Volkswagen Passat 2007 Passat water leak footwell that causes passenger side airbag damaged : suddenly after a rainy day, water comes from sunroof to the passenger side footwell and made carpet wet and stores water below the carpet. That caused passenger side 's airbag malfunction results in airbag fault. I went to the dealer and they told me it happens with some VW cars and please get your car checked for water leak. They told that they are not responsible for neither the airbag nor the water leak. I believe there was too much water below the carpet which directly puts the integrity of the safety in danger since it the electronic parts and wires were in water for long time.

- Halethorpe, MD, USA

Faulty door handles are preventing access to the inside of the car potentially causing the driver being locked in the car after an accident. For more than one year now, the door handles are only engaging with the inner door lock system occasionally. One can hear the unlock mechanism click when engaging the remote, but when one tries to pull the handle, it is missing the usual tension and lifts more easily than usual, and the door does not open. If one crawls into the car via another door (potentially through the trunk) and manually operates the door handle from the inside, the door will open. However, pressing the auto lock button on any door when inside will release the lock, but will not allow an outside person to pull the handle (which remains still disconnected). The issue started with the driver door and over time has moved to all other doors. I was informed by mechanics that this is a known problem with VW Passats and is caused by a faulty wiring inside the door. As it relates to all doors, it seems evident that it is triggered by a faulty design. Googling, it appears that door issues are reported for VW jettas as well. This is very alarming because if there was an accident and the driver was incapacitated and unable to unlock doors from the inside (despite unlocking the auto lock system), emergency crews or first responders would likely not be able to open the doors from the outside.

- Bainbridge Island, WA, USA