Recalls


CampaignManufacturerManufacturing dateType# of units affectedDate Owner notified MfgRecall Initiated byManufacturers of recalled vehicles/productsReport Recieved DateRecord Creation DateRegulation Part NumberFMVSS Number
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE - STORAGE - TANK ASSEMBLY
09V093000VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INCfrom 01/17/2007 to 03/11/2008V (Vehicle)500006/02/2009MFRVOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INC03/20/200903/20/2009
Defect SummaryVolkswagen is recalling approximately 5,000 my 2008 r32 (5th generation) vehicles. when certain driving conditions are accompanied by high ambient temperatures, the fuel tank ventilation valve may not remain fully closed. if this happens, liquid fuel may enter the fuel tank venting system and migrate into the evaporative system, saturating the carbon canister. should this occur while driving, the vehicle may experience performance issues (i.e., vehicle jerking) and the malfunction indicator lamp (mil) in the instrument cluster could illuminate. fuel could leak from the evaporative system leak detection pump filter.
Consequence SummaryA fuel leak, in the presence of an ignition source, could lead to a vehicle fire.
Corrective SummaryDealers will replace the fuel tank ventilation valve with an improved valve free of charge. the recall began on june 2, 2009. owners may contact volkswagen at 1-800-822-8987.
NotesVolkswagen recall no. 20p6/s2.owners may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty 1-800-424-9153), or go to http://www.safercar.gov .

Consumer Complaints


Fail datemilesoccurencesPurchase date
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
12/21/2009220001
 1) purchased the car and noticed the jumps twice on my way home. it has since continued to be an issue for the whole two weeks of my ownership. 2) accelerating from a full stop the car hesitates, hangs, and then jumps forward after a moment. this happens about half the time. i notice when i roll slowly ~5 mph it does not hang or jump nearly as much or as often. 3) nothing has been done as of yet. i plan to take my 2008 vw r32 to the dealership to see what may be the cause. *tr
02/16/20099000
 Tl*the contact owns a 2008 volkswagen r32. the contact stated that the vehicle was stalling and he smelled gasoline. he was able to restart the vehicle after allowing it to cool down for a couple of hours. the vehicle operates normally for a few weeks before the failure recurs. the vehicle was taken to the dealer, but they could not remedy the failure. the vehicle stalled once again. the dealer stated that the vin was not included in nhtsa campaign id number 09v093000 (fuel system, gasoline:storage:tank assembly), although the failures were identical. the contact does not know if the vehicle will be repaired. the failure mileage was 9,000 and current mileage was 11,000.
11/01/200880001
 The car loses power (i.e. hiccups or hesitates) at highway speeds, most noticeable on even the slightest acceleration - even with cruise control on. at times it will idle in a similar staggered way. when city driving the same problem occurs on acceleration. it happens randomly but once it starts, it persists until the car has been shut off and cools down. *tr
01/13/200920001
 No event lead up to failure. the car sputters, hiccups, what ever you want to call it. it has stalled in traffic, and had to be pushed out of the intersection, it would not start back up and smelled of fuel. on numerous occasions it will not start. it cuts out around corners, and has done it with the vw service manager in the car. *tr
03/15/2009140001
 This hiccup just started happening to me. i took the r32 on a road trip from miami up to northern florida (500 miles north of miami), and 30 miles into the trip this happened. we had just topped off the tank with 93 (girlfriend assured me she didn't fill it up with 87) so this couldnt have been the issue. i was driving at roughly 3,000 rpm's when the car would hiccup all on its own... ? i didn't even need to give it gas for this to happen. i have 14,000 miles on the car, and it got worse throughout the trip. the car even shut off on me 2 times while sitting at a traffic light. i'm scared that the car will shut off on me while on the highway which is a big threat to my life! has anyone noticed this get worse when your tank is at full? i haven't had this happen to me again the 1 day i've been back in miami. i read some reply's on this topic and looks like vw has no official fix yet? what's the diagnosis? bad fuel bump??? the original post can be found here: http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3759501&page=27. *tr
09/03/2008105991
 2008 vw r32, the car would throw check engine lights all the time, the check gas cap light came on randomly days after last fill up, the car would randomly have lost of power or stall, takes 20 seconds after fill up to start and run properly, some times not start at all. the car first went in to a vw dealer september 3 2008 with 10599miles , the dealer could not find a fault for the check engine light they gave me the car back and they contacted vw technical support . contacted me a few days later and said parts were ordered and will be in soon. september 12 2008 car taken back in for parts to be put on. the car runs ok but it throws a check engine light and random check gas cap lights again. the car has a hard time starting. january 6 2009 16,032 miles car taken back in for stalling, not starting, loss of power. vw dealer master mechanic cannot find problem car is given back to me with the problems, vw dealer contacts vw technical support. january 12 2009 16247miles i have had the last straw, i had to push the car out of a fuel pump cause the car wont start!!! i took the car back to vw dealer and it has been in there since january 12 2009 and today is february 9 2009. *tr
12/20/200866471
 My vehicle has stalled twice on me when it had 6647 miles. it occurred twice in a span of two hours. i was driving and the car started to hiccup. it jumps between shifts, this occurs mostly when it is humid outside. the vehicle also emits a loud ticking sound from the gas tank, and in extremely cold weather the gas needle bounces. took it to the dealership 4 times and they found no problems, however they did take a joyride two of those times in the car. (found the radio station set and equalizer toyed with) in addition, the car sometimes smells like fuel. *tr
10/17/20088771
 1. car was running fine till about little less than a month. on 10/13/08 put car in reverse and car was experiencing rapid fluctuations in rpms and engine would die when shifting to drive. had difficulty in re-starting car. put car in drive and felt jerky non-responsive acceleration with transmission banging and engine died again while driving. 2. car died 4 times engine would stop while driving totally loss of power. consequences are major safety concerns and possible accidents can occur from this malfunction 3. brought into dealer, they could not reproduce problem & said they couldn't do anything. gave car back & said they hoped it didn't happen again. no parts replaced. car recently experienced this problem again 1/11/2009 & 1/12/2009. *tr
10/27/2008211001
 On october 27, 2008 i was traveling on one of the local highways, when i began to experience a loss in power, rapid misfire and hesitation in my 2008 vw r32. prior to said date, i experienced the same faults several times, which i mentioned to my local service advisor. my local service advisor informed me that volkswagen of america (vwoa) was aware of the wide-spread problem and was currently working on a solution. currently, i have been working with my regional case manager from vwoa. however, the last time that i spoke with my regional case manager was on december 11, 2008. when i briefly spoke with my regional case manager from vwoa, he explained to me that the parts needed for repair of my r32 would soon be released. however, i received that same statement in october and november when i asked about the service status of my vehicle. on the 17th of dec 2008, vwoa received a letter from me stating that
11/17/200846001
 My 2008 volkswagen r32 exhibits intermittent fuel delivery issues. at times, usually following a refueling, the car seems to hiccup and briefly lose power, as if the fuel supply was cut off momentarily. this causes a severe jerking in the car, and can happen at low speeds after rounding a corner or at constant freeway speeds. other symptoms include stumbling and stalling while at idle in traffic; with difficulty in restarting as if the vehicle is starved for fuel. the vehicle has also failed to start upon first use of the day, cranking over but not seeming to receive fuel, even though the tank may be full. other issues include difficulty with refueling when tank is near empty. often, the gas station fuel dispensers will shut off 10 or more times when beginning to fill up the tank, as if air were blocking the filler neck and causing the automatic pump shutoff to kick in. it can take many tries before one is finally able to completely fuel the vehicle, which only holds 14.5 gallons. on two occasions, the automatic fuel cutoff in the gas station dispenser did not detect a full tank and the fuel actually overflowed out of filler neck and onto the ground until i manually shut of the fuel dispensers. it seems the evaporative purge canister or lines are easily blocked in this design, and i question whether there are other vapor lock or vacuum issues with the fuel system design that are involved. i am taking my vehicle to the dealer for service on 11/26 for an attempt at diagnosis. many other owners of this vehicle in the online forum vwvortex.com have also reported similar problems with this vehicle, and are having little success in repair through vwoa. i consider this to be a potentially dangerous situation. *tr
10/29/2008100001
 The car was experiencing hiccups while accelerating and would eventually smell and see gas escaping out from underneath the passenger side rear tire. was taken to the dealer ship 3 times before for this and now i am told it is a faulty gas tank that was produced. i have been currently waiting about a month to have the tank repaired. all i have been told on this subject is we will contact you at the end of the business day tomorrow. its always tomorrow. the dealer has offered me a couple of things to keep my mine as easy while i wait but i honestly think that waiting a month for a brand new car to get fixed is ridiculous. *tr
10/22/20082001
 Fuel leak causes the car to lose fuel. the fuel leaks out externally. the car will sometimes jerk and stall or lose power. *tr
10/08/200836001
 Car started to bog-out of power on tuesday october 7th in the afternoon. fuel started to leak from the right rear wheel area on wednesday october 8th in the afternoon. this happens to be a common issue with this make/model/trim of the prodcuct line. a prominent automobile forum website (vwvortex.com) has allocated a room for this specific model/trim. the following is a link to the topic dedicated to this common issue: http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3759501&page=15 i am scared to drive this car again. *tr
09/08/200855851
 Fuel system on car broke while driving 75mph on the freeway causing the car to jerk and drop in speed in the middle of traffic. fuel smell out of a/c vents. vw has acknowledged the problem and has said they've had this on many cars of the same model. vw is replacing the entire fuel system resulting the car to be in the service shop for 30 plus days. *tr
02/23/2008115001
 The car hiccupped and began to run very ruff no power and i was on freeway in the valley area (hot over 100 f) car seemed to correct itself after reaching cooler area. visited the dealer they found no faults with car. this has been happening to numerous 2008 vw r32 cars. *tr
08/08/200835101
 First minor incidents: my wife and i have been experiencing intermittent hiccups in power for a few weeks. no cels or indication of anything wrong otherwise. first serious incident: at highway speed (70mph) 30 minutes into a commute, the car loses power and throws the driver forward in the seat. was able to finish the remainder of commute barely limping along with erratic throttle response, stalling, and stuttering. upon arrival, notice smell of fuel and see fuel puddle behind right rear wheel. vw roadside assistance would not respond due to report of fuel leak. told to call fire dept -- fire dept responded. aaa towed to dealer. after 19 days at the dealer, the car's entire fuel tank was replaced. a defect in the evaporative emissions system was reported as the cause. we were assured the vehicle was safe and the new system was redesigned. second major incident: repeat of first major incident above only days later. car currently in shop. evidence of widespread issue being discussed at vwvortex.com among numerous reports of same issue but no resolution or official acknowledgment of this issue from vwofa as of yet. this is extremely unsafe condition for a car that is brand new. *tr
07/02/20083001
 Usually during hot weather conditions, the failure is present. the failure - car hesitates under acceleration almost as if the fuel is being cutoff. other times it stalls during idle at stop light. other times the car will take two or three tries to restart. when parked after a drive the vehicle leaks fuel behind the passenger side rear wheel. occurs randomly and the dealer cannot reproduce the issue. parts replaced - purge valve to fix the fuel leak and hesitation. the car does not leak fuel anymore, however the hesitation issue is still present. *tr
06/27/200828001
 The engine power of my 2008 vw r32 continued to cut out periodically for a few weeks, the cel never once came on. this problem persisted regardless of the weather or vehicle speed. one day while my wife was driving, she was stopped at a traffic signal and the car died, she restarted it and noticed a fuel odor. since she was near my work (approx three miles) she restarted the car once she got there and turned off the car, fuel started leaking behind the right rear wheel. *tr
08/30/20075001
 My brand-new 08 vw makes severe hiccups on moderate acceleration when the outside temperature is above about 95 f. (sudden loss of power and come back up in short period of time.)have starting problem after the symptom, sometimes smell of gas from outside rear. the problem does not leave any error codes on computer, therefore dealers cannot fix or replicate problem. (usually takes about 30 min constant drive in the hot weather to have the symptom.) had numerous visit to a vw dealer but no fix. always end up with my claim comments; customer states... and dealer states, can not replicate the problem. i keep having the same problem since last year, only when outside is really hot (for california), above 95f. total of 6-7 days i've had the same problem since last year. *tr
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE - STORAGE - AUXILLARY TANK
07/03/200810000
 Tl*the contact owns a 2008 volkswagen r32. the contact stated that the vehicle would jerk and the gas tank ventilation valve allowed gasoline to escape from the gas tank. the malfunction indicator lamp on the instrument panel would illuminate and fuel would leak from the evaporative system. the vin was not included in nhtsa campaign id number 09v093000 (fuel system, gasoline:storage:tank assembly). the failure mileage was 10,000.
FUEL SYSTEM, OTHER
09/10/200831001
 My brand new r32 has been stalling/hiccuping since 3100 miles. it has a lose of power under acceleration, then idles rough and sometimes dies. the check engine light comes on and the gas cap light comes on but as soon as you turn the car off and back on it goes away. it has died twice while driving in traffic and wouldn't start back, i've had it towed to the dealer twice. the dealer has replaced my purge valve and evap cannister twice, it runs fine for about 2 weeks then starts all over again. the car only has 7550 miles on it now and it's back at the dealer once again. *tr