Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | |||
| 06/29/2012 | 230000 | ||
| Car continues to stop while being driven. | |||
| 07/20/2011 | 67000 | ||
| Check engine (mil) light turned on, car all of a sudden idles at a higher rpm while we were driving!!! vehicle was taken into the dealership. car is only under warranty for 36,000 miles or 3 years! dealership ran diagnostic, came up with: code p0123 (throttle high input), p0299 (turbo under boost), p0456 (evap leak), p1098 (intake turning valve short to b+), code p2004 (intake runner stuck), code p3237 (intake runner basic settings). dealer recommended intake runner motor replacement & replacement of turbo & n80 valve, also cv boot needs replacement. total cost of repairs over $1200!!! we always take care of our vehicles and have them serviced at the dealership. vehicle has also had defective interior parts. interior trim (all switches - lock, window & radio are bubbling and chipping). door panel trim (rubber is peeling). shift knob - metallic piece on shift knob, peeled and dug into skin and caused injury. carbon fiber dash is peeling apart. contacted vw of america, per their customer service rep, they are unable to make any repairs due to the age and mileage of the vehicle. car is a 2006 - 67,000 miles. less than 5 years old. i would have never purchased a volkswagen had i known they were not reliable vehicles. unknowledgable sales reps, or just after customers to make a buck. selling people unreliable vehicles and volkswagen clearly does not take care of their customers nor do they care about customer loyalty or safety. | |||
| 05/09/2010 | 92000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2006 volkswagen passat. the contact stated that when driving at low speeds or idling, the vehicle would surge abnormally and the engine would exhibit an unusual increase in rpms. the contact would have to maintain pressure on the brakes when the failure would occur to prevent the vehicle from surging forward. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated they could not duplicate the failure. the manufacturer was contacted and informed the contact to take the vehicle back to the dealer for diagnostic testing. the vehicle was not taken back to the dealer. the vin was unavailable. the failure mileage was 92,000. | |||
| 05/09/2010 | 92000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2006 volkswagen pssat. the contact stated the vehicle surges when you are driving slow or when the vehicle is idling. the rmp will increase excessively how much the contact does not know. he has to continuously keep his foot on the brake so that the vehicle does not move. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated they cannot duplicate the failure. the manufacturer was contacted and informed the contact to take the vehicle back to the dealer. the vehicle was not taken back to the dealer. the vin was unavailable. the failure mileage was 92,000....mw | |||
| 06/12/2010 | 58000 | ||
| Symptom #1) car will not start or if it does start it will immediately stall and steering column will lock. after moving the steering wheel back and forth repeatedly, reopening the door several times and attempting to start the push ignition 5-10 times it will eventually start and run. symptom #2) major safety issue! car will lose all power without warning at highway speeds. this defect causes the engine to stall immediately, the loss of power steering and the loss of all power controls at speeds at least up to 70 mph. there is no warning from the car itself. there is no stuttering or noise. suddenly the car is just dead and rolling along at extreme speeds. the fix is to shift the car into neutral and attempt to restart by removing and reinserting the key until it starts again. the dashboard will light up steering column defect and prompt a warning light for the steering column as if it were locked from a car alarm prompt. occasionally, i have been unable to restart the car while in motion and have had to pull off to the side of the road. this is done without the aid of power steering and can be very dangerous in traffic and at high speeds as there is no way of knowing when the defect will occur. this defect is occurring daily. i took the car into the dealer for diagnosis. was told it was a defect in the steering column requiring a complete replacement. estimated cost to myself was $1,000-2,000. car is now out of warranty (58,000 miles). i believe this defect is not a result of any habit of myself as the driver but rather a defect in the workmanship of the vehicle and the dealer should be subject to a recall. a search on google about this issue revealed thousands of other drivers with the exact same problem (stall at highway speeds, loss of power steering, difficulty starting and restarting, possible stranding of the driver). i urge a recall to move forward immediately! | |||
| 12/20/2008 | 10000 | 1 | |
| Brand new vehicle, 06 vw passat, drove it for about 9 months--then, car starting dying suddenly after being stopped (at a red light) then accelerating once light turned green. wouldn't sputter or choke--just die. took it to vw to check into it--they tried to convince me it was the gas i was putting into my car--but it wasn't. finally, after 34 consecutive days in the shop, the dealership admitted there was a problem, but didn't know how to fix it. i talked with vw headquarters. they offered me $300. i explained that the car was dying--completely quitting on me--in the middle of intersections--and how many near miss accidents i had avoided--so $300 wasn't going to cut it--but vw claimed it was not a safety issue. i explained further that because the car was intermittently doing this, i would lose all steering, all control of the vehicle--still, vw would not admit to there being an issue. out of sheer panic, i called the dealership and convinced them to get me a new car. i believe the dealership re-sold my old car, the one they didn't know how to fix. a year later, a friend of mine had the exact same issue happen with her 92 jetta. her mechanic said it was the ignition coils and replaced them. now, a year later, vw sent a notice to me in the mail saying it is not a recall but they wanted us to replace the ignition coils only if a certain light indicator goes on in the car. i never had such a light go on in my old car, so i thought this was ridiculous and took my current vw vehicle in to replace the ignition coils anyway. thankfully, the dealership did it for me, because they knew my history. the notice from vw clearly states that they only want you to replace them if the light goes on in your car and you only had until a certain date (feb. 28th) to do it. still seems to be no acknowledgement from vw that there is a serious safety issue at hand. *tr | |||
| 10/13/2008 | 8742 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2006 volkswagen passat. while driving approximately 30 to 35 mph on normal road conditions; proceeding to a traffic signal with pressure applied to the accelerator pedal there was no power. there were several attempts before the vehicle was able to resume normal operation. the failure occurred intermittently. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnostic testing. the technician was unable to duplicate the failure. the vehicle has not been repaired. the failure mileage was 8,742. updated 3/8/10 *cn | |||
| 10/24/2007 | 100 | 11/12/2005 | |
| There is an unsafe throttle lag on the 2006 volkswagen passat 3.6 liter. approx 4 sec delay when depressing the accelerator pedal after the car comes to a stand still or in the event of an evasive maneuver, merging, passing and stop and go traffic. 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. *tr | |||
| 11/06/2007 | 28380 | 650 | 01/26/2006 |
| The vehicle has a hesitation when accelerator is pressed from a stop. this is extremely dangerous for the driver and to others when driving in traffic and otherwise. the delay in the vehicle moving forward when the accelerator is pressed is troubling on new vehicles in proper operating condition. *tr | |||
| 07/01/2006 | 14000 | 40 | 10/27/2005 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2006 volkswagen passat. while idling, the engine increased to 900 rpms or more. as a result, the vehicle unexpectedly accelerated to 20 mph and was difficult to stop. the dealer stated that the the rpm's were normal for the vehicle. the failure mileage was 14,000 and current mileage was 25,000.m updated 01/09/08. *lj updated 12/12/07 *tr | |||
| 08/09/2007 | 14700 | 20 | 07/25/2007 |
| On hot weather days (90 degrees or more) the engine will intermittently run at a high idle of approximately 1,000 rpm at stops. the engine normally idles around 600 rpm at stops. when this happens, the car lurches forward and requires excessive force on the brake pedal to maintain control of the vehicle. as it is an intermittent condition, the driver will be caught unaware of how much pressure to apply to the brake to bring the vehicle to a complete stop in the anticipated distance. this has led to near accidents with vehicles and pedestrians. *tr | |||
| 08/08/2007 | 6800 | 2 | 04/26/2007 |
| I was stopped at a traffic light on a slight uphill grade when the car's engine suddenly started to race. the car surged forward before i could brake and hit the car in front of me. i had to practically stand on the brake to stop it. fortunately there was no damage and even more fortunately there wasn't a pedestrian crossing in front of me. the temperature that afternoon was 98 degrees which, i understand from the vw forums is relevant. other people have experienced this problem in very hot temperatures as well. this has happened to me once before but i already had my foot on the brake and only had to stand on it to restrain the car. *jb | |||
| 08/02/2007 | 14000 | 20 | 08/10/2006 |
| 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. *tr | |||
| 08/08/2007 | 15000 | 1 | 05/15/2006 |
| 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. *tr | |||
| 06/20/2006 | 1000 | 1 | 05/28/2006 |
| 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.*ak | |||
| 10/30/2006 | 300 | 1 | 09/29/2006 |
| 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. *ak | |||
| 05/01/2007 | 6500 | 1 | 03/12/2007 |
| 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. *ak | |||
| 07/25/2006 | |||
| 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. *jb | |||
| 07/07/2006 | 20 | 1 | 07/06/2006 |
| 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. *jb | |||
| 07/25/2006 | 300 | 2 | 07/17/2006 |
| Dt*: 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. *ak | |||
| 07/14/2006 | 25 | 4 | 07/13/2006 |
| 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. http://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. *nm | |||
| 03/01/2006 | 1 | 02/28/2006 | |
| 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. *nm | |||
| 03/04/2006 | 21526 | 1 | 09/01/2005 |
| Dt*: 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. | |||
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL - ACCELERATOR PEDAL | |||
| 07/26/2006 | 1 | ||
| Throttle lag. when turning into traffic, sometimes the car lurches forward instead of easing forward. the throttle should be adjusted so that softly pressing the pedal moves the car instead of having to press the pedal hard (which leads to the dangerous lurching). *jb | |||