Volkswagen: V.W. Beetle Airbag and Check Engine Ligts, emissions systems, autozone

Question
I have a V.W. beetle 2001 and the check engine light is on and off. When I took it in the reset it alright and charged me close to $100. The light came back on in 2 weeks. When I read the bill it was obvious the guy didn't know why it went off and just reset it. It goes on and off so i'm not paying again for nothing. Now the airbag light is on. A friend of my wife and I have a car just like ours. Her airbag light came on also and they charged her $500 to fix it. Needless to say the light came back on. From reading on the internet there is a problem and should be a recall. Numerous people are having the same problem. Is there a solution to this problem. My car seems to run fine even though the check engine light come on and off.

Answer
Larry

There are hundreds of reasons why the CEL can come on.  Most of the time it's a minor (but not inexpensive) issue with the emissions systems.  Sometimes it's an intermittent or false reading.  The evap system is notorious for this.  If the ECU doesn't see the fault for a certain period of time, it will turn off the light and clear the code automatically.  Unless the light is flashing, or the engine is running differently, or you have an emissions test coming up, there really isn't cause for alarm.  Definitely pay attention to how the engine is running.  I had a car throw a code for camshaft position when a timing roller locked.  The idle was very rough and when I tore down the front end, the belt was melted to the point where it almost snapped.

Anyway, stop by an Autozone store and they'll read the trouble codes for free.  Post the codes here and we'll see what we can do.

Rob