NHTSA Complaint #10112298 — 2000 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA

2000 VW JETTA, VR6 ENGINE, 49,3331 MILE. WHENEVER MY CAR WAS IDLE FOR MORE THAN 6-8 HOURS AND WAS EXPOSED TO RAINY\WET WEATHER, THE ENGINE WOULD EXPERIENCE PERFORMANCE ISSUES. IMMEDIATELY AFTER STARTING THE CAR UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, THE ENGINE WOULD SPUTTER AND SOUND LIKE IT WAS ON THE VERGE OF STALLING. IF I ATTEMPTED TO DRIVE THE CAR WITHOUT LETTING IT FULLY WARM-UP, THE ENGINE WOULD EXPERIENCE A SEVERE PERFORMANCE DEGRADATION, CHARACTERIZED BY POOR, ROUGH ACCELERATION. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WOULD ALSO ILLUMINATE, AND I WOULD RECEIVE THE EMISSIONS WORKSHOP WARNING MESSAGE. THIS PROBLEM HAS OCCURED SEVERAL TIMES OVER THE PAST 1-2 YEARS. AT FIRST THE PROBLEM WAS MILD, BUT OVER TIME IT WORSENED. I TOOK THE CAR INTO THE DEALER FOR SERVICE AND WAS INFORMED THAT THE IGNITION COIL AND IGNITION LEADS NEEDED REPLACEMENT TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. THESE PARTS HAVE BEEN REPLACED, AND THUS FAR THE ISSUE WITH MY ENGINE HAS NOT REAPPEARED. VW ISSUED AN IGNITION COIL RECALL FOR VARIOUS OTHER 2001, 2002 AND 2003 MODELS. IT APPEARS THE IGNITION COIL RECALL SHOULD BE EXPANDED TO INCLUDE OTHER MODEL YEARS AS THIS IS NOT THE KIND OF PART THAT SHOULD NEED REGULAR REPLACEMENT. IT'S QUITE OBVIOUS THERE'S A DEFECT WITH THIS PART.