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.
07/22/13 I brought my car in for an early 100K mile service because I noticed my transmission was not shifting properly & was getting progressively worse. I thought having the 100K service done would take care of that, it didn't & it got worse, so I brought it back to the dealer. The dealer indicated that the valve body was faulty & that it would cost $1000+ to fix. I just paid over $1000 for the 100K maintenance & other repairs; I can't afford the additional expense. [xxx], in the service department, stated that the issue was "?not that bad, ...that they see much worse, ?won't be a problem to keep driving it...". I wasn't convinced that a malfunctioning valve body wouldn't cause additional problems, because when I am driving it feels like the transmission is about to drop out of the car & the car hesitates to the point that it is not safe! I did some research, found that there was an extended warranty on the valve body, however, I never received any notification in anyway regarding this, even when my car had been in for service. I contacted VW headquarters & spoke to [xxx] 8/30/13 who indicated that there was an extended warranty on the valve body, apologized that I didn't received notification, then indicated that VW could not help me. This is a safety issue & should be covered by VW. Please have someone contact me. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
2005.5 Jetta--vehicle has rough shifting between 2nd and 3rd gears. As well as downshifting. While driving on a mountainside, going 65 mph, the car suddenly downshifted to 3rd gear and would not accelerate. I had to pull over on the side of a mountain, with cars flying by me. The car would not shift gears until turned off and on again. This is now happening during regular acceleration at low speeds. This is a huge safety concern, as I could have been rear ended by another vehicle due to loss of power/speed.
The contact owns a 2005 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated that the vehicle lost acceleration power while attempting to merge into highway traffic. The failure was experienced several times. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where it was found that the transmission valve body had failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 86,000.
My 2005 VW Jetta gli stalled suddenly while I was driving @ 35-mph. After pulling over and opening the hood to assess damage, I turned the ignition key but all I heard was the starter being engaged. Once the car was towed to an independent repair shop, the technician informed me the timing belt broke/snapped. I was skeptical because my owner's manual says timing belts should be replaced at 110,000 miles according to VW's recommended maintenance schedule. During repairs, the technician said that my valves were bent because the 1.8T is an interference engine which means that cams, rockers and lifters must be removed in order for the cylinder head to be sent to a machine shop for additional repairs. Total costs = $3,865.66. There was a class action lawsuit against VW timing belts but I was denied reimbursement by the administer/custodian claims were no longer accepted after 2009. I spoke with [xxx] at VW customer service 1-800-822-8987 who said there are no timing belt recalls for my vehicle. Please investigate this concern and see other identical complaints at www.topix.com/forum/autos/Volkswagen/T33rhdpdvbrpo8D2P/P3 for more information. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
The contact owns a 2005 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated that she noticed the trunk failed to close. The contact had to slam the trunk several times in order for it to close properly. Additionally, the front driver side door failed to lock and the open door warning light illuminated constantly. The contact also stated that while driving approximately 40 mph, the vehicle jerked forward. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. The mechanic was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 80,375.... updated 02/28/13 updated 03/11/13
- Port St Lucie, FL, USA
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Hi, so my 2005.5 2.5L Volkswagen Jetta started making noises upon acceleration and the engine would shift quite heavily during idling. The check engine light went on and I took the car to dealership. Apparently, there is an issue with the timing chains of the engine. Never missed a maintenance, after only 68,000 miles it doesn't seem okay that timing chains are already affected. After looking at a few forums online, it seems that this is a very common problem for Volkswagen Jettas from that time. Please investigate! thank you.
Transmission fails to engage into third gear, then engine revs up, then slams into gear. Transmission stays in third gear regardless of speed. Transmission stays in fifth gear regardless of speed.
I purchased this car from a dealership on 10-8-2012 up in the Washington, D.C. area and drove it back home to my house in SC. Everything was fine on the way home. The very next day on my way into work the car hesitated when it was supposed to shift from 3rd gear to 4th gear and then suddenly downshifted all the way back to 1st gear which made the car de-accelerate from 35-40mph to 10mph within 40 feet or so. The engine revved to 6000 plus rpms which scared me but not as much as the big truck that was towing a trailer that had to skid off the road and go around me to avoid an accident. This is now a daily occurrence. I carry my 16 month old daughter around in this car and I'm scared to death that someone is going to smash into the back of us. I've started pulling off the road and letting cars go to avoid accidents. Please help!
The contact owns a 2005 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated that the clutch and the pedal went completely to the floorboard when depressed. The vehicle was towed to a mechanic for inspection who stated that the dmf needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified and stated that the vehicle was not included in any recalls. The failure mileage was 69,000.....updated 10/11/12 the consumer stated the vehicle had pre-existing symptoms that the dealer dismissed. Updated 10/16/2012
Vehicle has manual transmission, driver selected first gear at an intersection, pulled away from light when it changed to green, tried to change to second gear, however gear lever stuck in first gear, would not move into neutral, luckily driver had enough forward momentum to clear intersection and roll off to the side of the road. With engine running driver is unable to select a gear, only way to put transmission into a gear is to turn off the engine, vehicle taken to Volkswagen dealer for repair, clutch pressure plate had cracked in half.
2005.5 model year Volkswagen Jetta tdi (turbodiesel) with automatic (dsg) transmission. On several occasions while driving car, the transmission will for no reason shift into neutral, and all transmission indicator lights 'prnds' will flash simultaneously. So far, if engine is shut off and then restarted, the transmission will again function normally. I believe this has happened 4 or 5 times now. On one occasion, the car was in an intersection when it became immovable which presents a safety hazard.I can see that there is a massive amount of info on many VW internet sites about this issue, in fact if you simply google 'VW dsg flashing prnds' or 'VW dsg transmission problems' anyone can find it. It is a common problem. I see that hhtsa has begun an investigation based on this for 2007 thru 2009 model years, obviously a problem on 2005/2006 VW with dsg transmission as well. VW has initiated a new customer service program to address customer concerns related to certain dsg equipped models but apparently mine (and many others) are not covered they say by this program- nevertheless a safety issue exists with 2005 and 2006 dsg equipped VW's. I called VW customer service (national) today 11/3/11 and rep said "I am not aware of this issue' for this year- so they are either lying or incredibly underinformed. I had the car to VW dealer for diagnosis, and they stated that a diagnostic test showed a malfunction in a part that controls transmission operation and was causing the transmission to shift into neutral by itself. Their recommendation, "spend $2000 to replace the part, or just get a new transmission = $4000. Since there is obviously a safety related design flaw that allows the transmission to shift itself into neutral- I feel the NHTSA should expand the investigation to include all years of VW dsg transmission equipped vehicles sold in the usa.
3 Oct 2011: This vehicle's flywheel assy failed at approximately 85,000 miles. Fortunately, the failure occurred while I was at a very low rate of speed in a non-congested area. After the event, I have come to realize that this is a known problem on dsg transmissions as installed on a variety of VW models. VW does not appear to be interested in discussing this issue for model years 2005 / 2006. I am one of the luckier ones as I regularly make long distance - interstate trips with family in-tow. Volkswagen should be held accountable to accept full financial responsibility to not only take care of customers who have experienced such low-time failures but, also, expand any recall that may be in-place for later models so as to prevent potential life-threatening accidents within the overall driving population. I had been driving a "time bomb" for almost 5 years and, to date, Volkswagen of North America has only issued a limited recall for later models, the 2008-2010, I believe. This episode will cost at least $3000 usd and none of it is covered by Volkswagen. What is the root cause of this and how do I know that my replacement dsg transmission will not be susceptible to this happening again causing potential vehicle, property, and personal damage in the form of a vehicle "mishap"."?"
Check engine light came on while returning home after shopping. Car was towed to the repair shop. Diagnosis was catastrophic failure of engine due to a timing chain jump on a 72K mile, 2.5 liter, 2005 VW Jetta two months after purchase.
Hard shifting, it hard shifts and it keeps getting worse. I was told it was the valve body but Volkswagen does not want to pay for it because it is a few miles over the 100,000 mile warranty when I have read many things saying that Volkswagen was having problems with the valve body.
Jetta 2005.5 sedan (automatic) hard shifted between 2nd & 3th gears, displaying shuddering and hesitation during acceleration in traffic. Since October 2010 hard shifting has continued daily and frequency of shifting hesitation issue has worsened. Hard shifting with hesitation up between 3th and 4th, and also hard shuddering downshift between 3rd and 2nd. Dealer hooked vehicle to computer on Feb 14, 2011 and stated transmission has no errors. Dealer would not test drive for longer than 4 miles, dealer stated hard shift did not occur in that 4 mile period, test was not at freeway speeds, owner was not in the vehicle. Dealer states vehicle is not eligible for valve fix. Vehicle shifting failure is hazardous and dangerous highway condition.
VW Jetta 2.5L 2005 out of the blue check engine light came on at 81,000 miles. Random misfire and vacuum leak codes. Turn out to be timing chain stretched causing the problem cost $2000 to fix.
We recently bought a 2005 Volkswagen Jetta (the newer design also coincided 2005.5) from a private individual in March 2010. We noticed there was a slight problem with shifting gears that continued to get worse. In June 2010 we took the car to a local Volkswagen dealer and discussed the problem. They told us it sounded like the dual mass flywheel was the problem. That there was 2 different manufacturers that make the flywheels and they no longer use one of the manufacturers due to defects and problems with the flywheels they made. They said it was a known problem that the flywheels were bad and would need replaced way before they were suppose to. Even though the problem was known by Volkswagen they refused to fix replace the defective part. They said we could continue to drive it and but would continue to get worse and end up tearing up alot of other stuff if it did. We looked online and found many other people having this same problem, though no recall. We also read where if the flywheel locked up/came apart while driving it could lockup the entire car. We did come across where the flywheel had been recalled in europe. The car was drove till November 2010 when it had gotten to the point where it would downshift on hills and when you would try to get up speed to merge onto the interstate it would not shift to the next gear( but the rpms were normal) and was forced to merge onto the interstate at a very slow and unsafe speed. The engine also had a very loud chatter noise. We decided to have it fixed and replaced the flywheel assy & mount bolts and had to have the transmission fluid flushed and refilled and a new filter put in. Totaling $1423. The new flywheel was not the same as the original one. It now runs great. Shifts perfectly and smoothly.
2005 Volkswagen Jetta tdi sedan - engine ran rough and noticed slippage and hesitation during acceleration from full stop. Repeated results from repair shop visits found no problem, was told this was "normal"... the failure occurred while driving at normal hwy speed. A loud bang followed by complete engine failure. Visit to dealer confirmed catastrophic failure of dual mass flywheel, causing collateral damage to engine and transmission. Repair estimate was from $5K to $15K. VW and the dealer offered no assistance due to vehicle outside of manf warranty period, despite car being well maintained by the book. Research on owners forums and web shows this same issue is prevalent in the 2005-2009 model years. Found over 3000+ instances from owners complaining of the same issue from as little as 15K miles of use....its clear this is a manf defect in the dual mass flywheel and that VW has not recognized this...
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Elmhurst , IL, USA