2006 Volkswagen Passat

MY WIFE'S CAR 2006 PASSAT HAS BEEN STARTING AND THEN STALLING IMMEDIATELY. A WARNING LIGHT COMES ON INDICATING "STEERING COLUMN LOCK DEFECT". IT WAS FINE FOR A WEEK OR TWO, THEN IT STARTED OCCURRING SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK. I TOOK CAR TO REPAIR SHOP AND WAS TOLD THAT PROBLEM WOULD NEED A DEALERSHIP REPAIR SHOP TO CORRECT. AFTER DOING SOME ONLINE SEARCHES FOR PROBLEMS OF THIS NATURE I NOTICED MANY OWNERS WERE HAVING SAME PROBLEM AND WERE TOLD THAT THE STEERING COLUMN AND COMFORT SENSOR WOULD BOTH HAVE TO BE REPLACED, ESTIMATES FROM $1200 TO $2000 DOLLARS FOR REPAIR. OUR CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY AS OF FEB, 2010 BUT HAS LESS THAN 50,000 MILES ON IT. REPORTS FROM MECHANICS SAY A PERSON CAN GET STRANDED AT ANY TIME, BUT IF CAR STARTS IT WILL NOT FAIL WHILE DRIVING. THIS REPLACEMENT SHOULD NOT BE AT THE COST OF THE OWNER. PLEASE INVESTIGATE OCCURRENCES AND REQUEST A RECALL FOR DEFECTIVE NEW VEHICLE ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT/ STEERING COLUMN. *TR

1A. I INSERTED THE KEY FOD AND THE "STEERING WHEEL" LIGHT ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL FLASHED YELLOW AND THE MFD ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL SAID, "STEERING COLUMN LOCK MALFUNCTION. GO TO VW DEALER IMMEDIATELY" 1B. OTHER TIMES, IT'S THE SAME, BUT THE "STEERING WHEEL" LIGHT FLASHES WITH RED LIGHT. 1C. OTHER TIMES, I MUST INSERT THE KEY FOD ANYWHERE FROM 5-20 TIMES BEFORE THE CAR EVEN STARTS. THE CAR WON'T START AND I MUST REPEAT THE PROCESS UNTIL IT DOES. 2. IT OCCURS AT LEAST 5-9 TIMES PER WEEK WITH THE YELLOW LIGHT FLASHING, 3-5 TIMES A WEEK WITH RED LIGHT FLASHING, AND 1-3 TIMES PER WEEK WHEN I MUST REPEAT THE INSERTING OF KEY FOD TO TURN ON. 3A. THE VW DEALER SAYS THEY HAVE SEEN THIS PROBLEM AND IT USUALLY RUNS $1500-$2200 TO FIX. THEY SAID THEY USUALLY REPLACE THE STEERING COLUMN MODULE (COMPUTER BOARD STUFF) AND THE STEERING COLUMN AS WELL. THEY SAY THE PROBLEM IS CAUSE BY THE MODULE GOING BAD AND NOT RESPONDING AND TELLING THE COMPUTER TO TURN THE CAR ON. 3B. THE VW CORPORATE CUSTOMER CARE SAID THEY CANNOT HELP BECAUSE WARRANTY HAS EXPIRED. I HAVE ABOUT 60K MILES AND WARRANTY EXPIRED AT 50K MILES. PLEASE GO TO THIS THREAD TO SEE HOW COMMON THIS PROBLEM IS: HTTP://FORUMS.VWVORTEX.COM/ZEROTHREAD?ID=3656214. *TR

MY CAR KEEPS GETTING THE MESSAGE, "STEERING COLUMN DEFECTIVE" MESSAGE IN THE MFD. THE CAR WILL NOT START ON MORE THAN SIX TIMES NOW. WHENEVER, THE MESSAGE "STEERING COLUMN DEFECTIVE" COMES ON, THE CAR WILL NOT START. I DID A GOOGLE SEARCH REGARDING THIS PROBLEM, AND MANY PEOPLE ONLINE EXPRESSED THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THEIR VEHICLES. *TR

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

FOR THE PAST FEW MONTHS MY STEERING COLUMN LIGHT HAS BEEN FLASHING ON AND OFF. IT STATES STEERING COLUMN DEFECT. SOMETIMES THE LIGHT TURNS OFF AFTER I RESTART MY CAR A FEW TIMES. I FIGURED IT WAS AN ELECTRIC ISSUE. NOW FOR THE PAST WEEK OR SO, MY CAR HAS PROBLEMS TURNING ON AND IT CONTINUES TO STATE STEERING COLUMN DEFECTIVE. IT TOOK 10 TIMES TO GET MY CAR STARTED TODAY. MY STEERING COLUMN LIGHT, BATTERY LIGHT, PARKING BRAKE LIGHT AND ENGINE ALL CAME ON EACH TIME I TRIED TO START MY CAR WITHOUT SUCCESS. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP AND BEFORE I FINISHED EXPLAINING MYSELF, THEY KNEW EXACTLY WHAT WAS WRONG. THEY WILL HAVE TO REPLACE MY STEERING COLUMN. THEY TOLD ME IT WOULD BE VERY EXPENSIVE TO FIX, BUT MY CAR IS CERTIFIED SO IT MAY BE COVERED. THERE ARE OVER 40 COMPLAINTS REGARDING THIS ISSUE AND VOLKSWAGEN NEEDS TO RECALL WHATEVER IS CAUSING THIS PROBLEM! *TR

I HAVE A 2006 VW PASSAT 2.0T WITH 30,000 MILES. I'VE HAD THE FOLLOWING PROBLEMS OVER THE LAST YEAR, KEY WILL NOT COME OUT IN PARK, STEERING WHEEL LOCKS, CAR CONTINUES TO RUN EVEN WITHOUT THE KEY IN THE IGNITION. I BROUGHT THESE ITEMS TO THE DEALER'S ATTENTION, BUT WAS BRUSHED OFF BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T GET THE VEHICLE TO "DO IT AGAIN." NOW THE POWER STEERING WARNING LIGHT IS ON. VW DEALERSHIP SAYS I NEED A NEW STEERING COLUMN. IF NOT REPLACED, THE STEERING WHEEL COULD LOCK WHILE DRIVING. I WAS TOLD REPLACING THE STEERING COLUMN SHOULD FIX ALL THE ABOVE PROBLEMS. *TR