This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
I had a total loss of clutch hydraulic pressure on 6 speed manual transmission. The pedal was stuck to the floor and I had to move it back up with my hand. I then depressed it again with my foot and the same results. I've done some research on VW enthusiast web sites seeing it''s a common problem amongst 6 speed manual transmission.from that conclusion I figured it was either the master cylinder or slave cylinder. I had the car towed to the dealer, and it was discover a bad slave cylinder. Obviously it is a trend and a costly one at that. Since the slave cylinder is located in the bell housing, it leaked hydraulic fluid all over my clutch. So now I have to replace a perfectly good clutch.
The clutch failed on my '03 VW Gti after only 48,000 miles leading to an $1,800 repair. While the vehicle was still under the manufacturers warranty, the clutch is not covered.
Just before 8,000 miles, the clutch of my 2003 VW Gti slipped and went bad. As it was still under warrenty, the dealership replaced the clutch and flywheel at no cost to me. When asked why the failure of the clutch occured, I was told that it was due to wear. Now at 35,000 miles, the clutch has failed again, unfortunately this time, not under warranty. This is the second time in two years this has happened, and with a $2000 repair bill by VW, I will have paid for the car twice in ten years. I refuse to believe that VW builds a clutch that will fail due to light to moderate wear as they claim.
The clutch slowly started to slip when trying to move forward eventually the engine would rev at very high rpms with very little forward movement in the car. After much reading, this seems to be a very common problem. My car only had 26,000 miles on it. It is a daily commuter driven mostly on the freeway which should mean very little clutch wear. I took it to a shop to replace it with a more "sturdy" clutch made of ceramic since it was out of warranty already. Approximately 8 months after the clutch was replaced the suddenly stuck in first gear and would not shift out. After taking it to the dealer again, they determined it was most likely the transmission, once they pulled it apart they said the clutch was bad again. This leads me to believe the design of the car is causing these problems, not my driving or normal "wear and tear".
- Sandy, UT, USA
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This is the second time my clutch assembly failed. First time at 4500 miles in December 2003. VW dealership replaced clutch. Clutch assemply again became spongy and rpms increased to dangerous levels. Volkswagen America refused to repair malfunctuion in equipment. Many specialty repair shops are saying this is caused by the dual mass fly wheel sticking open.
2003 VR6 Gti catastrophic clutch failure. Everything was fine and then I completely lost all of the pressure. Almost got myself killed. II think it is the slave cylinder as I never had any problem with the clutch and this happened during normal cruising.
While driving at 70 mph RPM indicator began to fluctuate, and depressing the clutch felt spongy. Vehicle was taken to the dealer for a check up. By the time the vehicle arrived at the dealership the clutch was not functioning properly. The dealer replaced the clutch. Currently another clutch was needed.
My clutch failed at 14,000 miles. My ignition fails regularily, the ignition coil has been recalled and now I am having problems with my catalytic converter. I have owned VW's all of my life and traded in my last VW that had 170K on an original clutch.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Escondido, CA, USA