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CarsLore / Volkswagen / New Beetle / 2002

2002 Volkswagen New Beetle

15 owner complaints — #6 of 8 New Beetle model years. 1 recall, 10 service bulletins.

15complaints · 0 crashes, 0 fires
1recalls
10manufacturer bulletins
21,250 mimedian mileage at failure

Problems owners report

Complaints filed with NHTSA about the 2002 Volkswagen New Beetle, by the system named in each complaint. One complaint can name several.

  • Power train8
  • Electrical system3
  • Visibility3
  • Exterior lighting3
  • Engine and engine cooling3
  • Parking brake2
  • Latches/locks/linkages2
  • Unknown or other2
  • Seat belts1
  • Service brakes, hydraulic1

NHTSA ODI complaints (public domain) · updated 23 Oct 2026 · 2 injuries and 0 deaths reported

Compared with other years

’98’00’02’04’07’0915’98’01’02’04’0815
19981999200020012002200320042007

NHTSA ODI complaints by model year

Engines

The most common engines in 2002 Volkswagen New Beetle cars on Dutch roads are the 1.6 petrol (75 kW, 101 hp), 2.0 petrol (85 kW, 114 hp) and 2.3 petrol (125 kW, 168 hp).

EnginePowerCarsShare
1.6 petrol75 kW 101 hp7359%
2.0 petrol85 kW 114 hp3125%
2.3 petrol125 kW 168 hp2016%

RDW Open Data (CC0): registered passenger cars and their fuel data · engine size rounded to 0.1 litre, net maximum power · versions with at least 20 cars

In the Netherlands

155 first registered in 2002 are on Dutch roads; 45% arrived later as imports.

80.6%had an APK defect recorded since June 2022
87.7%logical odometer history
0.0%with a recall still open

Most common APK defects

Colours

Grey 37%Black 27%Blue 23%Yellow 6%Green 3%

RDW Open Data: registered vehicles and APK defects (CC0) · defect descriptions in the RDW's Dutch wording

In Finland

31 of these cars first registered in 2002 were in use in Finland on 30 Jun 2026, with an average of 233,000 km on the odometer at their last inspection.

Traficom (Finnish Transport and Communications Agency), open data on vehicles in use · CC BY 4.0

Fuel consumption

Official Canadian test results for 6 variants: combined 6.1–10.4 L/100 km (about 23–39 mpg US), CO₂ 165–239 g/km.

VariantEngineTransmissionCityHighwayCombinedCO₂ g/km
New Beetle TDI Diesel · Subcompact · Diesel1.9 L, 4 cyl.M56.75.46.1165
New Beetle TDI Diesel · Subcompact · Diesel1.9 L, 4 cyl.A48.15.97.1192
New Beetle · Subcompact · Regular gasoline2.0 L, 4 cyl.M511.08.29.7223
New Beetle · Subcompact · Premium gasoline1.8 L, 4 cyl.M511.08.69.9228
New Beetle · Subcompact · Premium gasoline1.8 L, 4 cyl.A411.78.710.3237
New Beetle · Subcompact · Regular gasoline2.0 L, 4 cyl.A411.78.810.4239

Litres per 100 km. Natural Resources Canada, Fuel consumption ratings (open.canada.ca) · Open Government Licence – Canada

Recalls

02V031000 · Service brakes, hydraulic31 Jan 2002 · 55,000 vehicles

ON SOME PASSENGER VEHICLES, SHORT CIRCUITS CAN OCCUR WITHIN THE ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT OF THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKING SYSTEM (ABS).

Whether a recall was fixed on a particular car is known only to the manufacturer: check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

NHTSA recalls · summaries in NHTSA's own words

Service bulletins

What Volkswagen told its dealers about the 2002 Volkswagen New Beetle: known faults, fixes and updates.

BulletinSummary
633842FRESH AIR BLOWER MOTOR, INOPERATIVE AT AMBIENT AIR TEMPERATURES NEAR OR BELOW FREEZING. *TT
10007887MALFUNCTION INDICATOR LIGHT (MIL) ON, DIAGNOSTIC TROUBLE CODES (DTCS) STORED IN DIAGNOSTIC TROUBLE CODE (DTC) MEMORY. *MJ
10007885DRIVER AND PASSENGER DOOR WINDOW REGULATOR REPAIRING. *MJ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING DOOR WINDOW, SEPARATES FROM WINDOW REGULATOR CLAMPS. *TT
10007711EVALUATING FUEL MIXTURE DIAGNOSTIC TROUBLE CODES- HOW TO PERFORM EFFECTIVE DIAGNOSIS RELATED TO FUEL SYSTEM ADAPTATION - SYSTEM TOO RICH/TOO LEAN. VOLKSWAGEN. *MJ
10006057NEW STYLE BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH REQUIRES CARE DURING INSTALLATION TO PREVENT DAMAGE TO SWITCH. *TT
10005665REPLACEMENT OF THE IGNITION COILS. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT IF ONE OF THE VEHICLE'S IGNITION COIL FAILS, ROUGH IDLING OR REDUCED DRIVING POWER COULD OCCUR IN ADDITION TO ILLUMINATION OF THE MALFUNCTION INDICATOR LAMP LIGHT. *TT *MJ
10004523SAFETY RECALL - WT - BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH. *TT
10004522SAFETY RECALL - WT - NEW BEETLE BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH. *TT
10001570DRIVER AND PASSENGER DOOR WINDOW REGULATOR REPAIRS. *TT
10000581MISFIRE, INCORRECT CYLINDER FAULT CODES P0301, P0302, P0303 OR P0304 IDENTIFIED BY ECM SOFTWARE. *TT

NHTSA manufacturer communications (public domain)