2001 Volkswagen Beetle from North America - Comments

I have a crayola smell in the car.

The check engine light is lit.

I have a 2001 Volkswagon Beetle, it is a standard and also a diesel. I purchased it last year and it has a bad crayola smell in the car. I had a mechanic spray the AC with a cleaner/sanitizer. He said my filter in the AC was really dirty so I replaced it. He said they may have dust in the dashboard area and he may need to take the dash apart. I just read your website and found out that someone had the dashboard removed and cleaned with no luck. Has anyone found a solution to the problem yet? I am wondering if anyone can test the car and see if it is toxic!

I have a 2001 New Beetle. I've had the car interior cleaned multiple times, changed any filters that could affect interior air multiple times, and even used fragrance, but the smell stays the same. Oh, and my check engine light has been on for about two years; I had it diagnosed, and mechanic said it was an improper seal on the gas cap, which neither he nor I could fix...

My 03 beetle has a crayola smell too! I just thought it was me, hahaha.

Unfortunately, I too have the Crayola smell in my 2001 Beetle! I'm thankful to have found this site, so I don't have to spend hundreds of dollars getting it detail, instead I'll just have to deal with it and keep piling on Febreaze, which happens to be doing some minor improvements.

I still love the way the car drives and looks :)

But I won't purchase another one!

HAHA! My best friend and I are both on our second Beetles and all 4 smelled like Crayons! It's an ongoing joke to anyone who gets in either car. LOL I thought we just had strange cars.

I just bought a Beetle as well, a 2001. It smells like crayons and I came to find out it is the special car mats with the foam on the back of them. Smell them, it is the same smell. They are made just for the car with a Volkswagen picture on them. I got rid of them and it has been 2 days and the smell is no where near as bad. I used a can of frabreeze and put a box of baking soda in the car. It smells much better. I could be wrong but this was my experience. Hope this helps someone.

Our 2001 VW Beetle REEKS of that "crayola" scent. It is a sickening smell, and when you ride in the car, you and your passengers smell like the car. I don't drive the car at all, as the smell is so intense, and actually has concerned me about the ability, if ever we sell it.

Ironically, we also had a problem with the black coating used on the interior of the car. It's a rubberized type finish that began peeling immediately. It's coated on the doors and dash, and over the years has softened to the point that you can score it with your nail, leaving a permanent impression.

This car is immaculate otherwise, it has always been kept inside a garage, and never exposed to anything other than normal circumstances where heat is concerned. When my husband brings my pet Pomeranian on short rides, he comes back smelling of it too! It's a very nauseating odor, and makes for a very unpleasant experience.

I've written to VW without any response from them. I am very disappointed in this obvious defect in their product. Really, does anybody really want to live their life walking around smelling like a crayon???

I thought it was just me smelling the Crayola smell! But I guess not I am glad I found this website to figure out that is wasn't only me!

My bug smells like crayons too!! I have heard from other people with this same car or jettas that theirs do too.

I got used to it after a while, I don't smell it at all any more. It's not a bad smell, just weird, but I tried to get rid of it also to no avail. I will try taking out the floor mats like someone here suggested.

We have a VW Bug Turbo S 2002 and the smell is driving me nuts. I can't drive it any more and my husband is sick of my complaining about it. It seems to me that the smell didn't kick in until about 2 years ago. I don't know if I would use the crayon analogy, it just smells very chemical-y. But I did just smell a box of crayons and can understand the connection. I have to always apologize for the smell when I have passengers, because they notice it as well. HELP! I'm going to call Car Talk this weekend and ask them.

I've had my 2001 Beetle for a year now, and even though it's cute and fun to drive and gets exceptional gas mileage... I am so so sick of the "crayon" smell, my mom thought I was crazy for telling her that my hair and clothes always smelled like crayons, LOL, but not only am I tired of the annoying smell, I've noticed that the rubber on my dashboard and door handles is peeling off and can be scarred and damaged easily, and the silver paint that's on the steering wheel is now almost all worn off, and my check engine light is ALWAYS on no matter what you do... too many problems, my last VW for sure!!