I have a 2001 New Beetle. The airbag light is now on all the time. A friend has a Beetle and the same thing happened. Took theres to a dealer and had it fixed for $500 and now theirs is back on. Is anyone else having the same problem? I've talked to several people in my small town who have and would assume this is a large problem. Please let me know. Thanks!!

 

I have a 2001 New Beetle also and I do alot of work on it. The code you are getting is an Airbag light!I have the same problem and found raising the passenger seat forward to get in the back, the wires get stretched under the seatfor the plug which inturns plugs into the wire harness under the seat. I find using the lever to raise the seat UP, then reach under the seat using a flashlight look at the plugs under there. There should be at least 2,or maybe 3, One is for the ABS the other for Heated seats. I found the one for my heated seats got pulled out first!One might be completely unplugged from its mate or just pushing the wire hooked into the plug back in will work! You need a VAS Code reader to plug in and reset the codes. A mechanic friendusing his VAS PC reader could actual tell which seat and where code is coming from. My reader will tell you the code but does not get as explicit. It will also rest the trouble light for Engine, ABS, Airbags and Automatic Transmission.I purchased an inexpensive code reader to read the car trouble lights. It is a Geniscan VW/AUDI Code Reader about $45 on-line. Works great! Comes with both VAG & SAE Trouble Codes and reader just plugs into socket located under dash infront of your left knee. My inlet plug is a purple color and easy to see if you look just left centerunder your steering collum under dash. If you still have problems? E-mail me @ toledotom@aol.com and I can froward you some pictures that might help you find it. Almost all the beetles have this problem, the harness was made about 3" to short and gets pulled forward or out completely when the seats are brought forward to gain access to the back. It might be your Driver's seat too! But most of the problems according to my Mechanic are from the Passenger side!

 

Can't tell you this is the problem. However all the vehicles i've ever worked on, about the air bag light thing.
Vehicles have what is known as a clock spring under the
steering wheel, you have to pull the steering wheel to get
to it. VW may call it something else. That clock spring allows the steering wheel to be able to move, and it feeds
info to the steering wheel air bag. it's nothing but a wire
connection that moves without breaking. After a lot of
driving the spring gets a lot of action and will finally break
so the info is then blocked and the air bag light goes on.
If you decide to tackel it, disconnect the battery first thing, you could set off the air bag if you don't. The clock
spring can be removed and tested with a volt ohm meter
to see if it has a reading or not. no reading bad...reading of
any kind good. The spring isn't cheep, and the repair isn't
easy. You also have to be sure you have everything correct
or the air bag can go off when you reconnect the battery.

 

I have a 98 Beetle and my airbag light has been on for a few months, and now I'm approaching the need for inspection. So, I had it looked at and was told by a dealer that it will cost close to $1,000!!! They said it's a module and wiring harness!

MY car has 112,000 miles on it and it's not worth spending this much money! I'm very upset.

 

I had one in my 2000 Jetta. Turns out when the airbag isn't used, the igniters can go bad. There's also some mechanism that's electrical that will go bad in the steering wheel( I think) or in the circuit somewhere.

 

Thank you for all the information below. I have a 2000 Beetle and checked the wire under the driver and passenger seat to find the driver side yellow wire was completed severed.

 

Glad to hear that it was as simple as that. You lucked out then.

 

I have had several issues with the air bag light coming on in a 2004 VW Beetle. A crash sensor was replaced behind the front bumper, another time the entire system was "flashed." Recently, the light came on again with diagnostic trouble code 00591 E24. It turned out to be the driver side seat belt buckle. The seat had to be removed to change it out. After reinstallation, I cleared the codes and the light has been out ever since. Hope this helps.

 

I have a 2003 beetle cabrio and the airbag light has come on multiple times. The first two times where some little inexpensive sensors (while the car was on warranty) and I was told that if it comes on again that I shouldn't worry about it and that the airbags will still work. Just took the car in the other day and now (car is no longer under warranty) they're telling me that the airbags have in fact not been working and its $1000 to fix! Feels like the dealership is hosing me cause I'm a girl. They also found other things that are supposedly "failing" and the total quote to fix it all is $3000! Anyway I'll try finding those cords under the seat as the drivers side heated seat isn't working either. Wish me luck! Thanks a bunch!!

 

All,
I have a 2004 GL beetle and the airbag light just come on a week ago. I check the harnesses under both seats and all is good. Any suggestions will be much appreciated. Should I take it to a dealer and get ripped off or should I just get it reset by purchasing the unit online. If so, can someone recommend where online I can purchase this? Thanks.

Sebastien