2009 VOLKSWAGEN GTI Complaints

TWO OUT OF THE FOUR ENGINE COILS WENT BAD AT THE EXACT SAME MOMENT CAUSING THE CAR TO LOOSE TWO OUT OF FOUR CYLINDERS. THIS MADE THE ENGINE NOT ABLE TO IDLE OR RUN. HAD THIS HAPPENED WHILE TRYING TO CLEAR AN INTERSECTION OR SAY MERGING ON A HIGHWAY THE RESULT COULD BE CATASTROPHIC. VW INSISTS THAT THIS IS NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR AND NOT EVEN COVERED BY IT'S 5-YEAR 60K MILE POWER TRAIN WARRANTY. EVEN THOUGH THESE COILS THAT PROVIDE SPARK TO THE ENGINE, AND VITAL TO IT'S SAFE OPERATION, THEY INSIST THAT ARE ONLY COVERED BY THE VEHICLE'S 3-YEAR 36-K MILE WARRANTY. LOOKING AT VW CHAT LOGS IT CLEAR THAT THIS HAS BEEN AN ONGOING PROBLEM WITH VW GTI FOR NUMEROUS YEARS AND NEEDS TO REVISITED FOR THE 2009 MODEL YEAR. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 VOLKSWAGEN GTI. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE TRAVELING BETWEEN 40-60 MPH, THE ENGINE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS RESTARTED AFTER THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE RECURRED THREE TIMES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER THREE TIMES WHERE THE DEALER CONFIRMED THAT THE IGNITION COIL NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 36,600 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 47,000.

ON 4 AUG 2012 AT ABOUT 2:15PM MY WIFE EXPERIENCED A FAILURE OF HER RIGHT (PASSENGER SIDE) REAR TIRE. THE TIRE IS A DUNLOP SP SPORT 01 AS 225/40R18. THE CAR WAS BEING DRIVEN AT ABOUT 35 MPH ON SURFACE STREETS. MY WIFE HEARD A "POP" NOISE AND NOTICED THAT THE TIRE INFLATION WARNING CAME ON. SHE IMMEDIATELY CALLED ME AND AAA. THEY PUT ON THE FULL-SIZED SPARE. WHEN I INSPECTED THE TIRE THE INSIDE SIDEWALL SHOWED A "SPLIT" IN ONE OF THE SEAMS. I HAVE EXPERIENCED THE SAME TYPE OF FAILURE (INSIDE SIDEWALL SHOWED A "SPLIT" IN ONE OF THE SEAMS) WITH THE SAME TIRE TYPE (DUNLOP SP SPORT 01 AS 225/40R18) ON 1 JUNE 2012. THAT TIME THE CAR WAS BEING DRIVEN ON A HIGHWAY AT 65 MPH. THAT TIME THE RIGHT FRONT (PASSENGER) TIRE FAILED. THIS IS DEFINITELY A SAFETY ISSUE! BOTH TIRES FAILED WIT APPROXIMATELY 30,000 MILES ON THEM. THE DEALER INDICATED THAT THEY WERE SAFE TO INSTALL AT THE START OF THE SUMMER SEASON. WE SWITCH TIRES TWICE A YEAR BECAUSE THE DUNLOPS ARE CONSIDERED MORE OF A "PERFORMANCE" TIRE. AFTER THE FIRST FAILURE THE DEALER ORDERED A PAIR OF TIRES. HE ORDERED THE SAME ONES SO THE TREAD WOULD MATCH. NOT SURE AT THIS POINT THAT I WILL CONTINUE WITH DUNLOPS. *TR

I BOUGHT THIS VW GTI 2009 IN 01/2009. SINCE LAST SUMMER, THE ENGINE START TO HAVE ISSUES WHEN TRYING TO TURN IT ON. HERE IS WHAT HAPPENS: WHEN THE ENGINE TEMPERATURE IS COOL, IT HAS NO PROBLEM TO TURN IT ON. BUT WHEN THE ENGINE IS ALREADY WARMED UP (E.G., AFTER DRIVE 15 MIN ON THE FREEWAY), AND YOU TURN IT OFF. THEN THERE IS >50% CHANCE IT WON'T GET STARTED WHEN YOU TRY TO TURN IT ON AGAIN. IF THIS HAPPENS, I MIGHT HAVE TO TRY A COUPLE OF TIMES THEN IT CAN GET THE ENGINE STARTED. I HAVE BEEN TO TWO DIFFERENT VW DEALERS FOR SEVERAL TIMES, NEITHER CAN IDENTIFY WHAT'S THE ROOT CAUSE. IN MY LAST VISIT, I SHOWED THEM HOW TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM, AND I LEFT THE CAR FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS. BUT THEY TOLD ME THAT THEY CANNOT REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM. *TR

PROBLEM OCCURRED OCCASIONALLY, MOSTLY WHEN THE SPEED WAS AROUND 0-30MPH. THE TRANSMISSION SEEMED TO HAVE A PROBLEM IN UPSHIFTING/DOWNSHIFTING BETWEEN 1ST-3RD GEAR. WHILE ACCELERATION FROM STATIONARY, THERE WAS A LAG IN UPSHIFTING FROM 1ST-2ND-3RD GEAR. SOMETIMES IT DID NOT UPSHIFT AT ALL. WHEN YOU RELEASED THE ACCELERATOR AND RE-APPLIED IT AGAIN, IT WOULD BE BACK TO NORMAL. WHILE DOWNSHIFTING FROM 2ND TO 1ST GEAR, IT SEEMED LIKE BEING PUSHED BY SOMETHING FROM THE BACK. *KB

AFTER PURCHASING A NEW 2009 GTI I NOTICED SOME HESITATION IN THE CAR UPON TAKE OFF/SLOW DOWN. I TOOK THE VEHICLE DIRECTLY TO THE DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD THAT THIS WAS NORMAL FOR THIS CAR AND ITS DSG TRANSMISSION. I LATER IN THE YEAR TOOK IT BACK WITH THE SAME RESULT. I ALSO CONTACTED VW CUSTOMER CARE AND WAS GIVEN A CASE NUMBER BUT NO ONE EVER CALLED ME BACK AND I WAS ONCE AGAIN WAS REFERRED BACK TO MY LOCAL DEALERSHIP VIA EMAIL. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY HAZARD! MY WIFE HAS JUST TAKEN THE GTI AGAIN, SEPT. 6TH, 2011 AND AFTER 3 DAYS WITH THE GTI WE RECEIVED THE SAME RESPONSE - "THIS IS NORMAL FOR DSG TRANSMISSION". THIS IS NOT NORMAL!!!! OUR BEST DESCRIPTION OF THE SAFETY HAZARD. WHEN DRIVING THE VEHICLE IN SPORT (S) MODE IT WILL OFTEN HESITATE TO PULL OFF FROM A STOP. WHEN ATTEMPTING TO PULL OUT INTO TRAFFIC AND THIS OCCURS THERE IS ABOUT A TWO SECOND DELAY FROM THE TIME THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL IS DEPRESSED TO FINALLY TAKING OFF. WE HAVE OBSERVED THE TACHOMETER WHEN THIS PROBLEM OCCURS (WITHOUT ANY APPROACHING TRAFFIC, AND THE RPMS BARELY GO BEYOND IDLE EVEN THOUGH THE ACCELERATOR IS PRESSED DOWN 1/4 TO 1/2 WAY DOWN. WHEN THE CAR DOES FINALLY TAKE OFF, IT IS ABRUPTLY, DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL IS DEPRESSED ALREADY. WHEN ATTEMPTING TO PULL INTO TRAFFIC OR TURN ACROSS IT, THIS DELAY AND THEN ABRUPT RESPONSE COULD RESULT IN SERIOUS INJURY OR WORSE TO US OR THE OCCUPANTS OF MY VEHICLE. PLEASE HELP US AS CORPORATE VW AND OUR LOCAL DEALERSHIP DON'T CARE ABOUT OUR SAFETY OR THE SAFETY OF OTHERS AND ITS JUST A MATTER OF WHEN A SERIOUS ACCIDENT OCCURS BECAUSE OF THIS SAFETY HAZARD. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

I PURCHASED MY 2009 VW GTI ON 5/6/09 WITH 217 MILES ON IT. THESE ARE THE INSTANCES THAT HAVE OCCURRED SO FAR: 1)ON 5/11/2009 AT 610 MILES THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME AFTER REVVING ON ITS OWN. IT RETURNED A CODE P0171 'SYSTEM TOO LEAN' WHICH ONCE AGAIN POINTS TO THE INTAKE. I WAS WITHOUT MY CAR FOR 1 DAY. 2)ON 2/5/2010 AT 19,743 MILES THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AFTER STRANGE IDLE SPEED SYMPTOMS. THEY REPLACED MY INTAKE MANIFOLD. I WAS WITHOUT MY VEHICLE FOR 7 DAYS. 3)ON 3/29/2010 AT 22,114 MILES THE EPC LIGHT CAME ON AND HAD TO DRIVE 30 MILES BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP ON 2 CYLINDERS. WIRING WAS REPAIRED PER TBS #2018652. I WAS WITHOUT MY CAR FOR 2 DAYS. 4)ON 9/16/2010 AT 32,910 MILES THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AFTER ONCE AGAIN STRANGE IDLE SYMPTOMS. IT RETURNED A CODE P2015, GERMANY WAS CALLED, EVERYONE WAS BAFFLED, AND THEY RESET THE COMPUTER. I WAS WITHOUT MY VEHICLE FOR 5 DAYS. 5)ON 12/21/10 AT 35,201 MILES THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, CAR WAS REVVING ON ITS OWN. THEY REPLACED THE INTAKE MANIFOLD. I WAS WITHOUT MY VEHICLE FOR 3 DAYS 6)ON 3/26/2011 AT 37K THE CAR WAS REVVING ON ITS OWN, AND AFTER 10 MINUTES THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN. I RETURNED A CODE P0507 'IDLE AIR CONTROL SYSTEM RPM HIGHER THAN EXPECTED' WHICH ONCE AGAIN IS POINTING AT THE AIR INTAKE. SO FAR I HAVE BEEN WITHOUT MY CAR FOR 3 DAYS. *TR

2009 VOLKSWAGEN GTI (AND VARIOUS OTHER MODELS 2006-2009) WINDSHIELD INTERIOR DEFROSTER AIR DISPERSION GRILL DIRECTS AIR TO RIGHT AND LEFT PORTIONS OF WINDSHIELD ONLY. NO SEGMENTS OF THE AIR DISPERSION GRILL LOCATED AT THE BASE OF THE WINDHIELD DIRECT AIR UP THE CENTER OF THE WINDSHIELD, THIS CREATES A LARGE PATCH OF FOG/CONDENSATION ON THE INTERIOR OF THE WINDSHIELD BELOW THE REARVIEW MIRROR AND CAUSES DRIVER FIELD OF VISION TO BE REDUCED. CAN BE "FIXED" BY RUNNING AC AND DEFROST-ONLY W/ FAN SPEED ON "3", THIS IS VERY NOISY INSIDE THE CAR AND THE DRY AC AIR OUTPUT MAY CRITICALLY AFFECT DRIVER EYES/OTHER MUCUS MEMBRANES WHEN DRIVING FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME. THIS DEFECT IS CORRECTED IN THE MY 2010 GTI WHERE THE CENTER TWO VANES OF THE AIR DISPERSION DEFROSTER UNIT HAVE BEEN MADE TO POINT STRAIGHT UP RATHER THAN TO EITHER SIDE OF THE WINDSHIELD. VW DEALER WHERE I BOUGHT THE CAR A YEAR AGO REFUSES TO TRY AN '10 PART ON MY '09 VEHICLE TO SEE IF THE NEW AIR DIFFUSER UNIT WILL FIT. A COOWORKER HAS THE SAME MODEL YEAR CAR I DO AND HAS THE SAME COMPLAINT. THIS IS ESPECIALLY PRONOUNCED IN THE WINTER MONTHS AND IN HUMID WEATHER AND CREATES A LARGE AREA OF BLURRED GLASS DIRECTLY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WINDSHIELD, VERY HAZARDOUS WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT OR WHILE LOOKING SLIGHTLY TO THE RIGHT WHEN APPROACHING A RIGHT HAND TURN IN THE ROAD. TW*

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 VOLKSWAGEN GTI WHICH WAS PURCHASED IN 2009. SHE STATED THAT WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS IN DRIVE THE GEAR WOULD SLIP INTO NEUTRAL AND WOULD NOT RESPOND TO THE ACCELERATOR AS IT SHOULD. SHE HAD REPAIRS PERFORMED ON THE VEHICLE TWICE UNDER NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER, 09V333000, POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION TO NO AVAIL. THE FAILURE OCCURRED MORE THAN THREE TIMES. NO REPAIRS WERE MADE TO ACTUALLY CORRECT THE FAILURE TO DATE. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE UNDER 13,055.

EXPERIENCING SEVERAL SAFETY ISSUES WITH VW DSG TRANSMISSION IN MY 2009 GTI. FIRST, SHIFTING INTO PARK. WHEN SHIFTING FROM EITHER REVERSE OR DRIVE INTO PARK ON A HILL, VEHICLE ROLLS 3 FEET AND THEN HITS A HARD "STOP". SECOND, VERY HARD DOWNSHIFTING/ENGINE BRAKING IN AUTOMATIC MODE WHEN SLOWING DOWN. THIS HAPPENS AT 20 MPH AND THEN AGAIN AT 10 MPH. IF YOU ARE APPLYING THE BRAKES WHEN THIS ENGINE BRAKING HAPPENS IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO STOP AT A DESIRED POINT. YOU CAN BE SMOOTHLY APPLYING THE BRAKE AND THEN WHEN YOU SLOW TO 20 MPH THE ENGINE BRAKING DRASTICALLY SLOWS THE VEHICLE EVEN MORE. IT'S LIKE SHIFTING INTO A LOWER GEAR AT TOO HIGH A SPEED WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY APPLYING THE BRAKES. VERY DANGEROUS! THIRD, LURCH/SURGE WHEN STARTING ON A HILL. WHEN BACKING OUT OF A SPOT ON A HILL OR STARTING FORWARD ON A HILL HAVING JUST PUT THE VEHICLE IN DRIVE THE ENGINE REVS FOR 3 SECONDS AS IF IT IS NOT IN GEAR AND THEN LURCHES SUDDENLY FORWARD. *TR