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.
2010 Volkswagen Golf. Consumer writes in regards to fuel system malfunction. The consumer stated in July 2013, the vehicle unexpectedly stalled on the highway. When she took the vehicle to dealer, for a diagnoses, they informed her, the fuel system had completely malfunctioned and sent metal shards throughout the entire fuel system. A couple of months later, the ac wasn't functioning properly. It was taking 10-15 minutes to get cold. It was determined the air compressor was failing and needed to be replaced along with the receiver and expansion valve.
Had just refueled vehicle a day prior when on lunch break vehicle lost power while driving. Upon entering a heavily congested intersection the vehicle lost power and stalled causing steering, braking and control to be compromised. Started vehicle to move out of heavy traffic and drove directly to an automotive repair shop. Upon inspection the repair facility discovered metal particles throughout fuel system causing unsafe driving conditions listed above including stalling and loss of control.
There were three separate stalling incidents within 1 year (9/2012-6/2013). After each incident, the vehicle was taken to a Volkswagen dealership for evaluation. The vehicle was within the 36,000 mile warranty during this time, and no problems were diagnosed or repaired by the technicians. Finally, on 1/7/2014, there was a complete failure of the high pressure fuel pump.
I have a 2010 VW Golf tdi. I was driving along at 25 mph when my glow plug & check engine lights started flashing, and my tachometer dropped to zero, indicating a stall. The power steering also started to cut out, but I was able to safely pull over. Tried starting the car again and got nothing. The car was towed to a VW dealership down the street, and on Monday 11/19 they informed me that my high-pressure fuel pump failed and sent metal fragments through the entire fuel system. The car is currently being repaired under warranty, but I was told that the bill would be at least $5,000 for this kind of fix. Oh yeah, this also completely ruined my travel plans for thanksgiving, as VW refused to give me a loaner car while this documented warranty issue was being dealt with. After doing some research, I found that there are several cases of 2009-10 tdi fuel pump failures with the same symptoms. Apparently, there have been three revisions of this pump since then, and I am due to get the newest one. But, there is also talk that ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel in the us is not providing the proper lubricity, and thus causing the pumps to fail (this is not an issue in europe). Nonetheless, further investigation by the NHTSA should result in VW doing a proper recall and redesign, rather than quietly fixing an inherent flaw on a case-by-case basis. Even with my car fixed, I'll still be wondering when this will happen again. Which also makes me wonder if I should just sell it and be done with VW. Very frustrating.
Check engine light went on a few seconds after I had merged a few lanes over on the freeway (101S @holly during rush hour). Glow plug light flashed once or twice. Within 60 seconds, the car had died while traffic was speeding up on both sides of me. Put on emergency flashers. I could not get the car started again, nor did I have enough time to merge to the side of the road (I had 2 lanes on my right, 2 on my left). After trying to start it for a minute or so, called 911. After 10 - 15 minutes, chp came and stopped all traffic, pushed me to the side of the road with his car. Car still would not start. Tow truck came a while later, towed me to VW dealer (boardwalk) which was nearby. Dealer: Boardwalk Volkswagen, redwood city, ca status: Fixed under warranty. Provided me rental car. Took 1 week. All in all, gave me good service. They replaced the entire fuel system. Here is what they did under warranty (per the receipt): * replaced high pressure fuel pump * replaced auxiliary fuel pump * replaced fuel filter housing and filter * replaced all injector lines * replaced 4 injectors * replaced fuel rail * removed and reinstalled fuel pump inside gas tank * drain and refill diesel * road tested recheck ok * vendor code (Bosch) and (cbf) not a very opportune time for a catastrophic failure, while cruising on the busy rush-hour highway, and it happened very fast. Nevertheless, no one was injured, and the car is now back on the road. I know several people with these cars of this vintage, and I will encourage them to contact VW to try and replace the pump before it fails. On the triclub forum, there are examples of this same thing happening 100S of times to these cars. Here is my entry: forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?P=3978779 someone on the forum encouraged me to file an incident with NHTSA, so I am doing that here.
- Mountain View, CA, USA
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Entering the freeway and a high speed, engine light and ignition coil light appeared when I reached the end of the on-ramp. Lost all propulsion 30 seconds later; the vehicle would not accelerate. Vehicle coasted to a stop on the shoulder, but barely made it since I had to move several lanes over and avoid traffic going around me. If I was moving slower, I would have been stranded on one of the lanes. There have been many other cases of the high pressure fuel pump failure for the turbo diesel engine, my vehicle is just another one.
I got into my car as normal, and began to drive. After about 5 minutes of driving, I came to a red light on a busy street. My check engine light came on and the glow plug light began to flash, the car immediately died and would not restart. I was told the high pressure fuel pump failed, and the entire fuel system has to be replaced... after I got home, I quickly google searched the issue and appears to be a common problem on a bad design by Volkswagen and Bosch...
**************note: This is a diesel issue.******************** diesel high pressure pump failed (hpfs) at 39,793 miles. The car stalled on the highway and would not restart. Dealer found metal shavings inside fuel filter. Entire fuel system had to be replaced. Replaced the high pressure fuel pump (hpfs), 4 fuel injectors, aux fuel pump, tank pump, all rubber/plastic lines in fuel system, all metal lines in fuel system and fuel tank. Despite being out of warranty, VW paid for the repair (over $6000 dollars in parts not including labor.) was told that, if the problem recurs the car is covered for 12 months / 12000 miles. After that, I am on my own. **************note: This is a diesel issue.********************
Immediately after the 40K service on my 2010 VW Golf tdi with 39,300 miles, the diesel glow plug warning light came on and the engine started running roughly. Approximately 10 seconds later, the engine stalled. The car would not restart and had to be towed to the dealership. The dealership found fragments of metal in the fuel system and replaced the entire fuel system (approximately $5000 in parts not including labor). VW agreed to pay for the repair but there is no guarantee they will pay for this repair if it happens again. Also, VW was unable to tell me if the replacement high pressure fuel pump is the same design as the original one that failed. I am concerned the fuel pump could fail again and this time cause an accident it the car were to stall on the interstate. I am also concerned that, should the high pressure fuel pump fail again, it could cost between $8000 and $10,000 to repair. It appears that VW is repairing cars, with a fix that offes no assurance that the problem wont recur and, the NHTSA may getting an accurate report on the actual number of high pressure fuel pump failures.
Upon making a lane change to merge into a faster moving traffic lane, the vehicle accelerated normally for one second then lost all engine power leaving me in a dangerous position. Upon depressing the clutch, the engine stalled. I was able to restart the engine after which it worked normally. This has happened approximately 20 times since. It usually creates a dangerous situation such as leaving the car without power in an oncoming traffic lane during a left turn or moving too slowly in a merging maneuver. Sometimes the check engine light will also come on and the glow plug warning light starts flashing. Clouds of white smoke always appear at the tail pipe during the power loss. The dealer has replaced a sensor 4 times which makes the warning lights go out, but the engine cutting out problem is never addressed. VW simply state "cannot reproduce problem" and return the vehicle. The behavior is very dangerous.
Since I first bought the tdi Golf it has been easy to stall, sometimes stalling while still in motion going down the road. At approximately 20K miles stalling became sometimes unavoidable no matter how much gas you gave it from a stop. This caused the car to pull out into traffic and stall, leaving me dead in the water in dangerous traffic!! no matter how much gas I gave the car or how much I slipped the clutch it would still sometimes stall after propelling me into oncoming traffic. I have driven a manual transmission my entire life and I know how to work a clutch... this problem is not normal and many friends who I have had drive the car agree with me. At approximately 19,000 miles the glow plug light illuminated and blinked after starting the engine. The car wouldn't go above 20mph. I turned off the ignition and restarted with no further problem. At approx. 23,000 miles the car stalled 4 times in a row after cranking the engine and attempting to pull straight forward out of a parking lot. At this point the check engine light came on and the glow plug light also came back on and blinked. The car performance now is terrible and it is going into the dealership for repair. I am concerned about safety and the possibility of continuing expensive issues I may have that exceed the warranty period with this car. Please help!!!
2010 Volkswagen Golf tdi; on multiple occasions very noticeable loss of power lasting 2-5 seconds usually while accelerating; no stall noted but very disconcerting. Has occurred more than 20 times. Also, has very sensitive clutch with easy stalls from start in 1st gear, have driven manual-transmission cars for 20+ years and have never stalled a car with such ease as the tdi Golf. Has created multiple dangerous situations but no accidents. Car has 8K miles on it so far.
VW Golf tdi, 2010. I have 12,000 miles in it. Manual transmission. Stalling problem and occasional decrease of power for seconds. Never put a drop of gasoline instead of diesel fuel. Stalling only occurs upon shifts from 1st into 2nd gear at slow speeds and only occasionally, I have to be unusually careful when doing it. I have been driving only manual transmission cars the past 20 years, this is not a driver mistake or inexperience with manual trans. No other car gave me problem like this. Test-driving the 2010 jetta gave me the same trouble.
I was on a 350 mile trip, and I stopped and filled up with diesel at a chevron station about 60 miles into the trip. I have the receipt that says "diesel" on it. The car started fine and drove fine until I stopped about 200 miles later. Then the car would not restart right away. After trying it a few times it started. I finished driving the last 90 miles without problems and stopped the car and shut it off. Then the car would not restart at all. The next morning the car started and ran roughly for 30 seconds, then smoothed out and ran fine. I drove to the dealer. I had read about high pressure fuel pump (hpfp) problems with these cars and told them to check it out. They called the next day and said the pump was fine but that they were still investigating. Two more days later they said the hpfp was bad due to contaminated fuel and it needed $8,000 in repairs. They said they tried to burn a sample of the fuel and it burned, and they said that diesel won't burn, so therefore they said there was gas in the tank. They told me to call my insurance since it wasn't covered under warranty. I called the chevron station where I bought the fuel, and to my amazement they talked to their distributor who agreed to pay the charges. I feel very lucky. I think this is Volkswagen's problem with these pumps, given all the other complaints and no complaints from Chevy and Ford diesel pickup truck drivers about "contaminated fuel" since we all buy fuel at the same places. Now I'm scared that I'll be paying the bill the next time this happens. The car is a 2010 VW Golf with only 19,000 miles. The dealer took 3 weeks to fix the car.
The high pressure fuel pump failed on my 2010 VW Golf tdi while driving. It caused the car to shut off in an intersection. The car then had to be pushed out of the intersection and towed to the dealership. The fuel pump damaged the entire fuel system once it failed. The entire fuel system had to be replaced. The dealership was kind enough to do it under warranty.
2010 VW Golf tdi loss of power and subsequent engine stall while driving on a highway. This happened on two separate occasions at 17500 miles and then again at 18,800 miles. The VW dealership replaced the fuel pump under warranty after the second incident. I understand VW is having 2009-2010 hpfp problems and is claiming that 90% of the failures are due to fuel contamination. I have been driving diesel cars for 10 years now and I'm the sole driver of this car. There was no fuel contamination in this case.
2010 VW Golf tdi 2dr, 6 speed manual: Loss of power occurs on occasion, typically under hard acceleration after shifting from 1st into 2nd and pushing down accelerator, car will lose all power, but not stall, for 2-5 seconds followed by regaining power. When it regains power there is a huge plume of white smoke out the tail pipe that quickly dissipates, leading me to believe fuel or water. Car also done exactly same even while attempting to pass a car: Downshifting from 5th to 3rd gear, hitting the accelerator and exact same lag/loss of power. Car now has 15K miles and I have experienced this about 6-10 times over the past 6 months. Dealership mechanics claim they can not replicate or find any error codes plus claiming they've never heard of this type of complaint, also they claim/suggest this could be a poor fuel issue, suggesting going to another gas station. Salesperson who sold me car informed me, off the record, this is a common complaint and their is safety campaign currently going on with the 2009 jetta tdi, but clearly this is the same engine as the '09. This type of complaint is also all over the internet and found in numerous complaints on the 2009 jetta tdi on this same website, therefore it sure sounds like a cover-up when the mechanics tell me they've never heard of any complaints like this"?" as a veteran law enforcement officer and accident investigator for the past 20 years, this is a very major safety concern.
The contact owns a 2010 Volkswagen gulf tdi. The contact stated that while driving 45 mph, the vehicle suddenly stalled. There was no power steering when the failure occurred so the contact coasted the vehicle to the side of the road and restarted it. The failure occurred two additional times and was towed to an authorized dealer. The dealer stated that the fuel pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000 and the current mileage was approximately 6,700. Updated 01/06/11 updated 04/07/11
Was driving at approximately 65 mph on an Illinois highway when I suddenly lost power and heard a tapping coming from the engine area. This was very dangerous because I was almost rear ended after losing power. Then diesel fuel started spraying all over the car and the highway. Pulled over and fire department came to clean up as much fuel as they could. Car was towed to local VW dealer. It turned out that the fuel line to injector for cylinder #2 was leaking. They removed and replaced this part. 03L-130-301-R line was replaced.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Saint Louis, MO, USA