General Comments:
I purchased my 2002 Volkswagen Jetta in March of 2002. Up until two weeks ago, I had no complaints about my car and in fact was very pleased with its performance.
While driving to my office on Monday, December 30th, my Jetta began to lose power and the malfunction indicator light on the driver's panel lit up. I returned home and called my nearest Volkswagen dealer. I was told not to drive the car and to call Volkswagen Roadside Assistance for a tow to an authorized Volkswagen service facility.
Two days later I learned that my car had a coil problem and it was possible the dealer would not receive replacement parts for 12 to 18 days. I was offered a rental car which I gladly accepted.
I started to do some research on coil packs and was surprised to learn that other Volkswagen vehicles are experiencing similar problems at an alarming rate. I began to hear horror stories of one type or another, all of which were related to coil pack failures in Volkswagen Passats and Jettas. The truth, I came to learn, was that the coil pack failures were very widespread and presenting a real problem for Volkswagen.
I asked my Volkswagen Service Representative why there was not a recall on the vehicle to replace the coils. I was told there simply were not enough parts. I asked if all the coil packs in my car were to be replaced while it was in for service, and I was told that only the failed coil pack would be replaced, again, because of the parts shortage. I asked if it was likely that my other coil packs would fail, and I was told it was 'quite likely they would.'
I subsequently called Volkswagen Customer Assistance to see if I could get any further information about a recall or getting my other coils replaced before they failed while I was on a trip.
Unfortunately, I was told that this could not be done and I would simply have to wait until the other coils failed, then have my car towed to the nearest Volkswagen service facility and wait for parts to become available. I asked the representative if he thought Volkswagen would lose customers over this debacle and he said 'it was likely they would.' He offered to open a case report for me which I gladly accepted.
I ended up getting my car back on Thursday, January 9th. When I arrived at Volkswagen to pick up my car, I spoke to the service manager about the ongoing problem. He apologized and said that this was a real problem for Volkswagen, but they were doing the best they could under the circumstances.
I find this entire scenario to be more than unacceptable.
Volkswagen is willing to put their customers at risk on the road while we wait for our cars to fail and then wait for parts to be shipped to the US. Perhaps it would be a good idea to focus less on advertising your products and more on finding suitable vendors to produce the parts necessary to keep Volkswagen drivers on the road. Otherwise, I fear, your new strap line may be changed to "Lawyers Wanted."
1st Apr 2003, 11:30
I have been having the same problem with my Volkswagen Jetta. This is the second time my car will go in for this problem and I pay a pretty decent monthly payment for my Volkswagen lease. Why sell me a car that you know is going to fall apart... I won't be buying anything from Volkswagen again.