[cdes]

Hi guys,

I just bought a used 06 Beetle and after trying it out for the past couple of days, some issues arose. I would highly appreciate any help and guidance you may provide.

• The trunk is not closing properly. I have to press the trunk lid really hard to actually get it to close. Is the locking mechanism damaged or is this typical for a Beetle?
• The power window switches tend to stick and do not return to their idle position. Need to replace?
• The interior is really reflective - I see my vents in the wing mirrirs and the the instrument cluster cover is reflecting in the windscreen - are you guys putting a little carpet there or just live with it?
• My ignition lock is really hard to work. I need to aplly significant force and wiggeling of the key to start the car up. Is this normal or another candiate for a replacement?

 

[red99]

Congratulations on your new New Beetle! You will find this website has lots of useful (and sometimes necessary) information to help you out with your new car. The things you have pointed out are typical "features" of Beetle ownership.

The trunk does take a bit of a slam to close properly. I have gotten in the habit of opening one of the doors before closing the trunk. The trunk lid has a large area and creates quite a bit of air pressure inside the car when it is closed.

The window switches have always been a weak link. I think I have replaced at least 2 of the 3 now. You need to develop a careful touch when operating them.

For the reflective dash, I guess I have gotten use to it. Polarized sunglasses help a lot.

The ignition switch is also a known high failure item. It will usually cause electrical gremlins. Your difficulty turning the key could be caused by the steering wheel lock. Have you tried jiggling the steering wheel side to side a little to free up the key?

Welcome to the forum!

 

[05yellowbeetle]

Welcome i also have an '06, i have carpet on my dash.

 

[cdes]

Thank you so much guys! That trick with one door open while closing the trunk works perfect, what a cool idea.

Ages ago, I had a Golf II with the steering wheel lock, too. It is kinda of the same feeling but I did notice a lot of wriggle room with the ignition lock itself. That might turn out to be expensive.

 

[cdes]

I just had the beetle serviced and they have identified several more issues they cannot address:

- the hood latch seems to be off, so the hood is only locked in safety but not fully closed and secured. It appears like the mechanism is bend. Anything I can do there?

- The airbag light came on - they told me they cannot reset it without a special tool only available to VW dealerships. How much would that be to fix (guesstimate of course)?

I appreciate your replies.

 

[red99]

- the hood latch seems to be off, so the hood is only locked in safety but not fully closed and secured. It appears like the mechanism is bend. Anything I can do there?

The hood latches do take quite a bit of force to close. It is easy to see how something could get bent. You need to figure out what got bent and unbend or replace it. This is probably a case where a junkyard will come in handy. A car with rear end damage should have good hood latch parts. You could just buy the entire crossmember piece that that latch attaches to.

 

[red99]

- The airbag light came on - they told me they cannot reset it without a special tool only available to VW dealerships. How much would that be to fix (guesstimate of course)?

Every self-respecting Beetle owner needs a proper scan tool! Most people use VCDS or VCDS-Lite, which are clones of the VAG-COM scan tool that the dealers use.

Ross-Tech: VCDS: Function Table

I have the registered version of VCDS-Lite along with a generic OBDII-USB cable from ebay. The Lite version won't work with CAN bus vehicles, though. I'm not sure if the '06 is CAN bus. The full VCDS will let you do everything the dealer can.

Here is a thread about scan tools:

http://newbeetle.org/forums/1-8-liter-turbo/59552-dtcs-readers.html

There are other things to check for with an airbag light. Here is a thread about troubles with the ABS light, but this applies to the airbag as well:

http://newbeetle.org/forums/2-0-liter-gas/59398-abs-light-problem-vag-com-diagnostics.html

 

[cdes]

Every self-respecting Beetle owner needs a proper scan tool! Most people use VCDS or VCDS-Lite, which are clones of the VAG-COM scan tool that the dealers use.

Totally agree! BUT ... I am getting sick and tired of buying those things: I have one for MB, one special for Cadillac (GM), one that can read the special Ford codes, and now I need yet another one for VAG. It is just frustrating to just see live data on my already purchased tools and not a single code coming up.

I would have hoped that a Bluetooth adapter might be a one-fits-all solution but it doesn't look like that.

 

[janitz]

Hi guys,

I just bought a used 06 Beetle and after trying it out for the past couple of days, some issues arose. I would highly appreciate any help and guidance you may provide.

• The trunk is not closing properly. I have to press the trunk lid really hard to actually get it to close. Is the locking mechanism damaged or is this typical for a Beetle?
• The power window switches tend to stick and do not return to their idle position. Need to replace?
• The interior is really reflective - I see my vents in the wing mirrirs and the the instrument cluster cover is reflecting in the windscreen - are you guys putting a little carpet there or just live with it?
• My ignition lock is really hard to work. I need to aplly significant force and wiggeling of the key to start the car up. Is this normal or another candiate for a replacement?

- The trunk latch is adjusted too low, you can adjust the latch upwards to make it easier to close. Just not too much higher as that makes the seal around the hatch looser.

- Sounds like someone would eat in their car a lot and/or used the windows with dirty fingers. That's dirt and gunk in the switch causing it to not move freely.

- Never had that problem.

- Sounds like it's failing, maybe replace.

 

[jfoj]

Hi guys,

I just bought a used 06 Beetle and after trying it out for the past couple of days, some issues arose. I would highly appreciate any help and guidance you may provide.

• The trunk is not closing properly. I have to press the trunk lid really hard to actually get it to close. Is the locking mechanism damaged or is this typical for a Beetle?
  
  The trunks on these cars are VERY hard to close. The way I close the trunk is to not push the trunk all the way down with your hand. I actually get the trunk lid about 1/2 way closed, then with a swift downward movement of my hand I quick close the trunk lid, but stop my hand about 2 inches from where the trunk actually closes. Kind of like if you were to slam a door without following trough with your hand. These trunks just do not close easily for some reason??
  
• The power window switches tend to stick and do not return to their idle position. Need to replace?
  
  Are you sure you are not dealing with the express up or down features on the driver side switches?? If you have never had a car with this feature, the switches have 2 positions, a light touch and the window only moves as long as you hold the switch. A solid touch, the switch latches and the window will fully raise or fully drop unless you touch the switch again during the window travel.
  
  Only the drivers side front windows will have this feature.
  
  
• The interior is really reflective - I see my vents in the wing mirrirs and the the instrument cluster cover is reflecting in the windscreen - are you guys putting a little carpet there or just live with it?
  
  Can't comment.
  
• My ignition lock is really hard to work. I need to aplly significant force and wiggeling of the key to start the car up. Is this normal or another candiate for a replacement?
  
  Make sure the steering wheel has not been tensioned against the column lock, this happens sometimes and you have to rock the steering wheel back and forth slightly to relieve the pressure on the lock cylinder?

Answers in bold.