2014 Volkswagen Beetle
This year drew an ordinary 54 complaints for a Volkswagen Beetle — the model's median is 33. What they were about is the unusual part: 7.4% of them mention only 000, against 0% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 54 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 33 |
| Involving a crash | 3 |
| Involving a fire | 2 |
| Recalls | 6 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 26.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- only 000 — 7.4% of this year's complaints, against 0% across the model's other years (37×). Owners wrote it as: only 000, miles car, tsi, shooting.
- brought — 9.3% of this year's complaints, against 1.6% across the model's other years (5.7×). Owners wrote it as: brought, car same, reading.
- windshield — 9.3% of this year's complaints, against 3.1% across the model's other years (3×). Owners wrote it as: windshield, wipers, rain, wiper.
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
WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 35 MPH, THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED BUT THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO SLIDE. THE CONTACT INDICATED THAT THE FAILURE HAD OCCURRED MULTIPLE TIMES. ALSO, THE CONTACT INDICATED THAT WHILE OPERATING THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS THE WIPER BLADES WO…
I WAS DRIVING IN THE MIDDLE OF VERY HEAVY RAIN AND MY WIPERS SUDDENLY STOPPED. I MANAGED TO GET OFF THE HIGHWAY AND TOOK THE VEHICLE TO VW. I WAS INFORMED THAT THE WINDSHIELD WIPER MOTOR HAD TO BE REPLACED WITH ONLY 50,000 MILES ON THE CAR. I HAVE OWNED 4 VW A…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V615000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 14V182000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
- 14V658000 VISIBILITY Fixed free of charge.
- 15V028000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE 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 2014 Volkswagen Beetle? What happened to yours?
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