NHTSA Complaint #11122353 — 2012 VOLKSWAGEN TIGUAN

ON THIS JULY 4TH HOLIDAY, THE ENGINE OF OUR 2012 TIGUAN (LESS THAN 52K MILES, FIRST OWNER) BEGAN TO STUTTER ON THE FREEWAY AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT STARTED TO FLASH. THIS OCCURRED AT 70 MPH IN THE FAST LANE OF A 6-LANE FREEWAY AT A MERGE (I-85 AT THE MERGE WITH GA-400 SOUTHBOUND). EVEN AS THE VEHICLE DRAMATICALLY LOST SPEED, WE WERE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO PULL OVER INTO THE SLOWER LANES SAFELY. TRAFFIC WAS LIGHT AND FAST THAT AFTERNOON. I PROMPTLY SCHEDULED AN APPOINTMENT WITH THE VW DEALERSHIP (NALLEY VW OF ROSWELL) FOR THE FOLLOWING MORNING, ANXIOUS TO FIX THE PROBLEM. THE SERVICE TECHNICIAN RAN DIAGNOSTICS ON THE VEHICLE AND ADVISED ME THAT I NEEDED TO REPLACE ALL FOUR IGNITION COILS AND SPARK PLUGS. I WAS INFORMED THAT CYLINDER 2 WAS MISFIRING. I WAS SURPRISED TO FIND THAT COILS WOULD FAIL AT AS LOW A MILEAGE AND HAD CREATED AN UNSAFE SITUATION FOR US. IT APPEARS THERE ARE NUMEROUS INSTANCES OF COIL FAILURE FOR THIS VEHICLE. I CONTACTED AND INFORMED VW OF THE ISSUE. THEY DECLINED TO TAKE ANY ACTION TO COMPENSATE ME FOR SUCH PREMATURE COMPONENT FAILURE, LET ALONE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE FAILURE MADE FOR AN UNSAFE CONDITION ON THE ROAD. THE VW SERVICE CENTER REPLACED ALL FOUR COILS AND SPARK PLUGS THE FOLLOWING DAY, CORRECTING THE PROBLEM.