NHTSA Complaint #10818797 — 2013 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA

1/7/2016.CLEAR MORNING, 25 DEGREES OUT, STARTED VEHICLE, WARMED UP FOR 20 MINUTES BEFORE GETTING READY TO LEAVE. DROVE CAR TO END OF STREET WHEN CAR ENGINE STARTED TO SOUND LIKE IT WAS OUT OF OIL AND IT STALLED. BROUGHT TO LOCAL VW DEALER, WAS TOLD THAT INTERCOOLER CRACKED FROM ICE BUILD UP AND THAT ONE GLOW PLUG WAS DAMAGED AS A CHUNK OF ICE ENTERED ONE ENGINE CYLINDER. WAS QUOTED $1200 DOLLAR REPAIR NOT COVERED BY VW EVEN THOUGH A TSB HAS BEEN IN EFFECT WITH AN IMPROVED INTERCOOLER REPLACMENT. THIS HAS BEEN A PROBLEM WITH VW SINCE THEIR 2009 MODEL YEAR. MY FAMILY ALSO OWNS ANOTHER 2013 VW WITH ONLY 26,000 MILES AND IT HAS EXPERIENCED SIMILAR SYMPTOMS DESCRIBED BY HUNDREDS OF COMPLAINTS ON VW FORUMS OF NOT STARTING OR STALLING WHEN PUT IN GEAR OR AT A STOP LIGHT, POSSIBLE INDICATIONS OF ICING IN THE INTERCOOLER SYSTEM. WAS TOLD FROM THE DEALER THE ONLY WAY THE INTERCOOLER GETS REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY IS AFTER IT FREEZES AND ENGINE DAMAGE OCCURS AND ONLY IF IT OCCURS BEFORE 36,000 MILES. I HAVE READ WHERE ENGINE DAMAGE FROM ICE BUILD UP IN THE TURBO INTERCOOLER SYSTEM HAS COST OWNERS OVER $6000 IN REPAIRS IF OCCURS AFTER THE WARRANTY EXPIRES. THAT MEANS VW OWNERS PAY ROUGHLY 25% OF THE MSRP OF THE VEHICLE IF THE INTERCOOLER ICES UP SIGNIFICANTLY, WHICH THE MANUFACTURER ADMITS COULD RESULT FROM NORMAL OPERATION. READING NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS OF ENGINES KNOWN TO HYDRO-LOCK AT FREEWAY SPEEDS WHEREBY DRIVER LOSE THE ABILITY TO SAFELY OPERATE THE VEHICLE IS A HAZARD THAT ENDANGERS ANYONE NEAR THIS VEHICLE WHEN AN ICE CHUNK STOPS THE ENGINE ABRUPTLY. SINCE THE MANUFACTURER HAS DEVELOPED A COLD WEATHER KIT FOR DEALERS TO INSTALL WITH SPECIFIC PROCEDURES FOR REPAIR IT SHOULD BE CLASSIFIED AS A RECALL WHEN THERE IS NO WARNING IF AND WHEN THE CAR MIGHT STOP RUNNING WHICH COULD RESULT IN DEATH DEPENDING ON WHEN THE INTERCOOLER ICING OCCURS AND THE CAR STOPS MOVING.