2013 Volkswagen Beetle
This year drew an ordinary 98 complaints for a Volkswagen Beetle — the model's median is 33. What they were about is the unusual part: 18.4% of them mention ago, against 3.2% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 98 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 33 |
| Involving a crash | 3 |
| Recalls | 7 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 25 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- ago — 18.4% of this year's complaints, against 3.2% across the model's other years (5.7×). Owners wrote it as: ago, crank, buy, fast.
- weeks — 22.4% of this year's complaints, against 8.4% across the model's other years (2.7×). Owners wrote it as: weeks, set, close, couple.
- running — 14.3% of this year's complaints, against 3.6% across the model's other years (4×). Owners wrote it as: running, about minutes, towed local, car power.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
BOUGHT CAR ONE YEAR AND A HALF AGO. BUY CAR USED WITH 40,000 MILES ON IT. STARTED HAVING ISSUES WITH THE POWER STEERING AND LEANING AT IDLE. CAR SKIDS VERY EASILY AND RAIN, CAN EASILY CAUSE CRASHES. CAR AIRBAGS WERE RECALLED.
WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH, THE STEERING WHEEL SEIZED AND THE VEHICLE JERKED AND STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THE FAILURE RECURRED THREE TIMES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER BUT WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE [VIN] WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. TH…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V679000 UNKNOWN OR OTHER
- 19V615000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 14V658000 VISIBILITY Fixed free of charge.
- 14V656000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
- 12V540000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 20V785000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 20E064000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Volkswagen Beetle was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2013 Volkswagen Beetle? What happened to yours?
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