NHTSA Complaint #11051067 — 2011 VOLKSWAGEN ROUTAN

RECENTLY THE VAN HAS GIVEN ME TROUBLE UPON STARTUP. THE PROBLEM IS INTERMITTENT. SOMETIMES, IT WOULD START FINE. OTHER TIMES, IT WOULD TAKE MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS TO START THE VEHICLE. OTHER TIMES, THE VEHICLE WOULD START, THEN IMMEDIATELY TURN ITSELF OFF. SOMETIMES, IT WOULD BE LIKE THERE WASN'T ENOUGH CHARGE TO TURN THE STARTER, AND OTHER TIMES, WHEN IT WOULD START THEN DIE, IT FELT LIKE IT WAS RUNNING OUT OF GAS, MY VAN ONLY HAS 42,000 MILES ON IT. AFTER MUCH RESEARCH, I DISCOVERED THAT THE TOTALLY INTEGRATED POWER MODULE IS THE CULPRIT OF THESE ISSUES. SPECIFICALLY, IT IS THE FUEL PUMP RELAY THAT CAN INTERMITTENTLY NOT TURN ON, OR TURN OFF RANDOMLY. IT IS A WELL-KNOWN ISSUE WITH THESE VANS AND ITS DODGE GRAND CARAVAN AND CHRYSLER TOWN N COUNTRY, UPON WHICH THE VW ROUTAN IS BASED. FCA HAS STEPPED UP TO THE PLATE, AND ISSUED A RECALL ON MANY OF ITS VEHICLES FOR FAULTY TIPM'S. VW HAS ISSUED A SERVICE BULLETIN IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM BUT HAS YET TO RECALL OR FIX THE CARS, INSTEAD THE CONSUMER HAS TO SHELL OUT $300 TO $1500 FOR THE REPAIR OF A KNOWN FAULTY EQUIPMENT. WHY WERE THESE PARTS USED KNOWING THE HISTORY? THERE IS ANOTHER WEBSITE WITH THOUSAND OF SIMILAR COMPLAINTS: HTTP://WWW.ARFC.ORG/COMPLAINTS/2011/VOLKSWAGEN/ROUTAN/FUEL_PROPULSION_SYSTEM/PROBLEM.ASPX