2009 Volkswagen Rabbit

MY ABS BRAKE PUMP AND/OR CONTROL MODULE HAVE FAILED AT 75K MILES. I PURCHASED THIS CAR FOR MY CHILDREN AND USED THE IIHS SAFETY RATING WHEN SELECTING IT. THE REPAIR IS OVER $2000. I'VE READ COUNTLESS THREADS OF VW OWNERS WITH SIMILAR PROBLEMS ON MULTIPLE MODELS. I'VE CONTACTED VW AND EVEN WROTE THEIR EXECUTIVE TEAM AND WAS TOLD THERE WAS NOTHING THEY WOULD DO. WITH SO MANY SUCH ISSUES REPORTED, I BELIEVE IT'S TIME FOR NHTSA TO ACT ON BEHALF OF VW OWNERS WHOSE VEHICLES SHOULD BE REPAIRED AT VW'S EXPENSE.

TOOK MY VEHICLE IN AS THE ABS, BRAKE, ESP/ASR LIGHTS CAME ON AND WERE BEEPING. REPLACED THE ROTORS, BRAKE PADS, ETC. WHEN I CAME BACK TO PICK UP MY VEHICLE, THE VAG COM HAD MULTIPLE FAULTS STILL SHOWING, COME TO FIND OUT I NEED THE CONTROL PANEL REPLACED. VEHICLE HAS LESS THAN 59K MILES, DOZENS OF FOLKS HAVE REPORTED A SIMILAR SITUATION IN 2009 VW MODEL CARS, ABS SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONING W LESS THAN 60K MILES

ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN CONSTANT SINCE PURCHASING (I.E. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COMING ON FOR NO APPARENT REASON DURING LONG TRIPS, THE PRND LIGHTS LIGHTING ALL AT ONCE AT RANDOM). THESE ISSUES WERE NOT MUCH OF A PROBLEM UNTIL RECENTLY. I STARTED THE CAR AND IMMEDIATELY THE ABS, TRACTION CONTROL, AND BRAKE LIGHTS LIT UP AND THE CAR MADE 3 "BEEPS". I TURNED THE CAR OFF AND ON AGAIN, AND THE SAME THING HAPPENED AND CONTINUED. I THEN DROVE ON THE FREEWAY FOR ABOUT 10 MILES WHEN THE STEERING, AND EPC LIGHTS CAME ON. SIMULTANEOUSLY, THE SPEEDOMETER AND GAS GAUGES DROPPED TO ZERO AND THE CAR WOULD NOT ACCELERATE. THE STEERING BECAME SLOW TO RESPOND/DELAYED. LUCKILY THERE WERE NOT MANY CARS ON THE ROAD AND I SAFELY PULLED TO THE SHOULDER. I SAFELY DROVE THE CAR HOME THAT DAY, BUT MY HUSBAND EXPERIENCED THE SAME ISSUES WHEN HE TRIED TO DRIVE THE CAR THE DAY AFTER. AFTER RESEARCHING THESE SYMPTOMS ONLINE, I FOUND THAT THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM FOR 2009 GTI AND RABBIT MODELS, AND THAT, WHILE THIS MALFUNCTION MAKES THE CAR UNSAFE TO DRIVE, VW WILL NOT HELP CONSUMERS WITH THE ESTIMATED $2K REPAIR COSTS.

THE TRACTION CONTROL ON MY VEHICLE INITIALLY DID NOT TURN ON EVEN AFTER PRESSING THE BUTTON THAT TURNS THE ESC ON AND OFF. AFTER NOT BEING ABLE TO ACTIVATE IT, MY ABS, BREAK LIGHT, ESC, AND STEERING WHEEL LIGHTS HAVE COME ON. NOW MY VEHICLE LOOSES TRACTION IF I MAKE A FAST TURN. MY STEERING HAS ALSO BECOME REALLY STIFF. WHEN THE VEHICLE IS STATIONARY, THE FUEL METER GOES DOWN DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE CAR HAS FUEL. LASTLY, THE SPEEDOMETER GOES UP AND DOWN WHILE BEING STATIONED. THIS SAME PROBLEM REGARDING THE ABS CONTROL MODULE HAS EFFECTED HUNDREDS OF 2009 VOLKSWAGEN OWNERS AND DESPITE THE DOCUMENTED EVIDENCE, VOLKSWAGEN HAS REFUSED TO COVER THIS UNDER A RECALL.

DRIVING INTO A CURVE, MY ABS BRAKE MODULE FAILED, TURNING OFF MY TRACTION CONTROL, ABS DISABLING MY POWER STEERING. AS I WAS TRYING TO COME OUT OF THE CURVE, THE STEERING FAILED TO RESPOND TEMPORARILY. I ALMOST T-BONED ANOTHER VEHICLE, SCARING THAT DRIVER TO DEATH...I WAS ABLE TO PULL THE CAR OUT OF THE TURN, OVER CORRECTING ALMOST PUTTING IT IN A A DITCH... THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE.

AFTER DRIVING AT APPROX. 70- 80 MPH ON HIGHWAY FOR OVER 1 HOUR AND STOPPING WOULD FEEL OFF AFTER COMING TO AN A COMPLETE STOP FROM TRAFFIC OR EXITING THE FREEWAY, AND THEN THE CAR HAD TROUBLE REVVING UP - COULDN'T ACCELERATE AND DIFFICULT TO DRIVE AS IT WOULD BE HARD TO GET UP TO EVEN 30 MPH - SEEMED TO GO INTO A FALSE NEUTRAL. FIRST FEW TIMES IT WOULD RETURN TO NORMAL IF I TURNED OFF THE ENGINE FOR 15 MINUTES. THE LAST TIME IT HAPPENED, IT HAPPENED TWICE IN ONE DAY AND WOULD ONLY GO BACK TO NORMAL IF ENGINE WAS OFF FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS. HAPPENED ABOUT A COUPLE OF HANDFUL OF TIMES IN THE COURSE OF A COUPLE OF YEARS - EACH TIME WAS FRIGHTENING AND ALMOST GOT INTO BAD ACCIDENTS. FIRST TIME IT HAPPENED I WAS AT ABOUT 40,000 MILES. LAST TIME IT HAPPENED, I WAS AT ABOUT 76,000 MILES. DEALERSHIP WAS UNABLE TO REPLICATE THE ISSUE OR FIND ANY APPARENT PROBLEMS WHEN SERVICING THE VEHICLE. NOT A TURBO VEHICLE SO THEY TOLD ME NOT DSG OR MECHATRONIC ISSUES. BASICALLY, DRIVE AT YOUR OWN RISK.