NHTSA Complaint #10133589 — 2001 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA

2001 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA (COMPLAINT NUMBERS 30291114,30343786 AND 03092183) OUR 2001 JETTA STARTED CLICKING AND BLOWING WHITE SMOKE. WE CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY SAID IT WAS THE TURBO AND WOULD BE COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. WE TOWED THE CAR TO THEM ON MAY 19, 2003 AND THEY DID REPLACE THE TURBO. HOWEVER, THEY ADVISED US THE VEHICLE NEEDED A NEW ENGINE BECAUSE IT WAS STILL CLICKING. THEY SAID IT LOOKED LIKE WE HAD NOT BEEN CHANGING THE OIL WHICH IS WHY THE ENGINE WAS CLOGGED. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT THEN GAVE US THE RUN AROUND FOR A FEW MONTHS. THEY WANTED OIL CHANGE RECEIPTS, WHICH WE PROVIDED. THE MECHANIC TOLD US THE TURBO REPLACEMENT WAS DENIED BY VW AND THEY ATE THE COST. HE TOLD US THEY WOULD NOT DO ANY MORE WORK ON THE CAR. ON JULY 09, 2003 WE HAD THE CAR TOWED FROM THE DEALERSHIP.I WENT TO VW AND SPOKE WITH THE NEW SERVICE MANAGER, DONNIE FIELDER. THE NEW SERVICE MANAGER TOLD ME THEY HAD JUST REPLACED A GUYS ENGINE THAT HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AS OURS. HE SAID THEY MESSED UP AND REPLACED IT UNDER WARRANTY NO QUESTIONS ASKED AND LATER DECIDED HE HAD NOT CHANGED THE OIL. HE SAID THEY COULD NOT AFFORD TO PAY FOR ANOTHER ENGINE AND WOULD NOT TOUCH OUR VEHICLE. I TOOK THE CAR TO ALTERNATIVE IMPORTS ON CHARLOTTE AVENUE. SAM (A.I.) SAID THE ENGINE WAS FULL OF SLUDGE. HE FOUND SEVERAL SIMILAR CASES ON A MECHANICS WEB SITE. HE ALSO FOUND THAT VW DID NOT PROPERLY COMPLETE THE TURBO REPLACEMENT. THE ENGINE IS THE SAME ONE (1.8L TURBO) THAT VW HAS ACKNOWLEDGED, AT LEAST IN THE PASSAT, HAS A SLUDGE PROBLEM. HOWEVER, THEY DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE SAME PROBLEM EXISTS IN THE JETTA EVEN THOUGH IT IS THE SAME ENGINE. THEY EXTENDED THE WARRANTY ON THE PASSATS TO 8 YEARS UNLIMITED MILEAGE.