To whom it may concern: My name is [xxx]. I own a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta tdi that I purchased new on 3/10/03 from autohaus of lancaster in lancaster, pa. It now has 56,700 miles on it. (mostly highway) while driving on 6/21/05, I went to apply the brakes and the brakes got mushy and then grabbed and the pedal went to the floor in a sudden stop. As it was stopping you heard a sound like the vehicle now had air brakes. I depressed the pedal again the brakes let up. I was nearly rear ended by a truck the first time it happened. I pulled off the road and called the garage. It turned out to be a brake booster. Prior to this problem, while the vehicle was still under warranty at 48,000 miles, I had the vehicle in for service at the dealership where the vehicle was purchased. It was in because several times I applied the brakes in the snow and the tires locked up. This vehicle has anti-lock brakes. At this time the anti-lock brakes did not work. This happened several times. The dealership found no problems. They checked it and said all was ok. It happened again about a week after I got it out of the shop. My current mechanic (roberts automotive) who specializes in Volkswagen mentioned that he believes that two problems are very likely the same problem. The mechanic ([xxx] @ roberts automotive) also told me that he called the local dealership (autohaus of lancaster, pa) for the part, and he was told they replaced 8 of these brake boosters in the last two years. I also talked to the service manager at autohaus. Dave told me they have had several brake boosters go bad on the tdi models. The vehicle is now in the hands of autohaus. It sounds to me like there is a problem with quality and workmanship here. This is a definite safety issue. By sheer luck I was not hit by that truck. I will be sending a similar letter to Volkswagen of America with my complaint. Thank you for your cooperation. Regards, [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Willow Street, PA, USA