Consumer Complaint Detail
VOLKSWAGEN / JETTA / 1996
1 Injured
0 Death
No Fire
| Components - Details | |
|---|---|
| NHTSA Complaint Number: 006059256 | Incident Date: Jan, 11 2006 |
| Consumer's City: LANDOVER HILLS | Consumer's State: MD |
| Vehicle Transmission Type: MAN | Manufacturers Name: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| Model Name: JETTA | Model Year: 1996 |
| Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No | Component's Description: Visibility:defroster/defogger/hvac system:heater core |
| Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No | Persons Injured: 1 |
| Vehicle's VIN#: 3VWWA81H2TM | Date added to File: May, 23 2021 |
| Date Complaint Received: Mar, 14 2006 | Complaint Type: IVOQ |
| Incident Reported To Police: No | Purchase Date: Mar, 31 1996 |
| Was Original Owner: No | Anti-lock Brakes: No |
| Number of Cylinders: 4 | Date of Manufacturer: - |
| Was Vehicle Towed: - | Description of the Complaints: On january 12, 2006, as i was driving my car at 65 mph on the highway an opaque white gas was quickly released from my heater vents and within seconds effectively turned the passenger compartment of my car into a gas chamber. the engine temperature increased after i was able to safely remove the vehicle of the highway. my car was sold with a permanent maintenance free pink vw antifreeze. the documentation that came with the car indicated that other than topping off the antifreeze periodically that no maintenance was necessary. it was determined that my heater core failed; the dealer says it failed because of lack of maintenance. if the system is maintenance free then how can a component fail because of lack of maintenance? i originally thought the vehicle had been vandalized, but the dealer differed. i was unable to find any warnings of the possibility of this occurring in service bulletins or any other vw literature. if the catastrophic failure of a heater core is possible doesn't the manufacture have a duty to warn the purchasers of its products? *nm |