Consumer Complaint Detail

VOLKSWAGEN / JETTA / 2002

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 006067117 Incident Date: May, 09 2006
Consumer's City: NATRONA HEIGHTS Consumer's State: PA
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Model Name: JETTA Model Year: 2002
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Engine and engine cooling:engine
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: 3VWSK69M72M Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: Jun, 04 2006 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Oct, 17 2001
Was Original Owner: Yes Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 4 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: I'm not positive this constitutes a safety issue, but it may in the event of an accident since an aluminum oil pan could be severely damaged and could cause an oil spill, but below is a portion of the letter i submitted to volkswagen using their online form. if this is not under your office's responsibilities, can you tell me who i should contact next? basically they told me it could take them 2 to 3 years to issue a recall if ever. thank you. i took my 2002 jetta in on wednesday, may 10th for what should have been a routine oil change, but $330 dollars later was obviously not. my mechanic informed me that i needed a new oil pan. something that is 99% of the time only replaced after an accident or after 15 years or so if it's rusted out. the reason: the oil pan itself is made of aluminum and the drain plug is made of steel. anyone with half an ounce of engineering or materials knowledge (something i would hope and assume a volkswagen parts designer has) knows that you don't manufacture a part out of a soft metal which has something screwed into it made out of a harder metal. the threads eventually get completely stripped after repeated oil changes. according to the service schedule in my owner's manual, oil changes are mandatory service required to keep the car under warranty. also this could very well present a safety issue in the event of an accident due to leaking oil if the pan was damaged since it's made of aluminum. what has angered me the most about this is that volkswagen obviously knows about this design defect and has not issued a recall. when my mechanic called the local volkswagen dealer (and where i purchased my car) the parts department told him "oh yeah, we know about that problem. in fact we stock the redesigned part". the bottom of my new oil pan is now made of steel which it should have been in the first place. *nm