NHTSA Complaint #11071933 — 2012 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT

CLOCK SPRING FAILURE AFTER RECALL SERVICE WAS PERFORMED. 2-8-2018 - UPON STARTING TO DRIVE WHEN I TURNED THE STEERING WHEEL I HEARD A SCRAPING SOUND IN THE STEERING COLUMN AND THEN THE AIR BAG LIGHT CAME ON INDICATING AIR BAG NOT WORKING, ALL CONTROL SWITCHES ON THE STEERING WHEEL AND HORN WAS NOT WORKING. I HAD THE RECALL FOR THE PROTECTIVE COVER OVER THE STEERING WHEEL CLOCK SPRING INSTALLED AT THE VW DEALER IN MARCH 2016. VW DEALER AND THE CORPORATE CUSTOMER SERVICE TELL ME THE REPLACEMENT OF THE CLOCK SPRING IS NOT A WARRANTY ISSUE SINCE THE RECALL WAS PERFORMED OVER 12 MONTHS AGO. IT'S OBVIOUS TO ME THAT THE COVER RECALL FIX WAS NOT THE CORRECT FIX AND POSSIBLY CAUSED THE PROBLEM I NOW HAVE WITH THE CAR. SINCE VW KNEW THERE WAS A RE-DESIGN OF THE CLOCK SPRING TO CORRECT A DESIGN FLAW THE COVER RECALL SHOULD HAVE BEEN TO AUTOMATICALLY REPLACE THE CLOCK SPRING WITH THE IMPROVED DESIGN. I'M BEING TOLD I'LL HAVE TO PAY $500 TO MAKE THE REPAIR WHICH I FIND VERY UNFAIR IN LIGHT OF THE RE-DESIGN FOR THE PART OR THE POSSIBILITY THE RECALL REPAIR WAS NOT CORRECT AND MAY BE THE CAUSE OF THE PROBELM NOW.