2001 Volkswagen GTI Air bags Problems

“I was traveling down a highway at 60 MPH. Suddenly without impact both the drivers side curtain airbag and drivers seat side airbag deployed, for no reason. What made it even more scary is that it turned off my car while coasting at highway speeds, also disoriented me. Was able to barely turn the car to an off ramp with out a wreck resulting. Nothing has been replaced at this time.”

“Air bag default light and buzzer has come on many times. Jan 2001, april 2001, aug 2005, jan 2006 and now again feb 2006. Vw of america has repaired and paid for first three problems. In jan they said that they could only cover 75% of cost of repair. Each time I have been without my car for as long as a week. I now have a call into the dealer for this fifth problem and am waiting and obviously am frustrated. …”

“Took the car to dealer after airbag light came on. I was told the on board computer says fault code 00591 for driver's belt switch resistance being too high, which is due to broken wiring in belt switch harness in driver's seat belt buckle. I was told this could lead to airbag not functioning properly in the case of a collision. I believe failure of the wiring in the belt switch harness is probably due to a design flaw/manufacturing fault since it is a relatively new car.”

“I was rear ended in nov 2003. My car was pushed into the vehicle in front of me with enough force to signal the airbags to deploy. The airbag did not deploy. I did not find this out until after the accident when the airbag light came on and it was at the dealer for repair. The dealer told me that the signal had gotten scrambled and lost. The problem was fixed. In apr 2005, during my 60k service I was told that my airbag resistance was set too high and the airbag may not deploy. The dealer said this repair would cost $1000 in parts plus the labor which is intensive. …”

“2001 vw GTI passenger side airbag inadvertantly deployed. Side seat airbag and headliner deployed. Dashboard airbag did not. No accident occured. Deployment was when car was driving on a highway, straight road, no bumps, no turns, no potholes, no debris on road, no impact with anything. No idea why airbags deployed.”