2003 Volkswagen Gti

(1) CAR ENGINE OVERHEATED WITH AIR CONDITIONING UNIT ON WITH 35K MILES (4 YEAR OLD CAR). (2) DEALER REPAIR SERVICE TECHNICIAN DISCOVERED BOTH AUXILARY FANS (290" AND 345") FAILED TO SPIN AT LOW SPEEDS AND OPERATE ONLY AT HIGH SPEEDS CAUSING ENGINE TO OVERHEAT WHEN CAR IS BETWEEN 0 TO 30 MPH. DEALER DIRECTED CONSUMER PARTS WERE NOT COVERED UNDER POWERTRAIN WARRANTY (4 YEARS, 50,000 MILES) AND CONSIDERED ELECTRICAL PARTS AND TO REPAIR AT CONSUMER'S EXPENSE ($918). CORPORATE OFFICE EVENTUALLY COVERED PART AND CONSUMER COVERED LABOR EXPENSES. SEVERAL OTHER ELECTRICAL ISSUES HAVE OCCURED WITH THE CAR INCLUDING BULB REPLACEMENTS ON A/C CONSOLE, BRAKE LIGHTS, AND BATTERY FAILURE AFTER 4 YEARS POINTING TO POSSIBLE ELECTRICAL DESIGN OR INTEGRATION FLAW. (3) FANS WERE REPLACED AND PROBLEM WAS RESOLVED. *JB

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 VOLKSWAGEN GTI. WHILE DRIVING 20 MPH, THE VEHICLE STRUCK A POTHOLE AND THE AIR BAGS DEPLOYED. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE FAILURE EMULATED A CRASH AND ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REPAIR. THE CONTACT HAS PICTURES. THE VIN AND ENGINE SIZE WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CURRENT MILEAGE IS 60,000 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 45,000. UPDATED 06/08/07. *JB

I HAD A TOTAL LOSS OF CLUTCH HYDRAULIC PRESSURE ON 6 SPEED MANUAL TRANSMISSION. THE PEDAL WAS STUCK TO THE FLOOR AND I HAD TO MOVE IT BACK UP WITH MY HAND. I THEN DEPRESSED IT AGAIN WITH MY FOOT AND THE SAME RESULTS. I'VE DONE SOME RESEARCH ON VW ENTHUSIAST WEB SITES SEEING IT''S A COMMON PROBLEM AMONGST 6 SPEED MANUAL TRANSMISSION .FROM THAT CONCLUSION I FIGURED IT WAS EITHER THE MASTER CYLINDER OR SLAVE CYLINDER. I HAD THE CAR TOWED TO THE DEALER, AND IT WAS DISCOVER A BAD SLAVE CYLINDER. OBVIOUSLY IT IS A TREND AND A COSTLY ONE AT THAT. SINCE THE SLAVE CYLINDER IS LOCATED IN THE BELL HOUSING, IT LEAKED HYDRAULIC FLUID ALL OVER MY CLUTCH. SO NOW I HAVE TO REPLACE A PERFECTLY GOOD CLUTCH. *AK

I HAVE TAKEN MY '03 GTI VR6 TO THE DEALER 3 TIMES FOR THE SAME COMPLAINT. WHEN IT IS RAINING, THERE IS A SQUEALING NOISE COMING FROM THE PASSENGER SIDE OF THE CAR. DEALER COULD NOT REPLICATE THE PROBLEM EACH TIME I BROUGHT THE CAR TO THEM. THEY SAID THAT IT COULD BE THE BELT BUT IT WOULD NOT BE COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. I REPLACED THE BELT MYSELF AND I STILL GET THE SQUEALING NOISE, EVEN WITH BELT DRESSING. I HAVE ALSO NOTICED A DECREASE IN ENGINE POWER WHEN THE SQUEALING NOISE IS OCCURRING. MY MOST RECENT PROBLEM NOW IS MY SPEEDOMETER AND FUEL GAUGE STOP WORKING INTERMITTENTLY. THE SPEEDO WILL BE READING MY CURRENT SPEED AND THEN DROP TO ZERO, BOUNCE BACK UP AND BACK DOWN TO ZERO, UP A LITTLE BIT MORE AND THEN STAY AT ZERO UNTIL THE NEXT TIME I DRIVE THE CAR. SEEMS TO DO THIS ONLY ON TRIPS GREATER THAN 20 MINUTES. *NM

JUST BEFORE 8,000 MILES, THE CLUTCH OF MY 2003 VW GTI SLIPPED AND WENT BAD. AS IT WAS STILL UNDER WARRENTY, THE DEALERSHIP REPLACED THE CLUTCH AND FLYWHEEL AT NO COST TO ME. WHEN ASKED WHY THE FAILURE OF THE CLUTCH OCCURED, I WAS TOLD THAT IT WAS DUE TO WEAR. NOW AT 35,000 MILES, THE CLUTCH HAS FAILED AGAIN, UNFORTUNATELY THIS TIME, NOT UNDER WARRANTY. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME IN TWO YEARS THIS HAS HAPPENED, AND WITH A $2000 REPAIR BILL BY VW, I WILL HAVE PAID FOR THE CAR TWICE IN TEN YEARS. I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT VW BUILDS A CLUTCH THAT WILL FAIL DUE TO LIGHT TO MODERATE WEAR AS THEY CLAIM. *NM

I WAS MAKING A LEFT TURN ACROSS A MAJOR HIGHWAY. PULLED INTO THE LANE OF TRAFFIC WHEN AN ONCOMING CAR MOVED INTO MY LANE. I WAS TRAVELING AROUND 20 MPH, AND CONSEQUENTLY SLOWED TO APPROXIMATELY 10 MPH. IN AVOIDING THE CAR I TURNED LEFT AND THE DRIVERS SIDE OF THE CAR HIT A CURB. THE CAR DROVE UP ONTO THE CURB AND THEN QUICKLY OFF OF IT. IT WAS NOT A DIRECT IMPACT, THE CURB WAS HIT AT AN ANGLE. THE CURTAIN AND SIDE AIRBAGS BOTH FIRED ON THE DRIVER SIDE. THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT DECELERATION, AND I HAVE HIT POTHOLE HARDER THAN THIS IMPACT AND THE AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. THE CAR IS CURRENTLY BEGIN EVALUATED BY MY LOCAL DEALER. *JB