NHTSA Complaint #10615751 — 2010 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA

2010 JETTA TDI. DRIVING ON ROAD AT ABOUT 35 MPH WHEN CAR SUDDENLY STALLED. GLOW PLUG LIGHT FLASHES, "SERVICE ENGINE NOW" ON DISPLAY. TRAFFIC WAS LIGHT AND SPEED WAS ENOUGH TO COAST TO SAFE LOCATION. CAR WOULD NOT RESTART. TOWED TO DEALER. DEALER REPLACED SOME RELAY PART BUT.... THE VERY NEXT DAY SAME THING. CAR DIED WHILE DRIVING. SAME SYMPTOMS AS ABOVE. AGAIN NO WARNING PRIOR TO STALLING. TOWED TO DEALER. DEALER HAD CAR FOR A FEW DAYS BUT COULD NOT FIND OR REPRODUCE PROBLEM. CHECKED GROUND CONNECTIONS AS ADVISED FROM VWOA TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. RETURNED CAR TO ME WITH A 'LET'S WAIT AND SEE' ATTITUDE. THIRD TIME, ABOUT 1500 MILES LATER, SAME THING. THIS TIME ON HIGHWAY TRAVELING AT ABOUT 45 MPH IN HEAVY TRAFFIC. CAR TOWED TO DIFFERENT DEALER. AT THE MOMENT THEY CAN'T DIAGNOSE OR REPRODUCE PROBLEM. MY OPINION IS SOME FAULT IS TELLING COMPUTER TO KILL ENGINE. AS A SAFETY ISSUE, I WOULD THINK ENGINE SHOULD REMAIN RUNNING SO THAT I CAN SAFELY DRIVE OFF THE ROAD AND OUT OF TRAFFIC AND HARMS WAY. IF THIS ASSUMPTION IS CORRECT, THEN THERE HAS TO BE A LIMITED NUMBER OF REASONS WHY ENGINE SHOULD STALL, INSTEAD OF GOING INTO 'LIMP MODE.' MY RESEARCH FOUND REFERENCE TO PE10034, BUT CAN'T FIND ARTICLE. THREE TIMES CAR STALLS WITHOUT WARNING. ALL 3 TIMES ON ROAD. THIS IS A SAFETY CONCERN, AND LOCAL DEALERS SEEM HESITANT TO REQUEST HELP FROM VWOA TA. DEALER 1 DID CONTACT VWOA TA FOR SUPPORT AND GUIDED FAULT FINDING DIDN'T FIND ANYTHING. DEALER 2 STILL HAS NO CLUE. NO MANDATES ON LOCAL VW DEALERS, BY VWOA, TO KEEP AND SHARE SERVICE RECORDS BEYOND WARRANTY PERIOD, ON NATIONAL DATABASE, SO OTHER DEALERS HAVE NO IDEA WHAT FIRST DEALER DID. KEEPING ALL DEALER SERVICE RECORDS ON NATIONAL DB WILL HELP SPOT ISSUES SOONER. DEALER 2 WILL HOPEFULLY ASK VWOA TA FOR SUPPORT BEYOND WHAT DEALER 1 DID. IS THERE AN ESCALATION FOR THIS? WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS? *TR