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.
The contact owns a 2008 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle started shuddering and swaying in the rear of the vehicle. The contact slowed down and proceeded to drive. There were several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 106,349.
Just after I purchased the used vehicle from a private party, I was driving on the interstate at approximately 70 miles per hour, when the vehicle without warning slammed into second gear, sending my face into the steering wheel, while the cars travelling behind me had to brake to avoid collision. I pulled over, and turned the car off to assess the reason, to no avail. When I re-started the car and put it in gear, it drove fine until the next time I drove it. Then it did a repeat of the previous action, sending the transmission into safe made without any notice or provocation, and again, when I restarted the vehicle it drove perfectly normal while I drove it directly home. When I performed an obdii scan, it generated P0746 as the problem, with no other problems being reported. I am reporting this problem because the first time it happened, it could have have ended very badly had someone else been behind the wheel, such as a mother who may be distracted by her children at the time, and I feel this matter should be addressed before someone is killed on the highway. Prior experience has taught me that highway accidents seldom only happen to one vehicle at a time, and almost anyone that experiences this problem on a highway could cause serious injury to multiple cars and needs to be addressed.
Vehicle suddenly comes out of gear. Will not let you select forward or reverse, leaving you stuck in a possible dangerous situation. Throws code P0717, transmission speed sensor. After some research I've discovered this is a common issue and recalls have been issued in other countries.
The contact owns a 2008 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 mph, there was an abnormal clunking sound coming from the transmission. The instrument panel display showed that the transmission independently switched from drive to neutral as the vehicle lost motive power. Upon inspection, it was discovered that the driveshaft bolts loosened and a hole was present which caused transmission fluid to leak from the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The cause of the failure was not determined. The local dealer and manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 140,000.
Car while driving immediately slows like it was shifted into neutral. When you press the gas car races but does not move. The prnds flashes and the car had to be shut down and restarted. I heard there was a recall but it never showed for my car nor will they help, because my VIN was not listed. This is a serious safety hazard. Especially at 55 mph in heavy traffic.
- Carlisle, PA, USA
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Vehicle will not shift properly and goes into lompode. Cannot accelerate. It has happened while driving on highways, in stop and go traffic, and while backing out of parking spots. The cause of the problem is the mechatronics unit.
The car initially had troubles when it would be hot outside it would and the temperature gauge would go high in temperature also if it was cold outside and you were driving slow temperature gauge down below safe temperature. After applying 2-5 bottles in a month the car started shuting down on its on. After an oil change in April, I experienced the most scary incident... while driving on freewaay I felt kerking a seen smoke from under the hood. I oulled in S gas station and let the car cool topk over 4hrs to do so. I had to drive back home on the streets and the car wpuld not stay at a stable heat. I had to stop my car in multiple unsafe area after'11 in the night. Now the car will not start unless give a jump for over an hour. Obly satys in for about a min the loses power all over again
The gear selector indicator display on the dash is flashing and the car is doing its own thing changing gears. It will not properly accelerate causing a major safety issue anywhere but especially on the highway. The car was properly accelerating on the highway before the display starting flashing and the car downshifted (into either 3rd or 4th) and refuses to upshift again. I think this is related to a mechatronic unit failure in the 2009-2010 recalls.
While my 17 year old daughter was driving down a city road, going about 30mph, the car stopped accelerating. She then noticed prnds was flashing on the dash. Luckily, she was not far from home, she was able to continue driving it home. We parked the car until we were able to have it towed to the nearest dealership, which is 88miles away. The car is undriveable at this point.. the dealership informed me that the mechatronic unit has failed and needs replaced, quoting me $2800. I've tried contacting Volkswagen about this issue and all they tell me is her VIN number is not included in the recall even though her car is having the exact same issues as the other recalled 2008 VW Jettas.
The contact owns a 2008 Volkswagen Jetta. While the vehicle was parked with the key out of the ignition, the contact entered the vehicle on the passenger side. Half of her body was inside the vehicle and one leg was hanging outside the vehicle. The contact heard a clicking noise and the vehicle started to roll back across the parking lot. The vehicle crossed four lanes of traffic until it was stopped by steel cables that were securing a light pole. A police report was filed and there were no injuries. Afterwards, the contact experienced body soreness. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed by a dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.
At a stop, when accelerating, the car may jerk or hesitate. Hard shifting from 2 to 1 can cause the person behind to rear end or the car next to you to hit you when you suddenly stop moving.
Vehicle has started to display some of the characteristic slipping and lurching dsg issues that VW knows about. I took it to the dealership and when the tech took it out for a test drive, he actually experienced the issue himself. Unfortunately, the computers aren't throwing any codes so their only advice was to keep driving it until it gets worse and I can bring it back and they can more easily duplicate the problem. So basically I'm driving a time bomb. VW knows there's issues with this transmission, the VW dealership tech experienced the actual issue himself, but they won't do anything until it gets worse.
The car stall in middle of the road while driving, then the transmission has the issue as car does not move to drive or reverse. The issue can cause the severe accident. This needs to look into this. I believe similar instances have reported: abcnews.go.com/gma/story?id=8378724
My PCV valve got clogged which caused the rear main seal to blow out causing a lot of damage. This is not supposed to happen at this mileage. Volkswagen has acknowledged they are receiving a lot of these vehicles between 80K and 100K, unacceptable. They are not covering any repairs. There has been 3 revisions by Volkswagen to the PCV valve thats in my vehicle but they won't acknowledge mine is faulty..why did they remake it 3 times? also model years before me had PCV valve recalls for this exact reason. Thank you
While entering a parking lot, parking space, after stopping completely, the car would not move when accelerator was lightly depressed, there was a 1 to 3 second delay, and then the car lunged forward crashing into the opposing parked vehicle, damaging the fronts of both vehicles. This hesitation was noted once before at about 3800 miles while entering a highway from a stop. Again, the hesitation was followed by a sudden lunge. Selling VW dealer said it sounded like a dsg trans problem, bring back fpr evaluation after its repaired. This unexpected surge problem is the direct cause of the accident. There should be a safety recall. Note: While this VW Jetta is 7 yrs old, it is not driven often as can be seen by less than 500-800 miles per year.
While merging onto the freeway, as I reached 60mph the car lunged and the engine began revving over 6000rpm. It felt like the car was stuck in 3rd gear. The gear/drive mode display led began flashing constantly. The car would not shift up to a higher gear so I moved into slower lanes and kept the car at about 5000rpm/55mph until it was safe to stop. The car geared down as I decelerated but appeared to skip a gear and lunged at each shift. I tried switching between drive and sport mode but there was no change. When I finally was able to bring the car to a stop I discovered the reverse gear did not engage. It simply went into neutral. I shut the car down, waited a minute and started it again. It no longer had any visible problems or error messages. I later learned this is a known issue with the dsg transmission and is referred to as the 'dsg flash of death'.
The problem is the intake manifold and the intake valves stuck from excessive carbon buildup. It was replaced in Feb 2011 and now needs replacing again. Problem is, now I'm out of the warranty period and the dealer is saying I would have to pay for this myself. They also added that there was only a 1 year warranty for the first time this was replaced in Feb 2011. There have been many complaints on the intake manifold and no recall from Volkswagen. If the decarbonization had been done when the intake manifold had been replaced the first time, this would have never happened again.
On 10 February 2012, at approximately 7:45 am, I was driving on interstate 395 North, Washington, DC. In the high occupancy vehicle (hov) lane when I heard noise from the engine and I saw white smoke coming from underneath the hood of the engine. I checked the indicator lights and no lights were on that indicated there was a problems. At the stop sign near the entrance near the navy annex off colombia pike, I noticed a smell similar to burning oil. First, the vehicle was checked by jack taylor Toyota in alexandria, va. Toyota stated they were not aware of a Volkswagen dealership in the area and indicated they had the ability to identify any problems with the vehicle by conducting a diagnostic test. According to the diagnostic test, the rear main seal, which is located at the rear of the engine between the engine and the flywheel of flex plate/torque converter was leaking transmission fluid. I learned later via an internet search there was a Volkswagen dealership approximately 10 miles from the Toyota dealership. I consulted with a technician at Volkswagen who indicated the problem described by Toyota was confusing and was possibly an error was asked to bring the vehicle in for a certified Volkswagen technician to inspect further. Presently, the car is at the Volkswagen dealership in alexandria, va for further diagnostic testing and repairs. They confirmed the rear main seal was leaking transmission fluid and ordered the part which was projected to arrive on or about 13 February 2012. The car was serviced for 50K tune up at Volkswagen in springfield, va and this problems was not identified. This is the first incident in-which I have encountered transmission problems with this car.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Belleview, FL, USA