White metal used in front and read windshield wipers and also rear hatch door latch flake apart and crumble making wipers and latch unusable. Replaced front wiper assembly June 2012, rear wiper does not work, same with rear door latch. Front wipers stopped working suddenly while in a summer downpour causing a major safety problem.

- Underhill, VT, USA

Window regulator switches and interior lights started to malfunction early in the life of the car, starting about 2003. My passenger window fell into the door once, and the same happened for my driver side window twice. The window switches are flaky and require intense concentration to tap them just right to make the window go in the direction that you want. If you tap too strongly or too long, the windows reverse direction. This is extremely distracting and dangerous when you are trying to Focus on the road. Dealership and local mechanics replaced regulator switches and motors several times, years ago. I was tired of replacing them, so now I try to use the windows as little as possible. I keep a flashlight permanently on the passenger seat to compensate for 12 years of darkness in the cabin. Alarm system occasionally chirps for no reason, as if detecting an intruder, and sometimes will not generate the beep beep when I hit the engage button on my key fob. Alarm sometimes goes off when I start the car, as if I'm carjacking my own car. I suspect the 1999 batch of Volkswagen cars had serious grounding or electrical issues. Car continues to run fine (current mileage is 392,000) despite the electrical demons, but with reduced safety and increased distractions.

- Greenwood Lake, NY, USA