Volkswagen Repair: what does the malfunction indicator light mean on my 2002 VW Beetle?, malfunction indicator light, vw dealers

Question
This is the second time my malfunction indicator light came on.  The first time I called the dealer on my way for an oil change and by the time that I got to the dealer the light was off and they asked if I recently filled my car up with gas and that it might be the problem when replacing the gas cap.  This was about 3 months ago and have not had an issue since.  This morning I was on my way to the gas station and the light came on again.  Like before, my car has not been running any differently than before, still runs great!  I have already made an appointment with the dealer, but I am wondering if this might be just a suggested schedulded service since I am almost at 62,000 miles?  What are your thoughts?  What could be causing this?  I would like to be prepared before going to the dealer since I have had experiences with VW dealers and POOR service.

Thanks,
Kendra

Answer
Kendra,
 The Malfunction indicator is a generic indication of literally hundreds of possible causes.  Any good shop should be able to scan the computer for any stored error codes; this will give you the information you need to diagnose the problem.  The list of codes and causes can be found at www.obd-codes.com.  
In addition I would get the car in for any scheduled maintenance.  If something goes wrong and you have not conducted preventative maintenance, the dealer will have cause not to honor the warranty, if any.

Rick