2009 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA Complaints

VEHICLE BEGAN LEAKING DIESEL FUEL AFTER 20,000 MILE SERVICE AT FLETCHER JONES VOLKSWAGEN IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. I AM A FORMER AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEER, SO FORTUNATELY I KNEW TO TAKE THE CAR BACK QUICKLY. SOME OWNERS MAY HAVE CONTINUED TO DRIVE THE CAR AND IT COULD HAVE RESULTED IN A FIRE. THE DEALER CLAIMS THAT THE ISSUE WAS A DEFECTIVE FUEL FILTER. HOPEFULLY VW OF AMERICA IS TAKING THE MATTER SERIOUSLY, THOUGH THEY DO NOT REALLY SEEM TO CARE MUCH ABOUT QUALITY BASED ON OUR EXPERIENCES SO FAR. *TR

MY 2009 JETTA TDI SPORTWAGON WITH 12,000 MILES WOULD NOT START ONE DAY. I ATTEMPTED TO JUMP START AND POP START THE CAR, BOTH FAILED TO START THE ENGINE. IT GOT TOWED TO NEAREST VW DEALER. THEY STATED THAT THE STARTER FAILED, SO THEY REPLACED IT. AFTER REPLACING THE STARTER, THE CAR WAS STILL NOT FIXED AND THEY DISCOVERED CONDENSATION IN THE INTAKE SYSTEM. THEY STATED THAT VW WAS NOT SURE WHAT WAS CAUSING THE CONDENSATION, SEEING AS I DRIVE 100 MILES PER DAY, BUT IT WAS NOW RUNNING TO FACTORY SPECIFICATIONS, SO THE SERVICE MANAGER STATED " SO WE ARE CALLING IT FIXED". ANOTHER TDI WAS ALSO IN THE SHOP FOR THIS SAME PROBLEM. I WAS TOLD THAT VW CAN NOT GUARANTEE OR PROVIDE ANYTHING TO ME IN WRITING STATING THAT WHEN MY FACTORY WARRANTY RUNS OUT, AND THIS PROBLEM OCCURS AGAIN, THAT IT WILL BE COVERED. I REQUESTED VW TO EXTEND MY WARRANTY BUT THEY STATED THAT THEY DO NOT PROVIDE THAT TO CUSTOMERS. *TR

THE DSG TRANSMISSION MECHATRONIC UNIT IS FAULTING CAUSING ROUGH SHIFTS BETWEEN 1ST AND 2ND GEARS. SOMETIMES IT TAKES A LONG TIME FOR THE CONTROL UNIT TO CHOOSE A GEAR AND WHEN IT DOES, THERE IS A HARD HAMMERING BANG WHEN IT FINALLY GOES INTO GEAR. VW IS REPLACING THE UNIT - HOWEVER, IT WILL TAKE TWO TO THREE WEEKS TO GET THE VIN CODED UNIT. *TR

I GOT A BRAND NEW CAR LAST YEAR A 2009 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA. HOWEVER I HAVE TO GO TO THE DEALER SERVICE BECAUSE I HAVE EXPERIENCE 3 BRAKE ISSUE INCIDENTS DUE TO NOT BEING ABLE TO STOP. ACCORDING TO THE DEALER THE FIRST TIME THEY FOUND THAT THE BRAKES HAD A LOT OF PRESSURE AND THAT'S WHY I WAS NOT ABLE TO STOP. THE SECOND TIME IT WAS BECAUSE THE CAR DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH BRAKE FLUID. THE THIRD TIME IT WAS BECAUSE THE BRAKE FLUID LEVEL WAS LOW. I ALSO HIT SOMEONE I HAVE HIS STATEMENT AS A WITNESS BECAUSE THE PERSON GOT MAD AT ME ASKING WHY I DIDN'T STOP? I ALSO HAVE ANOTHER WITNESS WHO WAS WITH ME AT THE SECOND INCIDENT AND SOMEHOW THE DEALERSHIP KEEP TELLING ME THAT THE CAR IS IN PERFECT CONDITIONS. I NEED YOUR HELP. *DT

FOURTH INCIDENT: THREE UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS BY DEALERSHIP TO CORRECT PROBLEM. PROBLEM HAS OCCURRED UNDER DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES AND DRIVING CONDITIONS. SPEEDS RANGING FROM 65 MPH TO 20 MILES PER HOUR...GENERALLY WHILE ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE. AUTO IS A 2009 VW JETTA EQUIPPED WITH THE DSG TRANSMISSION. CAR WILL GO INTO NEUTRAL WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING. WHEN THIS OCCURS, PRNDSL INDICATOR LIGHT WILL FLASH AS WILL "APPLY BRAKE" WARNING LIGHT. ON AT LEAST ONE OCCASION, SIMPLE APPLICATION OF BRAKE CURED THE PROBLEM. IN THE LATEST CASE (TODAY, MARCH 20, 2010) I HAD TO TURN OFF THE MOTOR TWICE BEFORE THE TRANSMISSION WOULD RETURN TO NORMAL FUNCTIONING. AS STATED, THIS HAS OCCURRED FOUR TIMES SINCE I HAVE OWNED THIS CAR. THE CAR HAS LESS THAN 8,000 MILES ON THE ODOMETER. *TR

MOST VW JETTA 2009 OWNERS ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE EXCESSIVE WIND NOISE AROUND THE A-PILLARS ON THE SEDANS. IT IS SO LOUD THE IT GIVES YOU A HEADACHE AND INCREASES DRIVERS FATIGUE. MANY MAGAZINES HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT THE ISSUE AND HAVE BEEN TOLD BY VW THAT THEY HAVE A FIX. TO DATE THEY DO NOT. *TR

2009 JETTA SPORTWAGON TDI UNDER 8000 MILES FIRST LONG ROAD TRIP - GA TO PA AND BACK. RETURNING HOME (ABOUT 9 HOURS AWAY) AND TRAVELING ON THE INTERSTATE, FIRST THE FLASHING GLOW PLUGS INDICATOR LIGHT COMES ON AND THEN THE CHECK ENGINE. THE ENGINE STARTING REDUCING IN POWER AS I MADE IT THE EXIT AND COULDN'T KEEP HIGHWAY SPEEDS. WHEN I GOT TO THE EXIT RAMP AND TOOK MY FOOT OFF THE ACCELERATOR, THE CAR STALLED AND WAS UNABLE TO BE MOVED. AFTER A TOW TO DEALERSHIP THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT HAD ENOUGH TIME TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE CAR BEFORE THEY CLOSED. I WAS TOLD THE FUEL PUMP WAS "SHREDDED" - THEY FOUND RUST AND METAL FRAGMENTS IN THE PUMP. THE ENTIRE FUEL SYSTEM WAS REPLACED. IT WAS COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCH ONLINE IT SEEM LIKE THIS IS A RECURRING PROBLEM WITH THE TDI ENGINE. *TR

EVER SINCE MY 2009 VW TDI DIESEL AUTO WAS NEW, I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH HESISTATION IN STOP AND GO TRAFFIC THAT IS AN EMERGENCY. IF I SUDDENLY STOP, SUCH AS THE END OF THE EXIT RAMP ON THE INTERSTATE, AND SIMULTANEOUSLY TURN THE WHEELS TO THE LEFT OR RIGHT, THEN IMMEDIATELY ATTEMPT TO ACCELERATION, DISASTER. THE CAR WILL MOVE INTO THE ONCOMING TRAFFIC (FOR ABOUT 2-3 SECONDS), THEN HESITATE, LEAVING ME STUCK ON THE PATH OF ONCOMING TRAFFIC! IN ABOUT 3 TO 4 MORE SECONDS, IT WILL IMMEDIATELY ACCELERATE, SPINNING THE WHEELS AND MOVE! THIS HAS HAPPENED ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, NEARLY PLACING ME IN FATAL ACCIDENTS! THE DEALER WILL NOT RESPOND, OR EVEN CONTACT THE VW MAIN FACTORY/ENGINEERING REGARDING SOFTWARE UPDATES, ETC. THE ENGINE JUST MOMENTARILY 'GOES TO IDLE' BEFORE KICKING IN. IT IS AS IF THE BRAKES WERE APPLIED (IN THIS CAR, IF YOU TOUCH THE BRAKES, THE ENGINE IMMEDIATELY DROPS TO ABOUT 600 RPM THRU SOFTWARE CONTROL). SO IT APPEARS THERE IS A SOFTWARE PROBLEM, NOT AN ENGINE PROBLEM. ENGINE OTHERWISE PERFORMS BEAUTIFULLY, AND SO DOES THE TRANSMISSION. THIS HAS HAPPENED ON SEVERAL RECURRENT OCCASIONS, BOTH IN HOT AND COLD WEATHER, SINCE SEPT 2008. *TR

2009 VW TDI JETTA. ENGINE RUNS ROUGH, SUTTERS AT CERTAIN POINTS AND LACKS POWER. WILL SOMETIMES STALL IN TRAFFIC. HAVE DOCUMENTED WITH DEALERS. VW AMERICA REFUSES TO ANSWER. VW HAS SOFTWARE FIX, BUT WILL NOT APPLY IT TO VEHICLE. DO PEOPLE HAVE TO BE KILLED BEFORE THESE PEOPLE PAY ATTENTION.

VEHICLE WAS TURNING INTO A PARKING SPOT, DRIVER HAD MOVED FOOT FROM ACCELERATOR PEDAL TO BRAKE. SUDDENLY, ENGINE SURGED AND VEHICLE BEGAN TO ACCELERATE. THE DRIVER APPLIED SIGNIFICANT BRAKE PRESSURE TO HALT VEHICLE AND TURNED OFF IGNITION. VEHICLE SUBSEQUENTLY DROVE NORMALLY AND DEALER INSPECTION FOUND NO PROBLEM. *CN