Consumer Complaint Detail

VOLKSWAGEN / JETTA / 2003

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 006072148 Incident Date: Jul, 14 2006
Consumer's City: BRENTWOOD Consumer's State: NH
Vehicle Transmission Type: MAN Manufacturers Name: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Model Name: JETTA Model Year: 2003
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Engine and engine cooling:cooling system
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: 3VWSP69M03M Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: Jul, 19 2006 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Oct, 31 2002
Was Original Owner: Yes Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 4 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: I have a 2003 volkswagen jetta tdi gls. i should note that this vehicle has been faithfully serviced by the dealer following the maintenance schedule listed in the user manual. the vehicle currently has 109,000 miles. while driving the vehicle a few days before the incident date listed on this complaint, the a/c ceased to function properly. there was no cool air coming out of the vents. also, when the vehicle was shutdown, the radiator fans would continue to run upwards of 15 minutes. neither event has occurred before. i brought my vehicle in to a vw dealership on the incident date to have its normal 110,000 mile service and to have the issues (noted above) diagnosed. i received a call from the dealership later in the day on the incident date stating that a failure in the coolant level sensor caused coolant fluid to be wicked into the vehicle's wiring harness leading to contamination / corrosion of the engine and body harness. the quote to repair was approximately $6,000. this problem is a latent defect in the design. the service department told me that the vehicle was un-drivable until the repairs are made. the service advisor also confirmed that because the problem was with the harness itself, any electrical component could be affected such as the airbags, abs, srs, etc. also, from my own research i found some people who experienced this problem have also had smoke or fires inside the vehicle. vw issued a technical service bulletin (id# c 97-01-01) for a similar issue on 1999.5 - 2001 model year jettas, but never for the 2003 and never a recall campaign on the defective design. vw has refused to assist in the cost of repair to the vehicle as well. *nm