2006 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT Complaints

2006 PASSAT STARTS AND STALL IMMEDIATELY. "STEERING COLUMN LOCK DEFECT". DEALER WANTS $2000.00 TO REPLACE IT ALONG WITH COMFORT SENSOR. *TR

2006 VW PASSAT 2.0T. 53,000 MILES. TRANSMISSION MAKES HARD KNOCK WHEN DOWNSHIFTING ON COMING TO A STOP AFTER FREEWAY TYPE TRAVEL. THIS IS BECOMING MORE FREQUENT. IF THIS CONTINUES, I AM EXPECTING THE CV JOINTS OR TRANSMISSION TO FAIL. HAVE REPORTED THIS TO DEALER ON FOUR OCCASIONS, AND THEY ARE UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE OR FIX IT. *TR

STEERING WHEEL COLUMN LOCK ERROR ON COMPUTER OF 2006 VW PASSAT. CAR STALLS ANYTIME THIS LIGHT WARNING COMES ON. IT HAS COME ON WHILE DRIVING CAUSING IT TO STALL AT HIGH SPEEDS MAKING IT HARD TO STEER TO THE RIGHT SHOULDER SAFELY. THIS ISSUE HAS CAUSED TWO INCIDENTS WHILE IN HIGHWAY TRAFFIC AND WAS A NEAR MISS ACCIDENT EACH TIME. IT OCCURS ON A DAILY BASIS NOW AND WAS INTERMITTENT AT FIRST. I WAS TOLD THAT THE FIX IS TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE STEERING COLUMN WHICH IS ABOUT $2K. TO GET THE CAR STARTED AGAIN, YOU HAVE TO MOVE THE STEERING COLUMN BACK AND FORTH AND AFTER ABOUT 4-10 ATTEMPTS TO START, THE CAR WILL START. THERE IS NO WARNING, IT JUST STALLS WHEN THIS ISSUE ARISES. IT HAS STALLED AT A RAIL ROAD CROSSING WHICH HAS A STOPPING POINT BEFORE YOU CROSS. VERY UNSAFE SITUATION, I WORK FOR THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE AS A SAFETY INVESTIGATOR AND IF THIS EXISTED IN OUR AIR FORCE WE WOULD HAVE AN IMMEDIATE RECALL. THIS MATTER NEEDS TO BE PUSHED FORWARD AND INVESTIGATED. AFTER RESEARCHING THIS ISSUE I HAVE NOTICED MULTIPLE FORUMS STATING THE SAME ISSUES AND SAME COMPLAINTS. *TR

MY WIFE'S CAR 2006 PASSAT HAS BEEN STARTING AND THEN STALLING IMMEDIATELY. A WARNING LIGHT COMES ON INDICATING "STEERING COLUMN LOCK DEFECT". IT WAS FINE FOR A WEEK OR TWO, THEN IT STARTED OCCURRING SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK. I TOOK CAR TO REPAIR SHOP AND WAS TOLD THAT PROBLEM WOULD NEED A DEALERSHIP REPAIR SHOP TO CORRECT. AFTER DOING SOME ONLINE SEARCHES FOR PROBLEMS OF THIS NATURE I NOTICED MANY OWNERS WERE HAVING SAME PROBLEM AND WERE TOLD THAT THE STEERING COLUMN AND COMFORT SENSOR WOULD BOTH HAVE TO BE REPLACED, ESTIMATES FROM $1200 TO $2000 DOLLARS FOR REPAIR. OUR CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY AS OF FEB, 2010 BUT HAS LESS THAN 50,000 MILES ON IT. REPORTS FROM MECHANICS SAY A PERSON CAN GET STRANDED AT ANY TIME, BUT IF CAR STARTS IT WILL NOT FAIL WHILE DRIVING. THIS REPLACEMENT SHOULD NOT BE AT THE COST OF THE OWNER. PLEASE INVESTIGATE OCCURRENCES AND REQUEST A RECALL FOR DEFECTIVE NEW VEHICLE ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT/ STEERING COLUMN. *TR

06 VW PASSAT STEERING COLUMN LOCK INDICATOR LIGHT ON. MESSAGE READS" STEERING COLUMN LOCKED TAKE TO WORKSHOP. WE HAVE HAD THE MESSAGE A COUPLE TIMES BEFORE. WONDERING ABOUT A RECALL TO HAVE THIS VERY COMMON PROBLEM FIXED. *TR

THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AFTER STARTING THE VEHICLE. NO ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR WAS OBSERVED BEFORE THE LIGHT CAME ON. ON SUBSEQUENT STARTS THE ENGINE SPUTTERED THEN DROVE NORMALLY (BUT THE LIGHT STAYED ON). THE DEALERSHIP DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM AS A "FAULTY INTAKE FLAP MOTOR" WITH A QUOTED COST OF $475 TO REPLACE. PROBLEM RELATED TO SERVICE BULLETIN NUM : TSB-01-08-12, NHTSA ITEM NUMBER : 10028104. THIS SHOULD BE A RECALL AS IT IS A POLLUTION PROBLEM (CAR CANNOT PASS EMISSIONS INSPECTION). *TR

1A. I INSERTED THE KEY FOD AND THE "STEERING WHEEL" LIGHT ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL FLASHED YELLOW AND THE MFD ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL SAID, "STEERING COLUMN LOCK MALFUNCTION. GO TO VW DEALER IMMEDIATELY" 1B. OTHER TIMES, IT'S THE SAME, BUT THE "STEERING WHEEL" LIGHT FLASHES WITH RED LIGHT. 1C. OTHER TIMES, I MUST INSERT THE KEY FOD ANYWHERE FROM 5-20 TIMES BEFORE THE CAR EVEN STARTS. THE CAR WON'T START AND I MUST REPEAT THE PROCESS UNTIL IT DOES. 2. IT OCCURS AT LEAST 5-9 TIMES PER WEEK WITH THE YELLOW LIGHT FLASHING, 3-5 TIMES A WEEK WITH RED LIGHT FLASHING, AND 1-3 TIMES PER WEEK WHEN I MUST REPEAT THE INSERTING OF KEY FOD TO TURN ON. 3A. THE VW DEALER SAYS THEY HAVE SEEN THIS PROBLEM AND IT USUALLY RUNS $1500-$2200 TO FIX. THEY SAID THEY USUALLY REPLACE THE STEERING COLUMN MODULE (COMPUTER BOARD STUFF) AND THE STEERING COLUMN AS WELL. THEY SAY THE PROBLEM IS CAUSE BY THE MODULE GOING BAD AND NOT RESPONDING AND TELLING THE COMPUTER TO TURN THE CAR ON. 3B. THE VW CORPORATE CUSTOMER CARE SAID THEY CANNOT HELP BECAUSE WARRANTY HAS EXPIRED. I HAVE ABOUT 60K MILES AND WARRANTY EXPIRED AT 50K MILES. PLEASE GO TO THIS THREAD TO SEE HOW COMMON THIS PROBLEM IS: HTTP://FORUMS.VWVORTEX.COM/ZEROTHREAD?ID=3656214. *TR

STEERING WHEEL COLUMN LOCK ERROR ON COMPUTER OF 2006 VW PASSAT. I DID RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET REGARDING THIS AND ITS AN KNOWN ISSUE AMONG MANY OWNERS OF THIS TROUBLESOME CAR. ITS NOT FAIR TO HAVE TO PAY OF $ 1500 FOR SOMETHING THE MFG BUILT DEFECTIVELY. *TR

MY CAR KEEPS GETTING THE MESSAGE, "STEERING COLUMN DEFECTIVE" MESSAGE IN THE MFD. THE CAR WILL NOT START ON MORE THAN SIX TIMES NOW. WHENEVER, THE MESSAGE "STEERING COLUMN DEFECTIVE" COMES ON, THE CAR WILL NOT START. I DID A GOOGLE SEARCH REGARDING THIS PROBLEM, AND MANY PEOPLE ONLINE EXPRESSED THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THEIR VEHICLES. *TR

MY 2006 VW PASSAT HAS A "STEERING COLUMN LOCK" ERROR AND THE DEALERSHIP SAID THAT THERE HAS BEEN LOTS OF THE 2006 VW PASSATS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM BUT NO RECALL YET. IF I DON'T GET IT FIX IT WILL STOP WHILE DRIVING, AND THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE. *TR