NHTSA Complaint #11434727 — 2019 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA

The hill start assist is dangerous. Unlike most hill start assists, the one in this car doesn’t let go when you release the clutch, it waits about 2-3 seconds every time. I’ve had several incidents with this but just recently I was starting on a not very steep hill and forgot about the fact I have to compensate for this system, and tried to start normally and stalled. Thankfully the person behind me was my friend and was paying attention, but people don’t usually expect a car to sit there not moving once the brake lights go off, and then shudder to a stop because it has just stalled, and is possible for rear end collisions, as well as other more dangerous ones to happen depending on the situation. The system is working as designed; I’ve heard many complaints from other people that theirs does the same thing. It is dangerous as it doesn’t let you move for 2-3 seconds even if you really need to in an emergency situation.