NHTSA Complaint #10560358 — 2012 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA

ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 2014, AT ABOUT 1145 HOURS, I WAS TRAVELING SB I-15 IN THE NUMBER ONE LANE, IN MURRIETA, CA IN MY 2012 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA TDI, WITH MY CRUISE CONTROL SET AT APPROXIMATELY 77 MILES PER HOUR. WITHOUT ANY PRIOR WARNING, A WARNING LIGHT ON MY DASHBOARD (LATER IDENTIFIED AS THE GLOW PLUG LIGHT) BEGAN TO FLASH AND I SIMULTANEOUSLY LOST POWER. LUCKILY, I WAS ABLE TO MERGE OVER TO THE WINCHESTER RD. OFF RAMP. AS I SLOWED AND CAME TO A STOP, MY VEHICLE STALLED AND I WAS UNABLE TO RESTART IT AFTER NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS. I WAS STRANDED IN THE CENTER LANE OF A THREE LANE OFF RAMP WHERE NUMEROUS VEHICLES NEARLY REAR ENDED ME. I IMMEDIATELY CALLED 9-1-1 FOR ASSISTANCE. AS A RESULT, A HIGHWAY PATROL UNIT ARRIVED WITHIN SEVERAL MINUTES TO PREVENT ME FROM BEING IN AN AUTO ACCIDENT. I TELEPHONED MY INSURANCE COMPANY AFTER CALLING 9-1-1 IN ORDER TO BE TOWED TO MURRIETA VOLKSWAGEN. SEVERAL HOURS LATER I RECEIVED WORD FROM THE DEALERSHIP THAT THEY FOUND NUMEROUS SHARDS OF METAL IN THE HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP (HPFP) AND GAS LINE. THE DEALERSHIP ALSO INFORMED ME THAT THEY WOULD BE SUBMITTING A CLAIM TO VOLKSWAGEN IN ORDER TO REPAIR THE DAMAGES, WHICH HAVE BEEN INITIALLY QUOTED AT $4000.00. THEY ALSO TOLD ME THEY WOULD NEED AT LEAST A WEEK TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE. I HAVE READ NUMEROUS ACCOUNTS ONLINE WHERE TDI OWNERS HAVE COMPLAINED OF THE EXACT SAME ISSUES: FINDING SHARDS OF METAL IN THEIR FUEL FILTERS AS WELL AS EXPERIENCING A FAILURE OF THE HPFP. NO ONE ELSE SHOULD HAVE TO ENDURE THE DANGEROUS SITUATION I FOUND MYSELF IN YESTERDAY, LET ALONE THE EXPENSE I AM FACING IF VOLKSWAGEN DENIES THE CLAIM THE DEALERSHIP IS FILING ON MY BEHALF. PLEASE HELP ALL OF US. THIS IS A WIDESPREAD ISSUE THAT VOLKSWAGEN HAS NOT CORRECTED WITH THEIR TDI CLEAN DIESEL ENGINES. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR