NHTSA Complaint #10381640 — 2006 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA

WHILE DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE THE CAR SUDDENLY BEGAN TO SHAKE WHILE ACCELERATING. AT SLOW SPEEDS THE CAR WOULD STALL AND COULD NOT BE DRIVEN SAFELY. WHEN I TOOK IT TO THE VW DEALER THEY INFORMED ME A CAMSHAFT HAD WORN PREMATURELY AND CAUSED THE ROCKER ARM TO BREAK WHICH DESTROYED A FUEL INJECTOR AND THE VALVE COVER. TOTAL COST TO REPAIR $6,000. THE CAR WAS 1000 MILES BEYOND THE POWERTRAIN WARRANTY (60,000) SO VW PAID HALF THE COST OF THE REPAIR. HOWEVER, THE CAR NEVER RAN CORRECTLY AGAIN AND THEY COULD NOT TELL ME WHY. I TRADED THE CAR IN AFTER THE REPAIR. AFTER I HAD THIS PROBLEM I RESEARCHED THE ISSUE AND FOUND IT TO BE VERY COMMON. IF YOU GOOGLE "CAMSHAFT WEAR IN PUMP DUSE TDI ENGINES" YOU WILL FIND A GREAT DEAL OF INFORMATION ON THIS PROBLEM. IN MANY CASES SUCH A SEVERE PROBLEM DID NOT OCCUR, BUT THIS PROBLEM COULD CAUSE THE ENGINE TO SEIZE COMPLETELY. I INSISTED THAT THE DEALER RETURN THE FAILED PARTS TO ME, BUT THEY REFUSED BECAUSE IT WAS CONSIDERED A WARRANTY REPAIR. I DID SEE THE WORN CAMSHAFT LOBE AND IT LOOKED IDENTICAL TO THOSE PICTURED IN CASES REPORTED ONLINE IN FORUMS. I TRULY BELIEVE THAT THIS IS A MAJOR FLAW AND SHOULD BE ADDRESSED BY A COMPLETE RECALL. THIS COULD BE VERY DANGEROUS. *TR