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.
Engine idle intermittently sits higher than normal (900-1000rpm) permitting car to want to lurch forward (like at traffic stops) which can cause the driver to hit the person in front of them.
During heavy usage of the A/C system (especially on hot days), the car increases RPM's, presumably to compensate for the increased load on the electrical system. The vehicle feels like it wants to surge forward through any normal braking or the oem "autohold" feature. This happens most often during stop and go traffic. I asked the regional VW representative, thomas kerr about the issue this morning who said it is "normal behavior for this car."
2006 Volkswagen Passat 3.6L fwd automatic. Hesitation from a slow roll. When slowing but not stopping the car completely the car hesitated when the throttlewas applied. When throttle inputwas realized the car lurch ed forward unexpectedly. This appeared to be a combination of engine / transmission issue but may be more related to the transmission not being in the correct gear. Volkswagen issued a programming update for the ECU in Oct 2006, which reduced, but did not eliminate the problem. The incident date really did not apply as this was a constant problem.
Continuing dangerous slow roll hesitation when applying throttle. 1-2 second delay between throttle application and acceleration. Tsb PCM update for said issue applied and resulting little noticeable improvement. Can lead to a dangerous situation in emergency maneuvers involving slow roll acceleration.
Throttle lag at stop presents dangerous situation when entering traffic. Manufacture is aware of issue, but has not presented fix. My vehicle is 3.6L 4 motion.
- Eden Prairie, MN, USA
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Shaking issue while braking and after releasing brake. The entire car vibrates. Dealer contacted and said there was no way to repair at the current time.
Vehicles throttle- by- wire system creates unsafe delay in acceleration and an exaggerated lunging effect when unexpected. Unsafe in the event of an evasive maneuver, merging, passing and stop and go traffic.
: the contact stated that while driving at low speeds of 0-5mph the engine jumps to RPM's of 900 to 1000 RPM's causing the vehicle to lunge forward. This occurs more often when the vehicle has been running for a while and the engine is hot. The RPM's go down only when the engine is placed in neutral and the motor is revved up, or when the vehicle shifts into second gear. The vehicle idles roughly and hesitates. While stopped at a light or stop sign, there is lag between when the accelerator is depressed and the when the engine kicks into gear. When this occurs, the vehicle lunges forward. The dealership cannot duplicate the problem. While parked, at low speeds, or turning the vehicle right or left, there is a grinding sound coming from the right suspension area. The dealership replaced the right front passenger strut bearing which seemed to help for a while, but now the grinding sound is back. The grinding sound is now coming from the left suspension area.
On 7/13/06 I purchased a new 2006 VW Passat from bert smith VW in St. Petersburg, Florida. I took delivery at 5pm on Friday 7/14/2006. I have 4 major problems. Bert smith VW service person (noel aponte and his service manager michael) and they say that they have never heard of the below issues. First issue: I have extreme idle shaking of the engine. This is constant - meaning you would have to turn off the ignition to stop it. I can shift the transmission into neutral and still feel the shaking. I can put the gear in park or in drive and it is still shaking. Sometimes the shaking is mild (like the shaking while braking) other times it is severe...so severe you can see the entire car shake. Second major issue: I drive my car of a parked position (or after coming to a rolling stop at a light) and the car feels like it is trying to pull or lunge forward while my foot was previously on the brake. At this time I have to put extreme pressure on the brakes to keep it from moving forward. The light turns green and I am off. I come to another light, the same thing happens. Regarding these 2 issues, here is a threaded discussion on the website vwvortex.com. forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread"id=2619540 all of these owners have the same problem. All feel VW is giving them the run around. I am not happy about this. Is there a tsb on this problem" these issues are on-going the moment I left the bert smith dealership on Friday 7/14/06. Third issue: The car seems to have severe throttle lag while driving and at a stand still. I am at a light, I press the gas pedal and there's significant lag time between the time the car begins to roll. Fourth issue: The front end squeaking really bad. It became progressively worse and bert smith replaced the front passenger side strut bearing on Thursday 7/21. It's happening again. The 2nd front bearing has to be replaced, and maybe the one that was already replaced has to be fixed again.
There is an unsafe prolonged hesitation when depressing the accelerator pedal on the 2006 Volkswagen Passat 3.6 liter 4 motion. When depressing the accelerator pedal, nothing happens until you've depressed the pedal approx. 3/4 to an inch of pedal travel, then all of a sudden, the car lurches and accelerates at what feels like half to full throttle. It is a random hesitation, yet occurs at probably 30% of the time. It is most noticeable when starting from a stop, yet will happen on the highway, if accelerating to pass. This is a very dangerous malfunction. If this abrupt acceleration occurs in snowy or icy conditions, it could cause a loss of control. I have experienced several times, when I expected my car to move forward when I depressed the gas pedal, only to have it hesitate and nearly cause an accident. This car has a drive by wire accelerator, which I believe is a fairly recent design change. We have another car with the same type of system which does not do this. I have read 2 new car reviews that have mentioned this problem with this particular model. After taking delivery, I called to tell the service department of this problem. After trying to convince me that this was "normal", they took my car in to try to resolve the problem. It was there for 10 days, during which time 2 engineers came out from Volkswagen to look at the car. They agreed that there was something amiss, and felt that they needed a software update installed. There was not one available, and I was told on March 30th that it would be ready within 30 days. It has now been 3 months since then, and multiple phone calls later, a fix is still not ready. I have been told that it is ready, but waiting government approval, and then told that nothing is ready. No one at Volkswagen customer service has been able to give me an estimated time when my car can be repaired. There is really no "incident" to report, other than an unsafe malfunction which needs to be corrected.
: the contact stated while driving 10mph and attempting to come to a stop, the RPM gauge needle gave sporadic readings. While the RPM readings were inaccurate, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the brake pedal went to the floor and the vehicle did not stop. The contact was forced to down shift and use the emergency brake in order to get the vehicle stopped. After the vehicle was restarted, the engine revved. The vehicle was shifted into gear and suddenly accelerated. The vehicle engine was quickly shut off. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and currently is under going additional testing.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Alpharetta, GA, USA