Consumer Complaint Detail

VOLKSWAGEN / PASSAT / 2001

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 006058330 Incident Date: Feb, 28 2006
Consumer's City: LOS ANGELES Consumer's State: CA
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Model Name: PASSAT Model Year: 2001
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Structure
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: Mar, 05 2006 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Sep, 11 2001
Was Original Owner: Yes Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 4 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: For the 2nd time in 14 months the system that drains rain water out of my car has become clogged. the result is that water collects under the floor board on the front passenger side of the vehicle, where computers are located inside an unsealed plastic box. the first time this happened, in dec 2004, i was told the failure was due to an unusually strong rain storm and the resulting water damage effected the break system. at that time the car was still under warranty. this time it's happening off warranty and i'm being told that one of the computers has to be replaced and there could be further damage which will only be detected after a new computer is installed. in both instances, the seats and carpeting had to be removed and the carpeting and wiring system had to be fan dried. this time around i spoke with a vw mechanic at the dealership where the repairs are being done and he said this is not an infrequent occurrence after a rain storm. now, it seems to me that locating a computer system in a flat, low lying area of the car where water can collect is a huge design flaw, but that being the case, had i been made aware of the fact that regular flushing of the drainage system could have probably prevented a now costly and time consuming repair, i would have gladly taken my car in for such a service. records will show that i followed vws scheduled maintenance program, having the service done at an authorized vw dealership on time. surprisingly, flushing the drainage system is not part of vws routine maintenance program even though they are aware that the potential for this problem exists. it seems to me that flushing the drainage system is far more important than, say, filling the windshield wiper fluid, but then i guess vw stands to benefit far more from repairing a water damaged computer system as opposed to replacing a windshield wiper blade. *nm