NHTSA Complaint #10117920 — 2003 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT

ON APRIL 14, 2005 I WAS GOING TO WORK WHEN A WARNING LIGHT CAME ON THAT SAID STOP. I CALLED COMMONWEALTH MOTORS AND WAS TOLD BY LARRY RIGGINS TO CHECK THE OIL LEVEL TO SEE IF NEEDED TO ADD OIL, SO I DID. THAT DID NOT RESOLVE PROBLEM. I CALLED BACK THE DEALER, WHO GAVE ME THE TOW NUMBER FOR VOLKSWAGEN, AND SAID THAT HE WOULD SET UP AN APPOINTMENT THAT DAY. AFTER WAITING FOR TWO HOURS WE WERE TOWED IN ONLY TO FIND THAT THEY WOULD NOT EVEN LOOK AT CAR TILL NEXT DAY. NEXT DAY, LARRY CALLED AND SAID THAT THEY NEEDED TO PULL ENGINE AND LOOK AT OIL PAN WHICH COULD ADD UP TO A LOT OF MONEY. WHEN QUESTIONED DUE TO THE CAR'S WARRANTY, LARRY INFORMED ME THAT ONLY IF I HAD ALL OF THE MAINTENANCE RECORDS, INCLUDING OIL CHANGES, VOLKSWAGEN WOULD NOT HONOR THE 5 YEAR POWER TRAIN WARRANTY, UNDER 50,000 MILES. CAR HAS BEEN THERE FOR 3 DAYS WITH NO RESOLUTION. AFTER RESEARCHING I FOUND A SITE CALLED VWLEMON.COM AND DISCOVERED THAT KNOWN TO VOLKSWAGEN ,BUT UNBEKNOWNST TO ME, VOLKSWAGEN PASSATS WITH 1.8 TURBO ENGINE HAD A DESIGN FLAW THAT CAUSED ENGINE TO BECOME CLOGGED WITH SLUDGE WHICH COULD COMPLETELY SEIZE THE ENGINE. I WAS FORTUNATELY NOT ON THE FREEWAY WHEN THIS OCCURRED SO THAT I COULD SAFELY PULL OVER. CERTAINLY IT WAS A SAFETY ISSUE AND A MANUFACTURED DESIGN FLAW THAT VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA WILL NOT PAY FOR. *AK