When the vehicle stopped at a stop sign or a traffic light, it stalled. The problem was diagnosed as a secondary air injector valve. The vehicle experienced a rough idle. The valve was replaced, but the vehicle still idled rough. The check engine light was intermittent prior to repair.

- Durham, NC, USA

Apparently the fuel injectors in my 2000 VW Passat wagon 4motion are defective. The car has 63,000 miles. Starting and idling problems led to the discovery of excess carbon build-up in the valves and the failure of the combination valve. This valve cost me about $400 to replace. VW says the fuel injectors should be replaced because they are a certain color (of manufacture), implying they are defective. Replacing them will cost me about $600, or about $1000 for everything.

- Holden, ME, USA

Our Volkswagen dealer (martens Volkswagen) was initially contacted for service when an engine light came on my 2000 Passat gls wagon that said "emissions workshop". they said they couldn't take a look at the car for about two weeks because it wasn't a serious problem and we should just keep driving it. After a few more days of driving the car, we smelled gasoline fumes coming from the engine compartment (while driving, not while starting). We then insisted that martens look at the problem immediately. The mechanic said that all four fuel injectors were leaking fuel through the side of the injectors into the engine compartment and needed replacing. He claimed that something in the gasoline was melting the seals. The car has only 33,421 miles on it. It has had regular service at Volkswagen dealers and was only filled up with 93 octane gasoline bought in the us as required by Volkswagen. In addition we have never used any fuel additives. I believe that these fuel injectors are defective and there may be many other people who are also being told to continue to drive with the engine light on who may in fact have gasoline leaking into the engine compartment due to leaking injectors. Therefore we recommend that NHTSA investigate if a safety recall is needed to prevent engine fires that might result from defective fuel injectors in this model Volkswagen.

- Gaithersburg, MD, USA