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.
My vehicle as well as many other others from model year 2006 to 2012 are experiencing ABS and ESC failures at an unprecedented level. I am personally on my 4th ABS unit with 77,890 miles on my car. Each time it has cost me roughly 2K to replace this unit and the last 2 have failed within a year. With this failure I lose my traction control and antilock brakes creating a potentially dangerous situation for myself and my wife and kids more importantly. I am considering a class action lawsuit. Trust me... I have enough complainants just in pikeville ky. It makes driving in rain incredibly difficult and dangerous and makes controlling the vehicle exponentially more difficult. Please look into this!!!! VW America is burying this issue and a simple bing or google search will show you countless complaints. The date I'm going to include below is the last unit failure.
The contact owns a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta. While the vehicle was stationary, the ABS indicator illuminated without warning. A dealer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 16V913000 (service brakes, hydraulic, electronic stability control). The failure mileage was approximately 79,000.
- Honolulu, HI, USA
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Suddenly one day I saw ABS brake light is on, I took the car to authorized Volkswagen dealer, and they told that ABS needs to be replaced and the cost is around $3000. I searched in internet and saw VW is replacing some defective ABS module, I contacted to VW, usa and they refused to do so as my VIN is not the candidate for recall but I see in internet my model and make and year is the candidate for recall. My case number with VW is 180087368
ABS warning light on, traction control warning light on and brake light flashing NHTSA recall bulletin # 16V913000 brake are acting sporadic, pulsating when trying to stop. City driving does not fell safe. VW says my vehicle is not covered and it is the exact model in the bulletin referenced above.
The ABS system went out of control, all of the sudden the lights on the dashboard where on. The car was in motion when this happened it was a scary situation! there is a local Volkswagen near my house and this people suggest me to change the entire ABS pump, vacuum pump and they got the nerve to charge me for the car revision when they knew this car is on recall.
My daughter has been driving her 2010 Jetta since June 2010 (purchased new). Until the end of 2016 she complained that her car started running unsmooth, jerky, the vsc warning light on/off randomly, unable to go faster than 60 mph on the freeway while the car was shaking violently and the engine revving aggressively. I verified her car driving condition myself. I was traveling above 70 mph on a 65-mph freeway zone. Suddenly the car started to shake violently as if all wheels were severely off-balanced. Ignoring my accelerator pedal, I could barely drive above 45 mph. I felt very unsafe in the middle of the road and prepared to be hit by another car at any moment. To achieve a desired quick brake pedal response on Volkswagen vehicles, the design engineers opted to increase the assembly interference between the brake master cylinder and the booster instead to reduce the brake pedal to the master cylinder piston travel ratio. They reduced the clearances from the master cylinder piston seals to the brake fluid supply/return ports so that the car brakes can be activated with shorter brake pedal stroke. As the results, under assembly dimensional tolerance stack-ups, some cars were built with the brake fluid supply/return ports partially or fully covered by the piston seals at the Volkswagen factories. When the thermally expanded brake fluid cannot flow back to reservoir through the fully covered supply/return ports easily, the fluid will expand brake caliber pistons pushing the brake pads against the rotors resulting brake dragging. When a moving car's engine cannot overcome with the brake dragging frictions, the car driver will lose his/her control to the vehicle speed. The O-ring swell due to aging made the Jetta worse. www.VW-resource.com/adjstrod.htmlblog.caranddriver.com/what-exactly-does-Volkswagen-mean-by-german-engineering-anyway/
The contact owns a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start and the air bag and brake indicators illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 15,800.
2010 VW Jetta with 73K miles experienceing issues with the hydraulic pump and ABS system. While in the car is in motion, engagement of the ABS system causes the driver to lose control of the vehicle. When brakes are hit, car violently pulls from left to right out of lane beyond the drivers control. This issue has occurred multiple times trying to decelerate while driving on a highway in high traffic situations. Smoke from tire burn has occurred from the lose of control. Thankfully no accident occurred, but that was extremely lucky. It is an extremely dangerous condition and the car is undriveable with this issue. NHTSA recall campaign #16V913000 issued on 12/20/16 covers this model and year VW for this exact issue, however, the VIN number identified above is not covered by the current recall. The recall needs to be expanded to cover additional 2010 model year Jetta's experiencing the same highly dangerous hydraulic ABS issue.
The contact owns a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta. While operating the vehicle, the ABS sensor remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The contact was informed that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 16V913000 (service brakes), although the failures were identical. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 54,000.
The contact owns a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated that there was an internal leak from the motor associated with the engine, the driver side low beams shorted several times, and the skid warning indicator illuminated. Also, the traction was poor and the suspension and steering were loose while braking. The vehicle was taken to a mechanic for diagnostic testing. The VIN was excluded from NHTSA campaign number: 16V913000 (service brakes, hydraulic, electronic stability control). The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was not available.
Car was taken into dealership in April 2015 for inspection. Needed new struts and driver door panel, door needed fixed due to no lights on locks and door itself would not lock. Paid $1400 for everything when picking up the car, got in car and radio did not work when picking up. Said it was a fuse, never fixed the problem. September 2015 windshield wipers quit working. $45 for that repair. 2-3 weeks later battery died. Replaced the battery for $111. 3-4 weeks later battery was dead again, had to tow it to shop. Replaced battery again $200+ parts and labor. 3-4 weeks later after replacing the battery twice, same thing happens again. Car is dead, towed to shop again. Can't figure out the problem, towed to dealership. Taken to a dealership for one problem of the car being dead now there is a shifter problem and the ABS unit needs replaced. The ABS lights were not on while the car was at the last shop before this dealership. The car hasn't been driven for approximately 5-6 months if not longer due to these issues. How does my ABS unit need replaced if it hasn't been driven?
L/R caliper required adjustment and lubrication due to stuck in position. No emergency break used. Noticed when leaving parking lot of store and smelled burning rubber. Got out of auto and my wheel is smoking and glowing. Required tow and repair 9/14/2015. I notice over the course of couple months my tires I need to fill up more (every time I need to drive) but tread is great at 41K on a 2010 auto. I schedule appointment with VW. 12/22 I get in for a diagnostic and told I need new calipers cause old one damaged. Need to do both sides for safety. 1/5/16 cost $1200 to replace both back break disks, calipers and flush break fluid at VW authorized dealer. Issue happened following normal day shopping. I have no idea how it could have gotten stuck but thankful I did not drive back home and close to friends house because the wheel would have caught fire or fallen off etc. No idea how this happened but if happens to someone on highway that caliper kicks on and driver does not know then you have a faulty problem.
Took car to dealership for 40,000 mile maintenance/tune up. The dealership called to tell me I needed new rear brake pads. What I don't understand is how the left brake pad can be almost gone and need to be replaced while the other brake pads have 80% of wear left. I asked about this and the manager said they just do that sometimes.really? one brake pads wears to almost nothing but the other three are still good. This is a serious safety issue and needs to be fixed by Volkswagen immediately.
Driving on 2nd lane of freeway. Sudden loss of power - all warning lights come on dashboard accompanied by bells and dings. Pulled over to side of road - fortunately traffic not heavy. Engine was still running however no forward movement when pushing accelerator pedal - engine just revved. Turned car off then restarted. Warning lights still flashed but was able to put car into drive and start rolling - vehicle was in "limp" mode however and would not go over 10 mph. Vehicle was towed to dealership where it was diagnosed and the ECU reset. Dealership unable to recreate problem. On 8/16/14 the same thing happened as I was pulling out of my driveway. The vehicle was again towed to dealership where it was diagnosed with a faulty ABS control unit for an estimated $2500.
When I approached a red light I pushed the clutch in and started to slow down. I was in the turn lane and there was an opening as I started moving feet from clutch to fuel pedal. The car lurch and came to a stop. The car had died while I was slowing down to get in the turn lane. I have called the VW dealer and they have no idea on why the car did and is still doing this. I don't feel it is safe for me or for my family, I am a firefighter and I really truly believe that the car is going cause an accident or kill us. The car has shut off on its own over twenty times in the last few months. It doesn't happen every time that the clutch is depressed, some days it doesn't do it at all. Other days it is every time or every other stop. When traveling at highways speeds the Jetta lurches like it is out of fuel even thou it has a full tank. All of the cars maintance is up to date per the dealer.
After failing inspection last week for the second time in two years, I preceded to change the rear brakes (which were the reason for the inspection failure). The driver's side rear brake pad was wore completely to the metal. The passenger's side looked as though it had come directly out of the box, no wear at all. The parking brake was not hung up, wheels spun freely after replacing both sides. This was the same case when the vehicle failed inspection two years, approximately 40,000 miles, ago. After reading many other Jetta owners have experienced similar issues with the rear brakes failing prematurely, I decided to submit this issue to NHTSA.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Tallahassee, FL, USA