Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | |||
| 03/02/2013 | 12000 | ||
| We were travelling at 65 mph on interstate 93 approx 5 miles south of exit 11 in hooksett, nh northbound. there was a loud noise like a gunshot. i swerved into the left lane and by the time i got the verhicle under control my wife and i were covered in glass and our ears were ringing. we looked up and the sun roof had exploded out/upwards from the best we could tell. at the time of the incident the car was dry and it was clear out. there was no ice or snow on the roof. the windows were all closed and the sun shade was open. the heat was not on in the vehicle and it was roughly 40 degrees f outside. we immediately got off the highway at the next exit (11) and pulled into a park and ride lot to inspect damage. as expected the window broke outwards, with approx 33% of the glass missing in a hole in the middle, the rest shattered and falling off if you touched it. | |||
| 10/26/2012 | 39000 | ||
| Starting the end of october, 2012 my horn started working only intermittently. on a couple of occasions i have had people pulling into my lane without looking, and i tried to honk to let them know i was there, yet the horn would not work. i had to brake hard, or swerve abruptly to avoid being hit. it works intermittently when i am locking the car with the alarm also. this is not associated with the fuse problem the cars were recalled for earlier. the horn would quit working all together if the fuse went bad. sometimes the horn works, and sometimes it doesn't. i have logged onto several on-line forums for volkswagen owners, such as www.tdi.club and noticed that others with the same car are having the same problem. i took it to volkswagen to have it fixed, and they said they found nothing wrong. the horn happened to be working that morning. there is obviously a defective part(s) problem if many are experiencing the issue. it is definitely a safety issue as the loss of the horn at the wrong time has almost caused me to have some accidents. please help! | |||
| 03/12/2011 | 10838 | ||
| Palisades vw in ny striped my car of all original part and they are telling me that the car comes with old winter tires. i have tried to resolve this with them and they laughed in my face and told me to go and talk to the people that sold me car. my nephew changed my tire he said that i still am going to need a new one because he thought i a donut but i told him i have a full tire that it was not a donut and when he was done he told it wasn't. it was a full tire but again i figured maybe i was did not pay attension or i really did not see a full tire. when i got a flat on october 7th i did not want to bring my car back to palisade vw because they did not do a good job so i went back to where i got my car and they called and asked if i had my tires changed because the tires are not the one the car came with. i have never changed my tires and i did notice that they where different from when i got the car. not only that but palisade mechanic stole my gas had a full tank both times and i got my car back with less then a1/4. please please i am begging for help i am a waitress i do not have the money for this i can't even afford to get apt please help me i am begging you. i need this car to be safe because i live with my niece and i baby sit her kid in exchange for room and board. these people saw the car seat and did not care if i crashed my car and killed the baby or any one else for that matter. again i am begging for your help. | |||
| 11/01/2011 | |||
| The plastic silver lining under the side windows does not fit properly. this creates a vibration/rattling noise which is annoying and is distracting to the driver. this can cause a safety issue. | |||
| 10/06/2011 | 16790 | ||
| The vehicle immobilizer activates, preventing the vehicle from being started and leaving driver stranded. | |||
| 12/19/2011 | 11000 | ||
| Attempted to start 2011 jetta tdi with 11000 miles after it had been sitting in a parking lot for 9 hours. temperature 45f outside. vehicle started perfectly and then died seconds later. attempted to start vehicle again, but would not turn over. had a lot of trouble getting it to start and when it did it was running very rough and then would die immediately. finally able to start vehicle and keep it running after approximately 30 minutes. was able to drive 30+ miles home - started fine after. this is the second occurrance. this first occurred approximately 1 month ago with 8000 miles on vehicle. outside temperature was in mid forties. car would not start at all - kept turning over, but would not start. glow plug light flashed intermitently. after waiting approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour the car started up fine without hesitation. vehicle was at dealer 2 days prior to second incident, but they could not find anything. vehicle will be returning to dealer asap. | |||
| 11/29/2011 | 30108 | ||
| This is a re-occurance of the complaint 10425920 that was submitted by me on 17 september and is listed on this site. it has happened again. symptomatically it is the same. while trying to gain access to the vehicle the key fob wouldn't open the doors. after gaining entry to the vehicle all locks are inoperative and the fuse is blown. the initial issue was worked on by my local vw dealer but due to the odd nature of the issue vw tech was consulted. the system fuse will only blow if i try to gain entry to the car with the key fobs. if a new fuse is installed and the sensors on the actual door handles are used the fuse will not blow. the dealer had the car for a week and vw was indesisive about what to do. vw advised the dealership to jump out the fuse and return the vehicle to me (and they did!) until they could figure out the way ahead. i was asked to return the vehicle to the dealer a few weeks later and a complete replacement central locking control unit was installed. i am returning the car to the dealer for another attempt at solving the problem. i am quite sure that vw shouldn't be advising dealerships to jump out fuses and return vehicles to customers for use. beyond the technical issue vw techlines behavior is alarming and it would be worth asking to see the dialog files for my issue. i will advise regarding the outcome of this next visit. | |||
| 10/15/2011 | |||
| We had just arrived to our nephew's pop warner football game. when we got out of the vehicle we told our 8 year old son to stand by the car while we pulled out our other son's stroller our of the truck. our 8 year old leaned against the driver side rear end when suddenly we heard him screech in pain. we asked what had happened he said that he felt something hot hit his leg. when we looked we noticed that he had burned his right calf and it was because the exhaust pipes stuck out too far. we tried to treat the burn ourself with burn ointment but it was not enough. the next day we took him to the emergency room to have a doctor look at it and she said that he had 3rd degree burns and that it was infected. | |||
| 04/02/2011 | |||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2011 volkswagen jetta. the contact crashed into the rear of another vehicle while driving 30 mph. the vehicle caught fire and the contact was able to get out of the vehicle before it exploded. the police and fire department arrived and extinguished the fire. the cause of the fire had not been determined. the vin was unknown. the contact owned the vehicle for a month and was not sure of the mileage. | |||
| 02/16/2011 | 1704 | ||
| I purchased a 2011 vw jetta s sedan on 1/24/2011. at approximately 1000 miles, the car began making a whistling noise from under the dash nearly all the time. i brought the car in for service on 2/16/11 and after a few days, i was told the problem was isolated to the thermal expansion valve in the ac system. this was replaced and the problem was fixed. about 2 weeks later, the sound returned. i brought the car in again on 3/29/11 and again was contacted a couple of days later. the dealer service rep told me that the vw factory tech rep looked at the car and there is nothing wrong with it. his determination is that it is operating according to specification. i contacted vw of america and they confirmed this as the outcome and that if i remain unsatisfied i could call the better business bureau auto line for resolution, which i have also done. this isn't a safety issue, but certainly represents a design flaw that vw is not willing to rectify. the car whistles nearly constantly when the ac system is at operating pressure and temperature. additionally, the clearcoat sustained damage after less than 48 hours of exposure to bird droppings. the dealership stated there is nothing they can do and the warranty specifically excludes that damage from coverage. | |||
| 03/29/2011 | 8200 | ||
| I own a 2011 vw jetta which is equipped with the new intelligent crash response system (icrs) which was put into place to maintain safety during a front end collision by turning car off, unlocking doors, shutting off fuel supply, and disconnecting the battery from the alternator. i have confirmed with the sales manager at my local dealership that the sensors for this to engage are located in the front bumper and the front doors. i was struck in the rear at a speed of 60mph on an interstate and this system engaged. the result of this engagement also powered down my steering and brakes providing me no way to control my vehicle from the rear impact. my vehicle subsequently excelerated to a very high rate of speed at which time i was lunged passed approx 10 cars or 25 yards when my tie rod broken and lunged me back into traffic at which time a front side collision finally brought the vehicle to rest. after researching this system, it appears its intentions are for front end impacts and is not set to engage from a rear impact. had i been able to steer or brake my vehicle, this loss would not have been so dramatic and serious in nature. | |||
| 01/04/2011 | 950 | ||
| From time to time, when depressing the gas pedal to accelerate (entering highway via on ramp, climbing moderate hill or grade, passing slower vehicle) there is initially no acceleration, then a sudden surge of power causing an uncontrolled acceleration. | |||