NHTSA Complaint #10352980 — 2006 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA

WE HAVE HAD SEVERAL INCIDENTS WITH OUR 2006 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA 2.5 WHERE WE WOULD LOSE POWER AND THE VEHICLE STALLS OUT. OUR 2006 JETTA IS A GASOLINE 5-CYLINDER WITH AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION AND HAS ONLY 45,000 MILES. IN JUNE OF 2010 WE FIRST NOTICED THE STALLING ISSUE WHEN DRIVING HOME AND IT STALLED OUT WHILE PULLING INTO THE DRIVEWAY. AFTER SITTING FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES WE WERE ABLE TO PULL IT INTO THE GARAGE. THE SECOND INCIDENT OCCURRED ON FRIDAY 7/30/2010, WHILE DRIVING HOME FROM WORK (30 MILE COMMUTE) AT 45-55 MPH THE JETTA STARTED TO INTERMITTENTLY LOSE POWER BEFORE THE ENGINE COMPLETELY STALLED. NOTE: I WAS STILL TRAVELING AT 55 MPH WHEN THE ENGINE STALLED. IT WOULD RESTART AND BEGAN EXPERIENCING THE SAME ISSUE MULTIPLE TIMES. WE TOWED THE CAR TO OUR LOCAL VOLKSWAGEN DEALERSHIP. THEY RAN DIAGNOSTICS AND DID NOT FIND ANY ERROR CODES FROM THE CAR'S COMPUTER. THEY REPLACED THE BATTERY THINKING THAT IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN AN ELECTRICAL ISSUE. WE PICKED UP THE CAR ON TUESDAY 8/3/2010 IN THE MORNING. WHILE DRIVING HOME FROM WORK THAT SAME DAY (30 MILE COMMUTE) THE ENGINE BEGAN EXPERIENCING THE SAME ISSUE, INTERMITTENTLY LOSING POWER WHILE TRAVELING ON THE INTERSTATE AT 70-80 MPH. AFTER EXITING THE INTERSTATE THE SYMPTOMS CONTINUED TO GET WORSE AND THE ENGINE COMPLETELY STALLED IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION ALMOST CAUSING A MULTI-CAR ACCIDENT. AFTER MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS TO RESTART AND REPEATED ENGINE STALLS I WAS ABLE TO GET THE VEHICLE TO GAS STATION WHERE IT WAS TOWED TO THE VOLKSWAGEN DEALER FOR A 2ND TIME. ONLY GOOD NEWS OF THIS STORY, THE VW MECHANIC WAS ABLE TO REPRODUCE THE ENGINE STALL ISSUE AFTER TEST DRIVING THE JETTA FOR ABOUT 45 MINUTES. VW DEALER REPORTED THE RESULT TO VW MANUFACTURER TECH SUPPORT. VW DEALER KEPT THE CAR FOR MORE THAN 1 WEEK TO RUN MORE TESTS PER VW TECH SUPPORT. ULTIMATELY REPLACED THE FUEL PUMP AND FUEL FILTER. NO MORE OCCURRENCES IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS...BUT AM LITERALLY HOLDING MY BREATH WHILE DRIVING. *TR