2009 VOLKSWAGEN RABBIT Complaints

I JUST PURCHASED MY USED 2009 VW RABBIT. THE ABS LIGHT CAME ON, TRACTION, BREAK LIGHT, ESP. WENT TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY STATED THE ABS PUMP WAS NOT FUNCTIONING. MANY VOLKSWAGEN OWNERS WITH CARS WITHIN THE ABS RECALL YEARS HAVE THE SAME EXACT ISSUE AND VOLKSWAGENS RECALL WILL ONLY COVER THE MODULE PORTION AND NOT THE ABS PUMP (OF COURSE THE MOST EXPENSIVE PART). I WAS QUOTED AN INSANE PRICE FOR THE REPAIRS AND THE PART THAT NEEDS REPAIRS, WHEN PURCHASED, JUST HAPPENS TO COME WITH THE RECALLED PART (THE ELECTRONIC MODULE). I CALLED VOLKSWAGEN AND THEY STATED THAT THE RECALL WAS ONLY FOR TGE ELECTRONIC PORTION AND I WOULD HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF THE PUMP. I BELIEVE THIS FAULTY ELECTRONIC MODULE HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE PUMP FAILING.

I BELIEVE THE FAULTY ABS WAS THE REASON I GOT IN A CAR ACCIDENT ON DEC 20, 2016 AND AGAIN ON MARCH 14, 2017. ON DEC 20, I WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY IN CHICAGO, AFTER RECENT SNOW, SO ROADS WERE A LITTLE WET. 2 OTHER CARS HIT EACH OTHER IN FRONT OF ME, SO I PRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL WITH MORE THAN ENOUGH DISTANCE BETWEEN ME AND THEM TO STOP IN TIME IN MOST CORRECTLY FUNCTIONING CARS. WHEN I PUT BRAKES ON, I REALIZED I WASN'T SLOWING DOWN QUICK ENOUGH, AND ENDED UP HITTING THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME. I ORIGINALLY ATTRIBUTED IT TO CONDITIONS, BUT NOW I BELIEVE BAD ABS ALLOWED THIS ACCIDENT TO HAPPEN. ON MARCH 14, I WAS ALSO DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AFTER RECENT SNOW, AND A LITTLE SNOW FELL ON THE LANE IN FRONT OF ME (I THINK FROM 18-WHEEL TRUCK IN RIGHT LANE), I APPLIED BRAKES, STARTED FISHTAILING, AND ENDED UP LOOSING CONTROL AND ENDED UP DOING 180 BEFORE ANOTHER CAR HIT ME. BOTH TIMES DRIVING SPEED WAS SLOW, NOBODY GOT HURT IN ACCIDENTS. AGAIN, I'VE DRIVEN IN RAIN, SLEET, SNOW, AND ICE ALOT OF THE YEARS AND NEVER HAD PROBLEMS, SO I BELIEVE THE BAD ABS ALLOWED THIS ACCIDENT TO HAPPEN

ABS BRAKE MODULE. COMPUTER LOSES COMMUNICATION WITH ABS BRAKE MODULE, POWER STEERING IS DISABLED, ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL IS DISABLED ODOMETER AND SPEEDOMETER BECOME DIABLED. WHEN THIS HAPPENS IT CAN CAUSE OVER STEER AND UNDER STEER. ALMOST CAUSED ACCIDENT ON TWO OCCASIONS. RECALL SENT, VW STILL WON'T FIX THE ISSUE. PREVIOUS COMPLAINT LISTED.

I RECEIVED NOTICE FEB. 2017, FOR RECALL DUE TO "SAFETY RECALL 45F2-ABS CONTROL MODULE SOFTWARE". UPON TAKING TO DEALERSHIP PER LETTER INSTRUCTIONS, INFORMED THAT "SOFTWARE FIX" WOULD BE ATTEMPTED. IF NOT SUFFICIENT HARDWARE PART WOULD NEED TO BE ORDERED. CAR RETURNED WITH "BRAKE LIGHT FLASHING AND ABS/SKID LIGHTS ON". PART WAS ORDERED BUT NO ETA DATE IS AVAILABLE. THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR A WEEK NOW. CALLS TO VW CORPORATE HAS BEEN TO NO SATISFACTION. THERE SIMPLY IS A "BACK ORDER" ON THE PART. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE TO PUT OUT A RECALL AND NOT HAVE THE NEEDED PART! MEANTIME DRIVING CAR WITH FLASHING WARNING LIGHTS! WHILE A COURTESY CAR HAS BEEN OFFERED, WHY WOULD I GIVE THEM MY VEHICLE FOR AN UNKNOWN AMOUNT OF TIME! IS THIS GOING TO GO ON FOR 3 WEEKS? 3 MONTHS? A YEAR? NO ONE CAN GIVE ME AN ANSWER. I FEEL THE CAR SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN TAMPERED WITH IF THE NEEDED PART WAS NOT IN STOCK! SHAME ON VW FOR ISSUING A RECALL AND NOT HAVING THE PARTS READY TO SHIP. DIDN'T THEY LEARN ANYTHING FROM ALL THESE OTHER RECALLS THAT HAVE HAPPENED!?! HOW MANY CARS ARE NOW ON THE ROAD WITH NO ABS SYSTEM IN PLACE????? VW NEEDS TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THIS POOR EXECUTION OF A RECALL AND SERVICING ITS CUSTOMERS IN A TIMELY FASHION. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?

INTERMITTANTLY LOOSE SPEED ON ITS OWN FOR A SPLIT SECOND AND ALSO SPEEDOMETER WILL DROP TO 0 MPH AND ALMOST INSTANTLY COME BACK TO CORRECT SPEED. THIS INTERMITTANT ISSUE CAN CAUSE SOME TO REAR END MY CAR, THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE ON HI-WAY OR FREE WAY DRIVING.

2009 VW 2L RABBIT: DRIVING HOME IN THE RAIN, MY CAR HAS UNDER 80K. THE SPEED LIMIT IS 45, BUT IN THE RAIN, I WAS DOING CLOSER TO 40. THE STREET IS A FAIRLY TRAFFICKED ROAD, DOUBLE YELLOW EACH DIRECTION SINGLE LANE EXPANDING TO DOUBLE LANE, CONCRETE ISLANDS, AND STOPLIGHTS. TOTAL DRIVE BEFORE FIRST SHIMMY WAS PROBABLY ABOUT THE 4MILE MARK. THE ABS LIGHT COMES ON, THE ESP/ASR COMES ON, AND THE "BRAKE" TO THE RIGHT OF THAT STARTS FLASHING IN RED. THE CAR SHIMMIED WHEN THIS STARTED, AND THEN THE BRAKES WORKED BUT WERE SQUISHY/SLOPPY GETTING TO A PLACE TO STOP. I WAS INFORMED TO GET THE CAR TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP. THE DASH LIGHTS START TO FLICKER. AT THE DEALERSHIP THEY SAY IT IS THE WHOLE ABS MODULE, AND REPLACING IT WILL COST ABOUT AS MUCH AS THE CAR. THEY SAY IT IS SAFE TO DRIVE: I DRIVE HOME, BECAUSE THEY SAY THE ABS IS NOT CONNECTED TO VITAL FUNCTIONS, AND ELECTRONICS. THE DASH LIGHT CLEARS. ... DRIVE HOME. LIGHT COMES BACK ON , CAR WIGGLES AND FISHTAILS, AND BRAKES ARE SQUISHY AND NOT AS RESPONSIVE. DASH IS FLICKERING. I WENT ONLINE AND FOUND THIS IS A 2009 KNOWN PROBLEM. I CALL THE DEALERSHIP BACK: BECAUSE THEY ARE IN PROCESS OF A RECALL (I FOUND OUT ON THIS WEBSITE). I AM TOLD I AM SOL BECAUSE IT IS NOT COMPLETED YET, SO I CAN PAY FOR THEIR ARM AND LEG, AND PERHAPS, IF THE GODS ARE KIND, I WILL GET SOME RE-IMBURSMENT AT A LATER DATE. (BUT DON'T COUNT ON IT) ALL OF THE FISHTAILING, AND ELECTRICAL FLASHING, ARE DONE AT SPEEDS OF UNDER 45MPH. THE FACT THAT THIS IS INTERMITTENT (BUT PROBABLY ABOUT TO BECOME PERMANENT) IS SCARY! IF I HAD BEEN DRIVING DURING HIGH TRAFFIC TIMES TODAY, IT COULD HAVE BEEN A VERY UGLY ACCIDENT. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 VOLKSWAGEN RABBIT. WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED, BUT FAILED TO ENGAGE WHILE MAKING RIGHT OR LEFT TURNS AND TRAVELING DOWNHILL. THE ABS WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE FAILURE RECURRED ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER, BUT THE FAILURE COULD NOT BE DUPLICATED. THE VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED IN NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 16V913000 (SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC, ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL). THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS UNKNOWN. UPDATED 02/22/2017*CT *AS

MY 2009 VW RABBIT HAS HAD INTERMITTENT ABS ISSUES FOR A FEW MONTHS NOW. THE CAR HAS 67K MILES. OCCASIONALLY, WHEN THE ABS ACTIVATES THE THE DASH WILL LIGHT UP WITH THE ABS, BRAKE, AND ESP LIGHT. THE CAR WILL ALSO BEEPS A FEW TIMES. AFTER THIS HAPPENS, THE CAR WILL HAVE NO ABS OR STABILITY CONTROL. RESTARTING THE CAR WILL MAKE THE LIGHTS TURN OFF, BUT THE ISSUE WILL HAPPEN AGAIN WHEN THE ABS IS ACTIVATED.

THE ABS MODULE IN MY VEHICLE FAILED AROUND 90,000 MILES, WHICH I'M NOW DISCOVERING IS A VERY COMMON FOR THIS PARTICULAR MODEL AND YEAR. THE ABS SYSTEM CEASED TO FUNCTION BUT OTHER SYSTEMS WERE AFFECTED AS WELL; MY SPEEDOMETER WOULD STOP WORKING FOR SEVERAL MINUTES AT A TIME, AS WELL AS MY FUEL GAUGE. POWER STEERING WOULD CUT OUT AND I WOULD EXPERIENCE A CONSIDERABLE LOSS OF POWER FROM THE ENGINE. I WAS NEARLY HIT WHILE CROSSING A BUSY INTERSECTION BECAUSE I COULDN'T GET ANY ACCELERATION FROM THE CAR. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT HAS ALSO BEEN TRIGGERED INTERMITTENTLY BY THIS PROBLEM SO I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO PASS A SMOG CHECK, MAKING MY VEHICLE ILLEGAL TO DRIVE IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA WHERE I'M STATIONED WITH THE MARINES. VOLKSWAGEN DEALERSHIPS ARE CHARGING MORE THAN $1,500 TO FIX THE ISSUE AND THERE HAS BEEN NO RECALL ISSUED FOR THE PROBLEM.

THE CAR WOULD SHAKE IN THE HIGHWAY AND WOULD NOT ACCELERATE AT CERTAIN MOMENT. ALSO STOPS RANDOMLY I DON'T KNOW WHY MY CAR ACTING THAT WAY AND I AM AFRAID TO DRIVE EVEN THE REPAIR SHOP DOESN'T KNOW WHAT THE ISSUE IS.