Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL - LINKAGES | ||||||
| PE00033 | VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INC | 08/10/2000 | 12/28/2000 | FUEL TANK PUNCTURE | ||
| The office of defects investigation has received nine reports regarding punctured fuel tanks involving the jetta, passat and cabrio models.the reports indicate the fuel tank was punctured as a result of a blow-out of the right rear tire.this investigation has been opened to further study this issue. | ||||||
| EA00028 | VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INC | 12/28/2000 | 01/29/2002 | FUEL TANK PUNCTURE | 02V026000 | |
| It allege that the fuel tank and fuel fill pipe puncture from tire blow-out | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | |||
| 01/24/2011 | 150000 | ||
| 1999 vw passat glx accelerated on its own and would not stop when brakes were pressed or car was put into neutral. car accelerated on its own and speed kept increasing. extremely dangerous and i was unable to stop the vehicle by pressing the brakes. car accelerated on its own. | |||
| 02/08/2010 | 109000 | 1 | |
| Winter 2008-2009 had several times when car would accelerate on it's own. brakes did not help. only way to stop is to apply brakes with both feet and slow down enough to pull over and put in neutral, which makes tac go over 7000 rpm's. had throttle body cleaned and reset in spring of 2009 but problem recurred again this year. on monday, feb. 8, 2010 temperature was in low teens. warmed car for approx. 7 min. drove slowly due to bad road conditions and at approx. 3 miles into drive car started accelerating again on its own and no place to pull off. had to stop in extremely dangerous position and pray i wasn't hit before i could safely start car again. finally able to restart engine after approx. 5 min. without revving problem but approx. 2 miles later car again accelerated on it's own. took to dealer and they did a general diagnosis which showed nothing. this is an extremely dangerous situation and makes me extremely nervous to drive my car. vw of america states that my car was not in any recall and they are unaware of any problem with my car and could not divulge if they received any other complaints. *tr | |||
| 01/02/2010 | 115000 | 1 | |
| 2pm in southern california with perfect driving conditions.... driving about 30 mph down city surface street - when all of the sudden the car accelerated to 60mph - very scary - 1999 vw passat glx car is a bit over 115k miles in excellent condition. car was pulled over after braking and pulling up emergency brake - car continued revving until car was quickly turned off. popped hood - let engine cool for 10 - 15 minutes - tried to restart but car revved again so shut it off and will have repair shop retrieve it & bring to shop to get looked at. too scared to drive again. first time it happened since purchasing car a few months ago. *tr | |||
| 02/05/2009 | 160000 | 1 | 12/01/1998 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 1999 volkswagen passat. while driving approximately 65 mph on normal road conditions, the accelerator pedal became stuck when it was depressed. there was unintended acceleration and the engine revved excessively high and uncontrollably. the vehicle came to a complete stop when the contact applied both feet on the brake pedal. the vehicle resumed normal operation and was driven with caution. the vehicle has not been repaired. the failure mileage was 160,000 and the current mileage was unavailable. updated 3/19/09 *cn updated 03/23/09.*jb | |||
| 11/25/2008 | 70000 | 1 | |
| Car accelerator pedal locks up when decelerate and accelerating when making a u turns. *tr | |||
| 01/01/2007 | 128000 | 1 | |
| Tl* - the contact called regarding the 1999 volkswagen passat. the contact stated that the vehicle began to accelerate on its own and the contact was unable to stop the vehicle by braking. the contact stated that the driver had to weave in and out of traffic to avoid hitting other vehicles. the vehicle eventually jumped the curb and struck a fence. there were no injuries. the side air bag deployed. the failure mileage was 120,000. there was no police report filed. *ak updated 04/05/07.*j | |||
| 02/15/2007 | 100 | 2 | 09/01/2006 |
| In september of 2006 i purchased a 1999 volkswagen passat from suburban collections at the troy motor mall in troy, michigan. about two weeks ago i experienced severe problems as i was on my way into work. my car took on a mind of it's own. as i turned the corner onto w. 13 mile road in royal oak, michigan my car started to accelerate rather quickly. before i knew it was going 60 mph, without even hitting the gas at all. the most frightening part of all of this was that my brakes wouldn't work do to the fact that the engine was still accelerating. as i pulled off the road and put the car into park the rpm's immediately red lined and the engine was reving. needless to say i took the vehicle to the volkswagen dealership at the troy motor mall. the dealership two days later then told me that i needed to have the throttle body replaced. oddly enough, after this occurred two hours later my car was finished? i picked the car up that friday and drove it for exactly one week without any further problems. well, i got into my car on friday as i usually do and once again my car began to fun by itself. i was extremely frightened driving down rochester road going 70 mph with no available way to stop my car. i made it home safely and contacted my dealership once again. the strange thing is that the same day i received a notice in the mail on friday saying that my part (throttle body) was in at the dealership ready for replacement. so all in all, the volkswagen dealership presented me with false documentation stating that my throttle body had been replaced when in fact it hadn't been and to boot, those people at the dealership sent me away driving a reckless vehicle knowing full well that the problem had not been resolved. i hit curbs, experienced extreme emotional anxiety attempting to drive, stop and control my car. due to the lack of prompt remediation of my vehicle there have probably been more problems added to the vehicle because the original problem was never fixed but was known about. *jb | |||
| 01/25/2007 | 85225 | 1 | 10/17/2005 |
| On the evening of january 25, 2007 i was driving home when i noticed that my car was not slowing down when i released pressure from the gas pedal. it then became apparent to me that the car was still accelerating despite the fact that my foot was not on the gas pedal. i shifted the vehicle into neutral and the tachometer showed that the engine was revving in the 5,000 rpm range without my foot on the gas pedal. i managed to get the car off of the road and turned the vehicle off while the transmission was in neutral, then shifted to park. i attempted several times to restart the car, but each time the engine immediately revved up to the 5,000 rpm range as if the gas pedal was floored. after about 4 attempts of shutting down the car and restarting the engine finally idled as is should upon start up and i was able to finish my drive home without further incident. *jb | |||
| 01/07/2005 | 79000 | 3 | 09/23/2003 |
| Dt: the contact stated without warning vehicle accelerated to over 100 mph. after the first incident the throttle cable was replaced. a month later it happened again, the dealer made repairs to the cable. the vehicle has been returned to the dealer a third time for the same problem. currently the dealer was unable to duplicate the problem, and no additional repairs were made. *ak | |||
| 01/03/2005 | 67000 | 20 | 09/02/1998 |
| When stopped, car will rev up over 3000 rpm without my touching the accelerator. feels like car is going to take off, right into an intersection. have had to turn off ignition to avoid a potential accident. it also occasionally accelerates while driving even once my foot is off the accelerator and not in cruise control mode. *jb | |||
| 10/25/2004 | 20000 | 100 | 11/25/1999 |
| Our 1999 passat with the 1.8 liter engine stalls repeatedly when decelerating, this is dangerous. we purchased the car new and had a problems before 20,000 miles. vw cannot diagnose this problem. i took vw to the bbb since they were very uncooperative in repairing this problem, and then they changed the throttle body. then the problem went away for a few years and is now back and vw again refuses to replace the throttle body. the throttle body is obviously defective and they will not admit that there is a problem or fix it. *ak | |||
| 10/12/2001 | 08/01/1998 | ||
| Approximately six to eight times since the car was bought, as the car was brought to a stop the engine raced with the tachometer rising to about 2200, and it required maximum force on the brake pedal to prevent the car from accelerating into a stopped car ahead or into a barrier or intersection. if the transmission was shifted into park or neutral, the tachometer swung up into the range of 6000 to 7000, and then dropped back to its normal idling speed of 750. only then did the car stop pulling dangerously. this has been reported to the dealer three times, and on one occasion he held it for three days, hoping to have a mechanic experience the problem, but the problem occurs too infrequently to reproduce it. the dealer has never been able to provide any repair, and the problem still exists, ocurring most recently on 10/1201. *ak | |||
| 04/24/2001 | |||
| While driving 60 mph vehicle accelerated to 85 mph. consumer applied brakes. it took 1-2 miles for vehicle to slow down, and engine to stop revving. vehicle still at dealer. *ak | |||
| 12/19/2000 | |||
| While driving the vehicle suddenly accelerated which may have caused a crash. driver had to place vehicle in neutral in order to stop. dealer could not determine cause. common problem. please provide further information. *ak | |||
| 11/25/1999 | 4 | 05/01/1999 | |
| Vehicle suddenly accelerated on its own at least 4 times, each time while decelerating/braking on highway exit ramp after cruise control system malfunctioned earlier. also, the cruise control system fails to resume and reset. dealer reset readiness codes, but the problem still reoccurred. dealer will not replace any parts until problems can be confirmed. *ml the consumer states that the cruise- set button was so stiff that brushing it would cause the driver to switch on the left turn signal. *yh | |||
| 09/22/1999 | 07/14/1999 | ||
| Cruise control worked intermittently, and it will engage without application. problem was reported to the dealership. vehicle has been worked on three times. dealer was not able to locate what was causing this problem. *ml | |||
| When applying brakes to make a normal stop vehicle will lurch forward before it comes to a complete stop. dealer cannot determine cause. *ak | |||
| 07/01/1999 | |||
| Accelerating, could not stop auto with brakes. shifted auto transmission to neutral, engine revved, pressed accelerator, engine went to idle. | |||
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL - ACCELERATOR PEDAL | |||
| 02/06/2007 | 113000 | 2 | 02/18/1999 |
| Tl*- the contact stated that while driving the 1999 volkswagen pasaat with 113000 failure mileage at 60 mph the vehicle began to accelerate on its own. the vehicle accelerated up to 75 miles. the contact rode the brakes for approximately 5 miles, then noticed a safe place to pull over. the contact was jamming on the brakes to get the vehicle to stop. the vehicle came to a complete stop , and the contact turned the vehicle off. the vehicle was restarted twice, but the vehicle was still revving high. the contact was told to pull up on the brake pedal, and that was the remedy to get the vehicle to idle properly. the vehicle was taken to the shop, and they could not duplicate the problem. the contact was afraid to drive the vehicle. *ak | |||
| 01/28/2005 | 65000 | 2 | |
| While driving 45 mph vehicle accelerated without warning. no impact reported. *ak *ak | |||
| 12/15/2004 | 131000 | 2 | 11/19/1999 |
| 1999 vw passat on12/15/04 and 12/16/04 suddenly increased speed on its own without driver pressing the gas pedal. on 12/15 while driving wb on i-80 in penna around the 278/279 mile marker with the vehicle in cruise control the car itself increased to nearly 90 mph without any driver intervention, i pushed brake to get cruise to release which didn't do anything, i turned off cruise control on turn signal arm with no speed increase stoppage, i reached down to be sure the floor mat wasn't stuck and causing gas pedal to be pushed and it wasn't. i finally why standing with both feet on the brakes got the vehicle to slow enough to safely pull over and i turned it off. i then turned the vehicle on twice and the rpm's pegged immediately to 5000-6000 rpm's and i tunrned the car off at once. on a third try the car turned on in it's normal mode and idled okay. i then drove the remaining approx 15 miles to work on the pa turnpike and pa rte 115. i drove the car home the evening of 12/15 without any problems but, did not engage the cruise control. on the morning of 12/16 while on way to work at approx the 114 mile mark of the pa turnpike nb the car did the same as it had done the pevious morning and started taking off on it's own again, however, this day just like the return trip home the night of 12/15 i did not have the cruise control engaged. on 12/16 i got the car on the shoulder safely and while braking and getting the car to around 35-40 mph i turned it off and came to a stop. on the first resart the car again pegged rpm's up to around 5000-6000 and i turned it off immediately. with the second restart of the car it ran normal and i completed the remaining 4-5 miles to work.*ak | |||
| 12/03/2003 | 80000 | 5 | 11/02/1998 |
| For 2 years now, on cold days (temps in the teens) there have been occasions (about 5) where the accelerator sticks in the accelerating position. adjusting the pedal position has no effect on slowing the car down. in fact, there were times when the only way to stop the car was to shut the engine off. this actually causes loss of power brakes and steering and makes it more difficult to maintain control. after waiting on the side of the road for about 5 to 10 minutes, you can start the car and everything is back to normal. this is a very dangerous and perhaps a life threatening condition. the car has a 2.8 liter v6 with an automatic transmission. i have a friend who had an audi a6 quatro (1999) with the same 2.8 v6 and had the same issue. after spending several hundred dollars trying to get it resolved with no luck, he sold the car. this doesn't solve the problem, but it may keep his family alive. *nlm | |||
| 02/01/1999 | |||
| The position of the brake and gas pedals makes it possible for me to nudge the gas pedal while braking. this has never been a problem for me on other cars in close to fifty years of driving. i,m reporting this on the chance that you might find a pattern of like occurances.*ak | |||
| 01/31/1999 | 2 | 08/01/1998 | |
| While under full throttle, accelerator pedal did not spring back after releasing pressure and vehicle continued to accelerate at full throttle until i reached down and pulled accelerator pedal back. first time happened when accelerating from stop light; second time, when merging onto freeway. both times i was able to free pedal and resume normal driving. both times i applied the brakes, and this did not help matters, as vehicle continued to accelerate at full throttle. carpet was not the culprit as it was firmly secured, using factory installed snaps. dealer had car all day monday and was in contact with vw of america. unable to find anything wrong; everything normal. vw claimed to never have heard of this problem before. still awaiting additional action from vw. i am gravely concerned as dealer told me to drive until problem happens again. this is not an option!! if my wife was driving she would not be able to reach down and release pedal as i did. only option would be to turn off igition and then she would lose power steering and brakes. *ak | |||
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL - CRUISE CONTROL | |||
| 01/17/2005 | 67000 | 2 | |
| Consumer placed the vehicle in cruise control. while the vehicle was stopped at a toll booth vehicle accelerated. then, vehicle continued to accelerate, once getting onto the highway, to 72 mph.. consumer pulled over, turned the vehicle off for forty minutes, and proceeded home. the next day, consumer took the vehicle to the dealers for inspection, where it remained. *ak | |||
| 01/04/2004 | 5 | ||
| Submission of complaint re vw of america feel he has been over charged for numerous & extensive repair bills for his 1999 vw passat. the consumer stated he is still experiencing problems with the front suspension. the front stabilizer was repaired and the lower control arm was repaired, however the problem recurred. the rear brake pads were worn. the front doors creaked when opened. *jb the cruise control was intermittent. the consumer requested assistance of all the matters. *sc *jb | |||
| 11/10/1999 | 2000 | 50 | 09/27/1999 |
| Cruise control slowly fades out (occasionally) without warning, except the sight ofan enormous truck grill in my rear-view mirror. none of the local vw dealers could fix it, nor would they replace it. vw zone manager told me to forget it. car is 1999 passat wagon, 4-cyl. is this common? | |||
| 11/27/2001 | 97000 | 7 | 08/17/2001 |
| I had shut off my car and when i went to turn it back on i had no lights, turn signals, dome light, horn, climat control or radio. i took it to the dealer they told me it happens on beetles and golfs all the time and that it was the ignision switch. they showed me the switch when they pulled it out. it had gotten so hot it melted right through the wires. there is no safety recall on this but if it gets hot enough to melt metal it could start the car on fire. | |||
| 12/03/2001 | 50 | 12/01/1999 | |
| Intermittently the idle will drop from 750 to 400 when at a complete stop. this happens usually after the car has warmed up and i've made a few complete stops after driving intermittent distances. the car feels as if it will stall, and makes the driver want to hit the gas, which would be unsafe at a full stop. has been in to dealer 2 times for this, dealer says they cannot duplicate, therefore cannot fix.*ak | |||
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL - LINKAGES | |||
| 01/31/2004 | 72000 | 1 | 08/01/1999 |
| While driving at 55 mph vehicle accelerated to 80 mph. *ak when the consumer applied the brakes, one foot was lifted from the brakes and the vehicle accelerated back to 80 mph. the vehicle did not cease to accelerate until placed into neutral,turned off, and had to stand on the brakes in order to stop the vehicle. *sc | |||