2006 Volkswagen Passat

2006 VW PASSAT HAS INTERMITTENT PROBLEMS STARTING (STEERING COLUMN LOCK, ETC - SAME AS EVERYONE ELSE) AND THEN ONE DAY WHILE DRIVING @ 55 MPH, MY CAR DIED. I HAD TO TRY AND GET OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. VERY SCARY! I TRIED TO RESTART WITH NO LUCK AND JUST ABOUT THE TIME I WAS READY TO GIVE UP, I TRIED ONE MORE TIME (WHILE WAITING FOR AAA TO ANSWER THE PHONE) AND IT WORKED. I'VE HAD IT INTO MY MECHANIC SEVERAL TIMES FOR THE STARTING ISSUE AND THE DEALER GAVE ME THE "REPLACE THE WHOLE STEERING COLUMN" THING. I HAVE BEEN HOLDING OFF BC ITS SO EXPENSIVE AND I CAN GO FOR WEEKS OR EVEN MONTHS WITHOUT HAVING THE PROBLEM, THEN IT FLARES UP AGAIN IN SPADES. MY BIGGEST CONCERN NOW IS THE MOTOR CUTTING OUT ON ME AGAIN WHILE I'M DRIVING. THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL BASED ON THE HUNDREDS OF COMPLAINTS FOR THIS SAME ISSUE. *TR

I OWN A 2006 VW PASSAT WITH JUST OVER 60K MILES. THE AIR BAG FAULT INDICATOR LIGHT HAS COME ON AND I HAVE NOT HAD AN ACCIDENT. THE DEALER'S SOLUTION WAS TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE AIRBAG UNIT AT A COST OF NEARLY $1000. IT SEEMS TO ME FROM READING THE POSTS ON THIS SITE AND NUMEROUS OTHERS THAT THIS IS A FAIRLY COMMON PROBLEM ON A CRITICAL SAFETY COMPONENT THAT IT IS OCCURRING AFTER ONLY A COUPLE OF YEARS OF OWNERSHIP (FAR TOO EARLY IN THE CAR'S LIFETIME) AND VW IS NOT DOING ANYTHING TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO GET VW TO ISSUE A SERVICE BULLETIN TO CORRECT THE ISSUE AT THEIR EXPENSE AND ALSO TO WARN DRIVERS ABOUT A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS ISSUE WITH THIS SAFETY EQUIPMENT. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT. THE CONTACT STATED THE IGNITION WOULD ONLY START AFTER SEVERAL ATTEMPTS. THE "STEERING WHEEL LOCK DEFECTIVE" MESSAGE LLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL INTERMITTENTLY. THE FAILURE OCCURRED SEVEN TIMES. THE DEALER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURES AND THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THERE WAS NOT A PROBLEM IF THE WARNING INDICATOR DID NOT REMAIN ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 38,000.

I HAD A STEERING WHEEL LOCK DEFECTIVE WARNING LIGHT COME UP IN MY CAR, THE CAR ALSO WOULD NOT START. AFTER NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS, IT STARTED. I CALLED MY DEALER AND HE SAID HE HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF THE CAR HAVING THIS PROBLEM. VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICAN TOO HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF THIS PROBLEM. I GOOGLED THE PROBLEM ONLINE AND FOUND THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE HAVING THIS PROBLEM NO ONLY HERE IN THE STATES BUT ALL OVER THE WHOLE WHERE THE CAR WAS SOLD. MY CAR ONLY HAD THE WARNING AND THE NO START PROBLEM. BUT MANY OTHERS WERE COMPLAINING THAT THE CAR WOULD SHUT DOWN WHILE TRAVELING AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED. I CAN'T BELIEVE VOLKSWAGEN WON'T ACKNOWLEDGE THE PROBLEM. MY CAR IS A 2006 PASSAT WITH ONLY 38,000 MILES. SOMETHING SHOULD BE DONE HERE. *TR

06 VW PASSAT, I WAS DRIVING AND THE ENGINE LIGHT, THE EPC AND ANOTHER LIGHT CAME ON AND ALL OF A SUDDEN THE CAR LOST ALL POWER AND WOULDN'T GO PAST 15 MPH AND 20 RPM. VERY DANGEROUS WHEN YOU ARE DRIVING AND THIS HAPPENS, THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL FOR THIS PROBLEM. CAR HAS 44, 960 MILES AND NOT SURE IF IT'S UNDER WARRANTY, WILL FIND OUT TOMORROW. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT. THE CONTACT MOVED FORWARD FROM A TRAFFIC LIGHT AND THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY LOST ALL POWER AND STALLED. THE BATTERY LIGHT WAS DIM AND THE EPC LIGHT ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER WHERE THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE FAILURE WAS CAUSED BY A BAD CELL IN THE STARTER. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 44,901.

MY CAR HAS HAD STARTING ISSUES SINCE I HAVE HAD IT. SOMETIMES, EVERYTIME I WOULD TRY TO START IT WOULD NOT START AND GIVE ME THE "LOCKED STEERING COLUMN" MESSAGE. IT WOULD STOP DOING THIS FOR SEVERAL MONTHS AND THEN START AGAIN. FINALLY, AFTER 100,000 IT STOPPED COMPLETELY AND WOULD NOT START. IT IS $600 TO FIX IT BUT IT SEEMS LIKE A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE THIS ISSUE AND THEY HAD A RECALL ON THE STEERING COLUMN. WHAT CAN I DO? *TR

VW, 2006 PASSAT, NOW HAS A "STEERING COLUMN DEFECT" WARNING, AND THE CAR DOESN'T START. THE CAR HAS 60,000 MILES ON IT, AND THIS STARTED JUST AFTER THE 50,000 MILE WARRANTY EXPIRED. THE CAR ALSO STALLS AT HIGH SPEED WHEN THIS LIGHT COMES ON WITHOUT WARNING, AND CAN CAUSE A SERIOUS ACCIDENT. THE CAR ALSO HAS A PROBLEM WITH DOWNSHIFTING WHEN ON THE HIGHWAY, AND SLAMS INTO LOW GEAR AS THOUGH THE CAR HIT SOMETHING. THE DEALER CANNOT FIND THE PROBLEM WHEN THE CAR IS PUT ON THE DIAGNOSTIC COMPUTER. I HAVE READ MANY OTHER COMPLAINTS ON THE INTERNET ABOUT THESE SAME ISSUES WITH THE 2006 PASSAT, AND FOUND THAT THE FIX FOR THE STEERING COLUMN ALONE COSTS BETWEEN $1400 AND $2000. BECAUSE THIS APPEARS TO BE A FACTORY DEFECT, AND IT IS A SAFETY ISSUE, I WANTED TO REPORT IT AS SUCH. ALTHOUGH THERE HASN'T BEEN AN ACCIDENT CAUSED IN MY CASE, THE POTENTIAL FOR DISASTER IS HUGE. I'M AFRAID TO DRIVE THE CAR, BECAUSE THIS IS A RECURRING PROBLEM, AND CAN HAPPEN AT ANY TIME. *TR

MY DAUGHTER OWNS A 2006 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT. RECENTLY THE KEY BOX, HAS NOT ALWAYS WORKED TO START THE CAR. IT HAS BECOME VERY UNDEPENDABLE. I TOOK IT TO MY MECHANIC AND HE CHECKED EVERYTHING AND COULD FIND NOTHING WRONG. HE THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE THE CHIP IN THE KEY THAT HAD A PROBLEM AND MAYBE THE KEY NEEDED TO BE REPROGRAMMED. SHE STARTING USING HER OTHER KEY AND THERE WAS NO PROBLEM FOR A FEW WEEKS. CALLED ABOUT HAVING THE KEY REPROGRAMMED AND THE LOCAL VOLKSWAGEN DEALERSHIP IN BRAINTREE THOUGHT IT WASN'T THE PROBLEM. THE CAR WOULDN'T START AGAIN AND TOOK THE CAR BACK TO THE MECHANIC AND GOOGLED THE PROBLEM AND DISCOVERED MANY WEBSITES WHERE THERE WERE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE SAME PROBLEM AND ALL WHEN THE CAR HAD JUST GONE PAST THE WARRANTY AND ALL WERE ATTRIBUTED TO THE STEERING COLUMN LOCKING UP. ALL WERE SOLVED IF THE OWNERS WERE WILLING TO PAY $1500-$2000 TO REPLACE THE STEERING COLUMN. THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR YEARS ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION I READ. I THINK THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS. THE CAR ONLY HAS 72,000 MILES AND IS ONLY 4 YEARS OLD. IN THE PROCESS OF CONTACTING THE MAIN VOLKSWAGEN OFFICE TO COMPLAIN, BUT ACCORDING TO ALL THE PEOPLE AND SITES I FOUND ON THE WEB, THEY WERE OF NO HELP. *TR