2001 Volkswagen NEW Beetle Electrical system Problems

“The coil pack on my 2001 Volkswagen New Beetle burned out causing me to practically stall on a very busy freeway. So far, vw doesn't seem to think this a saftey issue yet and will not require a recall on these parts. These coils will burn out. Not if, but when. I would hate to be going up a hill when one of these coil packs go out.”

“Coil pack failure iin vw New Beetle with 1.8t engine -- last week, I had my 2nd coil pack failure (the first being in november 2002) while commuting to work on the george washington parkway at about 45 MPH. The car suddenly began to shake violently, and I narrowly averted an accident when I had to slow down to 30. Fortunately, I was able to exit safely, and I followed surface streets to the dealer, with the car shuddering whenever my RPM exceeded 2,500. …”

“I have a 2001 volkswagon beetle and was very frustrated when my check engine light came on and the car started shaking. I took it in to the dealer where I was charged $100!!!! And they told me that they did not know what the problem was! I was so upset! The next day the light came on agian and I was furious! I took the car in again and was told it was the ignition coil and they wanted to charge me $100 agian. I copmplained and got the 2nd fee waved. I'm not an expert but it is very rare for an ignition coil to fail???”

“Instrument cluster malfunction: (purchased this used car march 1, 2003. Started noticing problems shortly thereafter, decided to report it after the most current incident and unsuccessful attempts at fixing). - when trying to start the car, it will start then die immediately, I have almost been stranded a few times. I had to keep trying to restart the car until the engine finally stayed running (this has occurred at least 7 times from march 1, 2003 and is getting progressively worse). Could this potentially cause the engine to die while driving? …”

“I am frustrated and scared by a problem Volkswagen and audi are having with the ignition system on their turbocharged four-cylinder engines. The sibling automakers, parts of Volkswagen ag of germany, admit there is a higher-than-normal failure rate of the four ignition coils on 2001 and 2002 turbocharged, 1.8-liter engines used in about 300,000 vehicles, including the golf, New Beetle, jetta, passat and audi a4. I have already had one coilpac replaced, and fear for the time when the others will go too. I have been told that they are going to fail at some point. …”