NHTSA Complaint #11543082 — 2012 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT

Any time it rains and the car goes through a deeper than surface level puddle/wet area where the nose of the car has to dip down (think by railroad tracks, high water retention areas with lack of drainage, etc) as soon as the car dips down into the water, the steering wheel will lock up and I am unable to turn. It's severely dangerous as there is no give at all to the wheel as it is solidly locked and if you happen to be taking a curve or changing lanes etc, you will not be able to turn the car. My husband and myself have narrowly escaped severe car accidents as this is random and there is nothing you can do except try to force the wheel to turn. When I say the wheel is locked, it's a good 15-20 seconds of desperation trying to turn the wheel before it finally unlocks and I am able to correct the direction of the car. Living in FL with high rainfall chances, including sporadic downpours that unfortunately leave situations like this to occur often, it is a severe safety risk for myself and for other drivers. I have been lucky so far that when this has occurred I have been able to eventually correct the steering, however there have been several severe near misses that are completely out of my control. Please help find a solution, as there doesn't seem to be a fix for this anywhere that I've looked. I do not want to spend money I don't have taking it from dealership to dealership for them to be just as stumped as we are. I have two young kids and not only do I not feel safe letting them in the car, I seriously dread any time it rains because of this issue. I'm not talking about driving through deep bodies of water, but normal rainy weather situations on everyday roads that are otherwise uneventful. Unfortunately I am in an area where water seems to gather quite a bit on the everyday roads I need for work and this situation is truly unavoidable. I put one date below as when it occurred, but it has happened several times in the last week alone due to heavy rains