NHTSA Complaint #11324986 — 2015 VOLKSWAGEN GTI

MY COOLANT WARNING LIGHT CAME ON AT ABOUT 71K MILES, TO MY SURPRISE. MY MECHANIC CHECKED ALL FLUID LEVELS WHEN I LAST HAD THE CAR IN, WHICH WAS ABOUT 6K MILES PRIOR. I CHECKED THE COOLANT LEVEL AND IT WAS WAY BELOW THE MINIMUM LEVEL IN THE RESERVOIR. MY INDEPENDENT MECHANIC DETERMINED IT WAS THE THERMOSTAT HOUSING WHICH IN TURN CAUSED DAMAGE TO THE WATER PUMP AS WELL. THIS RESULTS IN A $980 REPAIR. AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCH ONLINE, I HAVE DETERMINED THAT THIS PROBLEM HAS AFFECTED OTHER VW GTIS OF THE SAME MODEL GENERATION. THIS IS A FACTORY DEFECT AND SHOULD BE COVERED BY VW BUT MY CAR IS NOW OUTSIDE OF THE FACTORY WARRANTY. I AM SEEKING TO RECOVER THE MONEY I HAVE SPENT OUT OF POCKET AND TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING TO ANY OTHER OWNERS. THE DETAILS ARE AS FOLLOWS: THE ISSUE IS LIMITED TO 2015- US MODELS AND 2013- EUROPEAN MODELS, AND SEEMS TO BE RELATED TO THE EA888 REV3 ENGINE THAT IS IN SEVERAL MQB MODELS SOLD BY VW/AUDI. COOLANT WILL SLOWLY SEEP OUT OF A WEEP HOLE ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE THERMOSTAT HOUSING. IT DOESN'T SEEM TO BE ENOUGH TO EVER LEAVE A PUDDLE BUT SLIGHT RESIDUE MAY BE SEEN UNDER THE THERMOSTAT HOUSING AND POSSIBLY ON THE OIL PAN. THE LOSS OF COOLANT OFTEN TRIPS THE LOW COOLANT WARNING IF THE LEVEL ISN'T MAINTAINED. DEPENDING ON THE SIZE OF THE LEAK, THE COOLANT DROP CAN EITHER BE GRADUAL OR CATASTROPHIC. LOSS OF COOLANT HAS ALSO BEEN LINKED TO THE WATER PUMP FAILING. FURTHERMORE, THE ACCESSORY BRACKET GASKET CAN LEAK HOT OIL DOWN ONTO THE THERMOSTAT HOUSING (EVEN AFTER REPAIR) WHICH CAN CAUSE FAILURE. *TR