2006 Volkswagen Jetta

AFER 1477 MILES, THE TRANSMISSION ON MY 2006 TDI JETTA FAILED. IT HAS BEEN IN THE SHOP FOR 1 WEEK AND THE DEALER TELLS ME IT WILL TAKE ANOTHER 2 WEEKS BEFORE THE PARTS COME IN. I CALLED VW AND THEY SAID THEY WOULD DISCUSS ARBITRATION AFTER THE CAR WAS FIXED. THEY WOULD NOT TAKE THE CAR BACK. THAT'S VW QUALITY AND SERVICE FOR A $27K CAR. *NM

ON 2/1/06 I LEASED A NEW 2006 JETTA ONLY TO HAVE THE ENGINE NOT START ON 2/27/06. I WAS STUCK IN A GAS STATION PARKING LOT WITH A DEAD CELL PHONE AWAITING A TOW TRUCK FOR 1.5 HRS. THE CAR WAS BROUGHT TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS WRONG WITH IT. LATER THAT DAY THEY TOLD ME POSSIBLY A FUEL PUMP BUT WEREN'T SURE AND THAT I SHOULD ARRANGE FOR A RENT-A-CAR. THEY HAD THE CAR FOR 3 DAYS AND WHEN I PICKED IT UP THEY STATED IT WAS A PROGRAM THAT NEEDED TO BE UPDATED AND EVERYTHING IS FINE. IT IS NOW A WEEK AND A HALF LATER AND THE IGNITION KEY WOULDN'T TURN IN THE IGNITION. I CONTINUED TO SWITCH BETWEEN MY ALARM KEY AND MECHANIC KEY UNTIL IT FINALLY TURNED AND STARTED. ONCE ON THE ROAD THE CAR DIED IN MID DRIVE. THE ENGINE COMPLETELY TURNED OFF WHILE DOING ABOUT 25MPG. THANK GOD THERE WAS NO ONE AROUND ME, THE CAR CAME TO A STOP AND RESTARTED IMMEDIATELY AND DRIVEN BACK TO WORK. LEAVING WORK THE CAR DIDN'T TURN OVER AT ALL. YOU COULD HEAR THE CRANKING OF THE ENGINE BUT WAS NOT TURNING OVER, THE SAME PROBLEM AS BEFORE. THE CAR IS NOW AT THE DEALERSHIP AGAIN, NO LOANER CAR WAS GIVEN TO ME AND THERE WAS SEVERAL COMPLAINTS ALREADY UNDERWAY. ANOTHER PROBLEM IS THE CARS ENGINES SOUND. WHEN THE CAR IS INITIALLY STARTED IN THE MORNING IT IS A HARD LOUD ROUGH SOUND THAT GIVES AFTER A MINUTE OR SO. *JB

THE 'PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF' LIGHT REMAINS ILLUMINATED AT ALL TIMES, WITH NO PASSENGER IN THE SEAT. THIS IS NOT PROBLEMATIC IN THE DAYTIME BUT, AT NIGHT, IT IS A SERIOUS SAFETY HAZARD BECAUSE OF THE DISTRACTION OF A VERY BRIGHT ORANGE LIGHT GLARING AT THE DRIVER. IF THE SYSTEM IS OPERATING NORMALLY, WHETHER IT'S ON OR OFF, THERE SHOULD NOT BE A WARNING LIGHT. HAVING THAT BRIGHT ORANGE LIGHT ILLUMINATED ALL THE TIME, AT NIGHT, IS NOT SAFE. *JB

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING 50MPH AND APPROACHING A YIELD, THE CLUTCH WAS DEPRESSED. THE CLUTCH STUCK TO THE FLOOR OF THE VEHICLE CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO LOOSE ALL TRANSMISSION FUNCTION. THE VEHICLE COASTED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER. THE DEALER DETERMINED THE TRANSMISSION FAILURE WAS DUE TO DRIVER ERROR. THE VEHICLE WAS THEN TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT REPAIR SHOP FOR FURTHER INSPECTION. THE REPAIR SHOP PERSONNEL DETERMINED THE FLYWHEEL HAD BROKEN CAUSING THE CLUTCH PRESSURE PLATE TO BREAK. THE MANUFACTURER WAS ALERTED AND NO REPAIRS WERE MADE.

2006 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA, ENGINE MAKES A VERY LOUD RATTLING NOISE FOR THE FIRST MINUTE EVERYTIME THE CAR IS COLD AND AT FIRST STARTUP IN THE MORNING...EVERY SINGLE DAY , AFTER REPORTING THE PROBLEM TO MY DEALER I WAS TOLD THAT THIS NOISE IS ON ALL 2006 JETTA'S AND THE MANUFACTURER IS WORKING ON SOLVING THE PROBLEM, I FIRST REPORTED THE PROBLEM LAST MAY 2005 WHEN I FIRST BOUGHT THE CAR AND I HAVE SINCE MADE 2 OFFICIAL COMPLAINTS DIRECTLY WITH THE MANUFACTURER AND WITH THE DEALER. I HAVE NOW WARNED THEM A THIRD TIME AND WILL WAIT THE OFFICIAL 30 DAYS BEFORE ESCALATING IT TO ARBITRATION. *NM

THE REAR DRIVER'S SIDE PASSENGER DOOR COULD NOT BE OPENED FROM THE INSIDE NOR THE OUTSIDE OF THE VEHICLE. I CAN HEAR ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS BEING ACTIVATED INSIDE THE DOOR WHILE UNLOCKING THE DOOR VIA REMOTE OR INTERNAL SWITCH, BUT THE DOOR REMAINS LOCKED. LUCKILY, THERE WAS NO NEED FOR AN URGENT EXIT. I MADE AN APPOINTMENT WITH THE LOCAL DEALER, BUT ONCE I REALIZED THAT THE FAILURE IS INTERMITTENT I PUSHED THIS APPOINTMENT TO THE NEXT SERVICE. *NM

ONE COMMENT I HAVE IS REGARDING THE REAR EXTERIOR TURN SIGNAL LIGHTS. OTHER THAN THE SMALL ORANGE SIDE MIRROR INDICATORS WHICH ARE A MARGINAL BACKUP TO THE REAR TURN INDICATORS IT WAS STILL DIFFICULT TO SEE THE REAR TURN SIGNALS ESPECIALLY WHEN BRAKING AS THEY ARE RED, THE SAME COLOR AS THE BRAKE LIGHTS. WHEN I FOLLOWED MY SON HOME LAST NIGHT I KNEW HE WAS BRAKING BUT WITHOUT THE SMALL ORANGE MIRROR INDICATOR I HAD NO IDEA HE WAS TURNING. IS THERE ANY PLAN TO REPLACE THE REAR TURN SIGNAL LENSES WITH ORANGE COLORED LENSES? *JB

I AM CONTINUING TO HAVE A PROBLEM ON MY NEW MODEL 2005 JETTA. THE AIRBAG LIGHT HAS BEEN ON 3 TIMES SINCE AUGUST 2005. I AM IN THE PROCESS OF APPLYING TO THE LEMON LAW PROGRAM IN CT. I HAVE SPOKE TO THE ATT GENERALS OFFICE AND THIS FALLS UNDER THE SAFETY CATEGORY AND FEELS I SHOULD FOLLOW THROUGH WITH THIS. I AM FRUSTRATED AND CONCERNED NOT KNOWING FOR SURE IF THE AIRBAG HAS BEEN FIXED OR NOT SINCE THIS PAST WEEK WAS THE THIRD ATTEMPT OF THEM FIXING THE PROBLEM. *NM

SPEEDOMETER IS 5.3% FAST. NOT A HUGE SAFETY PROBLEM UNLESS YOU DO A LOT OF FREEWAY DRIVING AND ARE CONSTANTLY BEING PASSED BY IRATE DRIVERS BECAUSE YOU ARE DOING 70 INSTEAD OF 75 MPH. I TOOK THE VEHICLE IN AND WAS TOLD IT IS WITHIN SPEC (5.3%)???? THE DEALER ALSO SAID THEY COULD REPLACE PARTS BUT IT WOULD NOT CHANGE THE CALIBRATION. VW OF AMERICA TECH DEPARTMENT WAS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM BUT SAID "IT WAS WITHIN SPEC". THE SPEEDOMETER IS ALL ELECTRONIC WITH A SPEED SENSOR - THIS PROBLEM COULD BE EASILY CORRECTED WITH A QUICK SOFTWARE FIX. NOT ONLY DID I PAY $27000 FOR A NEW CAR THAT WILL NOT GIVE ME THE CORRECT VELOCITY BUT I SUSPECT VW OF AMERICA HAS USED A HIGHLY ACCURATE DIGITAL SPEEDOMETER AND HAVE KNOWINGLY CALIBRATED IT AT THE UPPER END OF THE LIMIT IN ORDER TO PUBLISH IMPROVED MILEAGE NUMBERS (46 MPG) SHOULD BE MORE LIKE 40. *JB

DURING PRODUCT EVALUATION, TEST DRIVE AND UPON DELIVERY OF MY NEW CAR, IT DID NOT INCLUDE DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS (DRL). AFTER INITIAL SERVICE AT 5,000 MILES, THE CAR SUDDENLY INCLUDED DRL. THE DEALER EXPLAINED THAT HE WAS REQUIRED BY LAW TO ACTIVATE THIS FEATURE. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS FUNCTION DOES NOT INCLUDE AN OVERRIDE SWITCH, NOR DOES IT INCLUDE A DARKNESS SENSOR THAT ACTIVATES THE MAIN LIGHTS WHEN IT GETS DARK. THEREFORE, WHEN DRIVING THE CAR AS DUSK APPROACHES THE ROAD IS ILLUMINATED BY THE DRL, THE INSTRUMENT LIGHTS ARE ON, AND THERE IS NO ABILITY TO RECOGNIZE THAT THE ACTUAL LIGHTS (INCLUDING TAIL LIGHTS) ARE NOT ACTIVE. I AM VERY CONCERNED THAT THIS PRESENTS A SIGNIFICANT SAFETY HAZARD THAT COULD LEAD TO REAR-END COLLISIONS SIDE-IMPACT COLLISIONS AFTER DARK. *NM