The car doesn't recognize that the door is open. The interior lighting does not come on and the notification that the headlights remain on is not functional. This has left me with a dead battery twice. Also, the car alarm rearms itself if the engine is not started within 30 seconds. I believe this is a safety issue in that the lighting is not functional which is a security concern at night.

- Fort Collins, CO, USA

Driver's side wiring harness failure - several wires in the wiring harness between the passenger compartment and driver door have failed, making it impossible to operate windows, door locks, release fuel door, and release trunk from driver door. There is no manual release for the fuel door. The failed wiring also results in a constant door ajar indication on the instrument panel and illumination of the front dome and entry lamps. Safety systems may be compromised if the onboard computer believes the door is ajar.

- Owings, MD, USA

I got into the car and went to open the rear doors for my two children and put them in the car. They got in the car and the door open alarm continued even after the door was closed. I reopened and closed the door and it finally stopped. The next time I opened the door the windows would not go down, the locks did not work and I could not adjust the mirrors. I went to the dealership and they have said it was the wiring harness between the door and the car. A wire had broken and they ordered a replacement harness. After investigating the issue, I see their are a lot of people with the 2006 VW Jetta tdi with the same issue. I see this as a safety issue, due to the fact that in an emergency I would struggle with exiting the car with my two children. It also means an exposed wire is a regular occurrence with the vehicle.

- Pebble Beach , CA, USA

Brake light switch failure.

- West Hartford, CT, USA

My Volkswagen Jetta tdi regularly stopped working, about once every six months beginning when it was less than 6 months old. Under warranty the dealership fixed it the first time by "replacing a relay" they said, but not really because it continued to happen. The second time when it was about a year old and still under warranty, the dealership said by the time it was towed to them it had begun working again so they couldn't fix it. They said unless it was not working when they had it in their shop they couldn't fix it, although they could see something had happened. It would simply stop working or not start. After the warranty ran out I began taking it to a VW trained mechanic who also told me he couldn't fix it because it was intermittent and would start working again before the tow truck got it to his shop. He said it was due to "one of the several computers not talking to one of the other computers". he could see a record in the car that something had been not working, but the car ran by the time it got to him. Toward the end, it would die on the highway and I feared for my life and that of the children who rode in my car. I traded it in, already not working again, for a new car that I felt I could trust. Through out all this, I could not contact anyone at VW except someone who told me they were sorry, but VW could not do anything for me. The problem started happening when the car was new and continued to happen and was never resolved. It was dangerous to drive. The date below is merely the latest incident.

- Fort White, FL, USA

2006 Jetta tdi 58,229 miles today / purchased from 2nd owner at 53K miles 34mpg in town / 42.5mpg highway wife driven with light foot. Oil change and fuel filter replaced at 53K miles background: Car was purchased early Dec 2009, with in 2 weeks it was at the dealer for a non start issue. Car was garaged over a 3 day weekend and not driven at all. Monday my wife goes to start it and it will not start, after telling me I try for 3 minutes to get it started and it finally starts. Taken to dealership and they find no issues, they blame cold start as the culprit. This is a bs call as the car was and is always garaged at 50+ degrees F. roughly 3 weeks later the same situation happens and the car goes back to the dealer. To no avail they still could not replicate the issue nor find a solution. The no start issue/ hard start issue seemed to progress from sitting for 3 days and not starting to randomly multiple times a week not starting. They still cannot find a solution. I firmly believe this is a fuel issue. On to today's issue: First noticed 3 weeks ago while attempting to pass a car on the interstate at 70mph (around 4K RPM), the car down shifted and stuttered rather then increasing speed. I thought it was a 1 time issue until I started noticing it more and more. Now it happens frequently and more pronounced starting at even 35mph/3400 RPM in 3rd gear. From 10am Tuesday to 5pm Friday our Jetta was back at the dealership because of a stutter/power loss issue. They did replace the fuel filter today as well as test the fuel (which tested fine), the egr valve was cleaned with a carb cleaner. The service manager drove the car often and has been able to replicate the power loss / stutter, however they cannot find anything wrong. They called the VW tech line multiple times and still no fix once again. Car died several times today. Turning onto the highway the car stuttered and then.5 miles later it died at 45mph in traffic. Pulled over and cranked for 3 minutes.

- Lincoln, NE, USA

There is a defect within the wiring harness that causes most of the vehicle electronics to shutdown and occasionally stops the vehicle while driving. I can provide pics of the wiring issue if needed. The issue usually occurred when driving in very wet conditions. After the first time it happened, the problem grew worse as the wiring was chafed more & more over time. The Jetta tdi's should be recalled to have the harness checked & repaired before someone dies in a car crash.

- Blairstown, NJ, USA

Brittle wiring insulation located in the doors. Wiring on a 2006 VW Jetta, after 50,000 miles the use of electronics and lights on drivers door failed. Inspection of the wiring harness showed cracked wiring insulation, chaffed wiring and broken wires where the electrical harness were subject to movement from the door operation.

- Soldotna, AK, USA

Several wires in the wiring harness between the passenger compartment and driver door have failed, making it impossible to operate windows, door locks, release fuel door, and release trunk from driver door. There is no manual release for the fuel door. The failed wiring also results in a constant door ajar indication on the instrument panel and illumination of the front dome and entry lamps. The wire insulation and strands appeared to be brittle, which raises concerns about other wiring in the vehicle. This wiring was inside a protective rubber boot, integral to the harness, between the cabin and door. There was no moisture or debris within the boot when it was opened to inspect the wiring.

- White Sulphur Springs, WV, USA

An ongoing problem with a 2006 Volkswagen Jetta 1.9L tdi automatic dsg with 87,000 miles. A video of it in action: www.youtube.com/watch?V=7lsex_-B_O0 while driving, the car will go into neutral and all the dashboard lights will come on with different sounds. Changing the shifter into P, N, D, R, S (sportmode) does nothing. Changing into the tiptronic mode does nothing. This is one incident of a series of incidents that have been happening sporadically for the past year, but this has been happening on and off since before thanksgiving 2009. We've been on the phone with Volkswagen of America and they have no solution. The dealership (paradise Volkswagen 760-200-4000) has done numerous "repairs" to the car including: Misc diagnosis 12/28-"? new steering rack 12/6-12/22 sensor and electrical module 12/1-12/16 misc diagnosis on 11/16-11/20 we feel very unsafe in the car - what if it happened on the freeway"

- Palm Springs, CA, USA

Driving on I-95 in jacksonville, fl, it was raining with some pounding (approx. 1 inch of water) on the roadway. I was maintaining a speed of 35-45 mph when the epc and traction control warning lights illuminated on the dashboard. At first the car behaved normally but after about 5 minutes it lost power and would not accelerate above 1500 RPM. Fortunately I was able to quickly take an exit ramp off the freeway and coast into a gas station, the car continuing to refuse to accelerate. I turned the car off and waited for about 5 minutes. I started up again and drove around the gas station and things seemed normal again, although the epc light was still illuminated. Stopped again and waited another 5 minutes. Upon starting up again, both warning lights were gone and the car behaved and accelerated normally. This defect could have caused me to get stopped in traffic on a busy freeway possibly causing a crash and injuries. I was very lucky that it happened where it did and I was able to pull off to safety.

- Columbus, OH, USA

Vehicle trunk unlatches while vehicle is standing or in motion, with or without the engine running. Items in trunk may spill onto highway, causing accident or injury.

- Randleman, NC, USA

To whom it may concern: I purchased a 2006.5 Volkswagen Jetta tdi in September of 2006. I believe that I have found a major manufacturing defect that can cause fire, an accident, or both. It surely is a major safety issue, a danger to the driver, all passengers, and other cars as well. When driving the vehicle, the car has total loss of power. After a failed repair attempt by my dealer, I took it upon myself to investigate the problem. I found that the main engine feed harness has major wire chafing causing wires to contact each other, potentially causing fire. This also causes the car to stall with all power lost. I directed myself to the tdi forum where many VW enthusiasts and service tech's gather to talk about their cars. I quickly found many other owners finding the same problem. Bare wires rubbing together. I have reason to believe that VW is aware of the problem as well. The only way to properly correct the problem is a new engine harness, with a larger loom, or padding around the wires.

- Tyngsboro, MA, USA

Power train, electrical and trim problems.

- Oakville, 00, USA

Steering wheel is failing electrically. Air bag fault in passenger side, no horn or other wheel controls. Real/unrealized safety hazard(s) due to non working electronics in steering wheel.

- Lexington, KY, USA

The brake light stays on and will not turn off resulting in a dead battery and a very unsafe condition while driving. I drove for a half a day without knowing the light was staying on. A couple of people honked at me, but I did not know why. I also could not figure out why my cruise control did not work. I figured out the brakelight switch was not working when I came out of home depot after dark and I thought I left my lights on. It turned out it was the brakelight switch. I called a volkswagon repair shop and they said there was a recall on it and I should not have to pay. When I called Volkswagen dealer service to repair it, they denied any recall. I did a little search on the internet and I now see they have a history of brakelight switch failures on Jettas and beetles. They told me my vehicle is out of warranty also as it has 59,400 miles on it and it is a 2006 Jetta tdi. I bought this car thinking it will go 250,000 miles with no problems and am saddened by this type of treatment for a safety issue which they have a history of. I have driven many cars over 250,000 miles without a brake switch failure. It seems Volkswagen does not know how to remedy the failures on the mexican made vehicles on something as simple as a brake light switch which should be designed for a near infinite life since it is a safety issue. It is not like a fan switch. I am probably one of the first to see the failure as I have put on an unusually high amount of miles, but most of them are highway miles. When I get it repaired, I can get the old part. I hope to get it repaired tomorrow.

- Sahuarita, AZ, USA

I have a 2006 VW Jetta tdi with approximately 70,000 miles on it. This auto was purchased to be used primarily as a commuter car for my wife and I. last week we suddenly started seeing the dashboard warning "air bag fault". upon taking it to the local vwoa dealership to have this investigated we were informed that there was a vwoa technical bulletin (that evidently had been out for some time) which indicated that some connector(s) located under the driver's seat that are related to the air bag system would need to be replaced. This is not a maintenance item nor anything that we could have caused but vwoa is indicating that due to the auto not being within the warranty (4 year and/or 50,000 miles as we've been told) that we will now have to pay approximately $400 to have this repaired. We were further informed by the vwoa service that without this repair the airbag system was considered to be in an "unstable state" and could potentially not activate the airbag when needed or possibly activate at an inappropriate time. The VW dealer also said that vwoa considers this to be so unsafe that they issue a free rental and require the repair to be made before releasing the auto again....but only if you're under warranty. Vwoa did manage to come through with some "good will assistance" (their words) by providing $200 towards the repair. This airbag issue has been a known issue with the 2006 VW Jetta (maybe other years as well I'm not sure) for some time. Vwoa indicates that this issue is not a major concern and is therefore no recall has been issued. I have read several complaints on NHTSA and other sites that seem to indicate that this is a larger issue than vwoa states. I think a recall should be issued due to the obvious safety concerns involved with the airbag system. Hopefully there will be before any injuries and/or fatalities occur.

- Wentzville, MO, USA

I purchased a 2006 Jetta attracted by an extensive list of features and conveniences that I wanted as a consumer. One of this features included the automatic window opening via remote control, feature that is not normally seen on vehicles of its class and price. Volkswagen did an update to the software to this vehicle and without my consent took that option out. I paid for that convenience and VW cant even tell me why it was removed from the computer. The dealer cant tell me either because according to them they don't even know what's on the software update. In any case I need to be compensated by this inconvenience or the software needs to be retrofitted to get me this option back.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

Consumer complaint concerning the 2005-2006 A5 Jetta inaccurate speedometer reading. The speedometers reads 4-5 mph higher than the vehicle's actual speed.

- Rome, NY, USA

Speedometer is not accurate and in time I found this to be a safety issue. At first it was trucks running up on my rear bumper beeping horns at me. So when I discovered the speedometer was registering slow, I sped up. But then how much you can not tell and I find myself breaking when I see a patrol car. I was maybe 1 or 2 over but yet you just do not know. Its a distraction that I find may cause a safety issue while driving. VW does this to conform to a european standard. This could be easily calibrated out as the cars computer is aware of the correct speed as VW claims the odometer is not affected. Unecessary breaking or a road raged truck driver are safety issues.

- Okeechobee, FL, USA