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.
While traveling North on the New Jersey turnpike the vehicle, without prior warning, suddenly stalled in the center of three lanes and would not restart. I was not able to move the car from the center lane. Shortly after I got out of the vehicle a tractor trailer struck the rear of my vehicle totally destroying the vehicle.
I was driving on interstate 91 on the evening of January 21st when the car began to slow down even though I was pressing on the gas pedal. I was able to get it off the exit and thinking that I may not have had enough diesel additive, I nursed it to a truck stop at the base of the exit and added enough additive for 75 gal. After 3 minutes the car died and needed to be towed. It was towed to a VW dealer and they contacted VW. The VW rep said that there was a service bulletin out and directed the dealer to drill out the check valve on the fuel sending unit. I picked the car up on Wednesday the 19th and drove it Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, I had driven for about 1/2 hour on interstate 91 and the car did the same thing. I coasted to the breakdown lane and the car stalled. Once again it could not be restarted. It was towed to gene langan VW in glastonbury. This is a very dangerous defect that could result in an accident if the driver cannot safely negotiate the vehicle off of the highway. When I spoke with VW roadside assistance on the evening of January 21st, they said that they were getting hundreds of calls about the 1999 diesels just dying after prolonged periods of driving. Apparently this problem is more widespread than just my vehicle. I would appreciate your investigating this problem with the 1999 Jetta diesels. Thank you.
Engine check light stays on, indictating a defect. Vehicle will stall while being driven, casuing a safety hazard. Dealer cannot determine cause of defect. Also, when slightly opening rear windows, vehicle will vibrate.
Engine died while driving slowly. Mil and generator lights came on. Took two tries to start engine again, then vehicle operated normally. This is the second occurrence in a week and a half. Dealer was unable to find a problem after the first failure.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Matawan, NJ, USA