2012 Volkswagen Routan

MY CAR BEGAN TO LOSE LIGHTS, FUEL, SPEAKER CAPABILITIES, AND STARTING ABILITY. ONCE WAS ON THE HIGHWAY, AND TWICE IN MY DRIVEWAY. AAA CAME AND REPLACED THE BATTERY AFTER JUMPING THE ORIGINAL BATTERY WAS NOT EFFECTIVE, WHICH DID NOTHING. IT WAS TOWED TO THE VOLKSWAGEN DEALERSHIP. THEY WERE UNABLE TO FIND OUT WHAT WAS WRONG FOR 2 DAYS. WHILE WAITING TO SEE WHAT THE DEALERSHIP CAME UP WITH, I DID MY OWN RESEARCH. IT TURNS OUT THAT CHRYSLER MADE THE CAR, AND IT INCLUDES THE CHRYSLER BODY AND PARTS. CHRYSLER RECALLED A PART CALLED THE TOTAL POWER INTEGRATION MODULE, THAT CONTROLS THE FUEL SYSTEM, ALL ELECTRIC, STARTING CAPABILITIES, BASICALLY ANY POWER HAS TO BE ROUTED THROUGH THIS PART. IT CAN CAUSE CARS TO STALL IN HIGH SPEED OPERATION, AMONG OTHER THINGS. IF UNDISCOVERED, IT CAN KILL YOUR BATTERY, FUEL PUMP, ETC, AND MECHANICS WILL CHARGE YOU AND REPLACE THOSE WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT IS THE TRUE ISSUE. I KNEW THE TPIM WAS THE PROBLEM. THE DEALERSHIP CALLED ME BACK, AND GAVE ME THE NEWS THAT I KNEW WAS INEVITABLE. VOLKSWAGEN HAS DECLINED TO RECALL THE PART IN THEIR VEHICLES, KNOWING FULL WELL THAT SOMEONE COULD BE KILLED. WHEN I COMPLAINED, THEY DID NOT CARE AND TOLD ME TO COMPLAIN HERE. I AM NOW PLANNING TO SELL MY CAR, BECAUSE OF THE IRRESPONSIBLE AND NEGLIGENT ATTITUDE OF VOLKSWAGEN TOWARD ITS CUSTOMERS. IT'S A SHAME BECAUSE I REALLY LOVED MY CAR UNTIL THIS HAPPENED.

I WAS IN A PARKING LOT VAN WOULD NOT START. IT WOULD TURN OVER AN CRANK AGAIN AND AGAIN WHEN ATTEMPTING TO START, BUT THE ENGINE WOULD NOT RUN. TOW TRUCK DRIVER WAS ABLE TO START IT BY REMOVING PUSH START AND USING KEY FOB, BUT HAD TROUBLE GETTING IT STARTED AGAIN UNLOADING AT VW DEALERSHIP. THE VW DEALER FIST SAID IT WAS THE FUEL PUMP, THEN SAID THAT THE FUEL PUMP RELAY IN THE TIPM WAS BAD AND WAS BURNING OUT THE FUEL PUMP. THE FUEL PUMP RELAY IS INTEGRATED INTO THE TIPM AND CAN'T BE REPLACED WITHOUT REPLACING TIPM. THE TIPM NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. CURRENTLY WAITING ON VW DEALER TO FIND DODGE/CHRYSLER FUEL RELAY BYPASS CABLE KIT THAT FIT MY VIN. IN THE MEANTIME, THE VW DEALER HAS INSTALLED A TEMPORARY JUMPER TO POWER THE FUEL PUMP WHILE THE VEHICLE IS TURNED ON. I FEEL FORTUNATE THAT RELAY/FUEL PUMP FAILURE DID NOT OCCUR WHILE DRIVING, BUT I FEEL THAT VW SHOULD HAVE KNOW ABOUT THIS ISSUE AND BEEN PROACTIVE TO RESOLVE IT GIVEN THAT DODGE HAS ALREADY HAD RECALLS ON THE TIPM THAT IS USED IN THE ROUTAN. I'M ALSO CONCERNED ABOUT THE SAFETY OF THE TEMPORARY FIX THE VW DEALER HAS IMPLEMENTED TO KEEP THE VEHICLE DRIVE-ABLE WHILE SEARCH FOR THE RIGHT RECALL KIT FROM DODGE. IF THAT CAN'T FIND THE KIT, THEN I WILL HAVE TO LIVE WITH A POTENTIALLY UNSAFE WORKAROUND OR PAY $1000+ TO REPLACE THE TIPM, WHICH CLEARLY HAD A MANUFACTURING DEFECT THAT COULD HAVE POTENTIALLY CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO STOP RUNNING WHILE DRIVING ON THE ROAD.

WHILE DRIVING ALL DASHBOARD LIGHT WILL COME ON GAS NEEDLE GOES DOWN TO EMPTY, RADIO SHUTS OFF, WINDOWS WILL NOT ROLL UP OR DOWN, WINDSHIELD WIPERS WILL COME NON STOP AND WILL NOT SHUT OFF BUT THE CAR CONTINUES TO RUN AND ALL OF THIS IS USUALLY WHEN I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC AND I'M AFRAID THAT AT SOME POINT THE CAR WILL CUT OFF ALL TOGETHER AND CAUSE A COLLISION, I'VE HAD IT CHECKED BY THREE SEPARATE AUTOMOTIVE SHOPS INCLUDING VW AND NO ONE CAN TELL E WHATS WRONG OR HOW TO FIX IT.

WHILE DRIVING, THE CAR WILL SUDDENLY STALL ALL LIGHTS WILL COME ON. SOMETIME IT WILL START BACK UP WHEN PUSHING START BUTTON AND OTHER TIMES IT WILL TAKE A FEW MINUTES. THIS USUALLY HAPPENS WHEN GOING UNDER 10 MPH. IT IS ALSO SOMETIMES DIFFICULT TO START AFTER ALL THE LIGHTS WILL COME ON AND THEN OFF. WE HAVE REPLACED THE BATTERY AND STARTER AND THAT HASN'T FIXED THE ISSUE.

MILEAGE 106,000 2012 ROUTAN BUT ISSUES HAVE BEEN PRESENT SINCE PURCHASE AT 96000. VEHICLE STALLED AND LOST ALL POWER APPROACHING STOP LIGHT. VEHICLE HAS STARTING PROBLEMS AS WELL, WILL NOT REACT TO START COMMAND. THE AFOREMENTIONED OCCURENCES ARE RANDOM AND MOST LIKELY RELATED TO TIPM WHICH IS WELL KNOWN DEFECT AT CHRYSLER AND ACTUALLY WAS RECALLED BUT NOT BY VW. IN ADDITION ISSUES WITH CAM/CRANKSHAFT SENSOR AND MISFIRE FAULT CODES. NHTSA HAS ALLOWED VOLKSWAGON TO SWEEP AND HIDE THE TIPM ISSUE UNDER THE RUG, MEANWHILE CHRYSLER AND DODGE ADDRESSED THE DEFECTIVE PART A PART WHICH IS ALSO IN THE ROUTAN AS WELL. STALLING AND LOSING POWER RANDOMLY IS A POTENTIAL "DEATH" EVENT. CAN'T BELIEVE THEY HAVEN'T RECALLED THIS. WHERE IS THE REGULATION??

FOR PAST 2 YEARS I NOTICED MY THE VAN WOULD NOT IMMEDIATELY START. FIGURED IT WAS A FLUKE. IN PAST YEAR, MY VAN HAS BEEN TOWED TO DEALERSHIP FOR NOT STARTING AFTER 10-15 TRIES. OF COURSE, AS SOON AS IT ARRIVES THE GET IT TO START. THANKFUL UNDER WARRANTY. NOV 2017 WIRING HARNESS AND STARTER REPLACED. DEC 2017 FAILED TO START AGAIN. BACK TO DEALER AND WORKING FINE FOR THEM. THANKFUL UNDER WARRANTY., BUT COME ON VM!! THIS IS NUTS. WHY WON'T THEY RECALL AND RE PLACE THE TIPEM LIKE CHRYSTAL DID. I HAVE BEEN STRANDED TOO MANY TIMES AND HAD TO 3 CAR SEATS EACH TIME.