Complaint Review: Volkswagen Group of America

My Situation: Recently experienced my vehicle had shifted gears in motion while driving on city streets. In May, 2017 I parked the vehicle due to the safety hazards of driving the vehicle.   VW refused to take responsibility, even though I had repeatedly taking the car into the dealership on multiple occasions wherein the ABS/Check Engines lights came on.

Also, had brought up the issue of the vehicle having trouble switching to reverse from a parked position while I was at the dealership for service.   ** Note: VW refused to repair the issues "Free of Charge" as stated in recall reports. And that I'd have to pay for inspection by a dealership. Since I'm 'out of warranty', I'm sure they'd charge me for the service as well.  

In addition, there was no 'Open Inspections' done to look into any recalls before my purchase of the vehicle as a "Pre-Owned Certified" vehicle from the VW dealership. This was in Dec. 2010. ** I’m sure there’s several vehicles labeled as “Pre-Owned Certified", outside of my GTI make and model, that have or being sold without checking for recalls. Is this possible fraud during point-of-sale?   Vehicle: 2009 Volkswagen GTI RZEV 2-Door Automatic Engine: 2.0L 14 FSI Assembled in Germany  

This vehicle was manufactured in Wolfsburg, Germany prior to sending it to he United States and checking it for “Pre-Delivery Inspection” on 10/31/2008 in Los Angeles, CA.   I purchased this vehicle on 12/16/2010 with 13,745 miles on the odometer as a “Certified Pre-Owned Volkswagen” from Livingston Volkswagen (Woodland Hills, CA).

  This vehicle has shown symptoms of the recalls for similar vehicles. The vehicle was manufactured in the same manufacturing plant as the recalled vehicles and I purchased it after the first recall was issued.  Volkswagen has said there are no recalls for the vehicle above. Here are the recalls for similar vehicles:   NHTSA Vehicle Safety Recalls  

• Recall Number
  09V333000
  
  Recall Date
  08/20/2009
  
  Component
  POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
  
  Summary
  VOLKSWAGEN IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2009 AND 2010 PASSENGER CARS MANUFACTURED BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 2008 AND AUGUST 2009. THE WIRING HARNESS OF A TEMPERATURE SENSOR IN THE DIRECT SHIFT GEARBOX (DSG) MAY HAVE CONNECTOR WIRES THAT WERE INSUFFICIENTLY CRIMPED. WITH INSUFFICIENTLY CRIMPED CONNECTOR WIRES, A TEMPERATURE SENSOR HAS THE POTENTIAL TO FALSELY DETECT A HIGH GEARBOX OIL TEMPERATURE, CAUSING THE TRANSMISSION TO ABRUPTLY SHIFT TO NEUTRAL. IF THIS HAPPENS, THE SELECTOR LEVER POSITION INDICATOR WITHIN THE INSTRUMENT PANEL WILL FLASH. IN ADDITION, THE "DEPRESS BRAKE PEDAL" INDICATOR LIGHT WILL BE ILLUMINATED, ALERTING THE DRIVER TO APPLY THE BRAKES.
• Consequence
  THE ABRUPT SHIFT TO NEUTRAL COULD LEAD TO A CRASH WITHOUT WARNING.
  
  What Owners Should Do
  VOLKSWAGEN WILL REPROGRAM THE TRANSMISSION CONTROL MODULE WITH UPDATED SOFTWARE FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON OCTOBER 20, 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT VOLKSWAGEN AT 1-800-822-8987.

• Recall Number
  16V913000
  
  Recall Date
  12/20/2016
  
  Component
  ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL
  
  Summary
  Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2009-2010 Volkswagen Jetta A5 Sedan, 2009 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen, Eos, GTI, Rabbit and Audi A3 vehicles, and 2010 Volkswagen Golf A6 vehicles. The Antilock Brake System (ABS) control unit may fail during ABS or Electronic Stability Control (ESC) activation, possibly causing a loss of vehicle control.
• Consequence
  A loss of vehicle control can increase the risk of a crash.
  
  What Owners Should Do
  Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will update the ABS control module software to improve the module's self-testing abilities. Any module that fails the new diagnostic test will be replaced. These repairs will be made free of charge. The recall began February 2017. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298.

  Was contacted by a California “Lemon Law” Attorney Group about getting this issue corrected. They had seen some information about my problems and wanted to pursue it further. I signed-up with them to have the recall and car problem issues solved. They worked with Volkswagen and on 2/2/2018 an action was filed in California Court (Stanley Mosk Courthouse). Volkswagen continued to stall on a solution until it came to a hearing on 1/17/2019. By then the “Statue of Limitations” for this event had run out a few weeks earlier. The judge ruled in favor of Volkswagen due to the “Statue of Limitations” timeline.   Hopefully this information helps other GTI or VW owners.   I'll keep informing everyone of my situation.