptable. Do I pay the money and just hope it is fixed? …”

“2000 vw GOLF gls. Airbag light on dash diagnosed by vw as an open circuit - passenger side. Air bags never deployed, never crashed. Vw wanted $500 for repairs. Numerous similar incidents reported by vw owners involving range of air bag system failures, spurious deployments, etc. Vw charged me $45 for the diagnosis.”