2006 Volkswagen Passat

VW, 2006 PASSAT, NOW HAS A "STEERING COLUMN DEFECT" WARNING, AND THE CAR DOESN'T START. THE CAR HAS 60,000 MILES ON IT, AND THIS STARTED JUST AFTER THE 50,000 MILE WARRANTY EXPIRED. THE CAR ALSO STALLS AT HIGH SPEED WHEN THIS LIGHT COMES ON WITHOUT WARNING, AND CAN CAUSE A SERIOUS ACCIDENT. THE CAR ALSO HAS A PROBLEM WITH DOWNSHIFTING WHEN ON THE HIGHWAY, AND SLAMS INTO LOW GEAR AS THOUGH THE CAR HIT SOMETHING. THE DEALER CANNOT FIND THE PROBLEM WHEN THE CAR IS PUT ON THE DIAGNOSTIC COMPUTER. I HAVE READ MANY OTHER COMPLAINTS ON THE INTERNET ABOUT THESE SAME ISSUES WITH THE 2006 PASSAT, AND FOUND THAT THE FIX FOR THE STEERING COLUMN ALONE COSTS BETWEEN $1400 AND $2000. BECAUSE THIS APPEARS TO BE A FACTORY DEFECT, AND IT IS A SAFETY ISSUE, I WANTED TO REPORT IT AS SUCH. ALTHOUGH THERE HASN'T BEEN AN ACCIDENT CAUSED IN MY CASE, THE POTENTIAL FOR DISASTER IS HUGE. I'M AFRAID TO DRIVE THE CAR, BECAUSE THIS IS A RECURRING PROBLEM, AND CAN HAPPEN AT ANY TIME. *TR

MY DAUGHTER OWNS A 2006 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT. RECENTLY THE KEY BOX, HAS NOT ALWAYS WORKED TO START THE CAR. IT HAS BECOME VERY UNDEPENDABLE. I TOOK IT TO MY MECHANIC AND HE CHECKED EVERYTHING AND COULD FIND NOTHING WRONG. HE THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE THE CHIP IN THE KEY THAT HAD A PROBLEM AND MAYBE THE KEY NEEDED TO BE REPROGRAMMED. SHE STARTING USING HER OTHER KEY AND THERE WAS NO PROBLEM FOR A FEW WEEKS. CALLED ABOUT HAVING THE KEY REPROGRAMMED AND THE LOCAL VOLKSWAGEN DEALERSHIP IN BRAINTREE THOUGHT IT WASN'T THE PROBLEM. THE CAR WOULDN'T START AGAIN AND TOOK THE CAR BACK TO THE MECHANIC AND GOOGLED THE PROBLEM AND DISCOVERED MANY WEBSITES WHERE THERE WERE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE SAME PROBLEM AND ALL WHEN THE CAR HAD JUST GONE PAST THE WARRANTY AND ALL WERE ATTRIBUTED TO THE STEERING COLUMN LOCKING UP. ALL WERE SOLVED IF THE OWNERS WERE WILLING TO PAY $1500-$2000 TO REPLACE THE STEERING COLUMN. THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR YEARS ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION I READ. I THINK THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS. THE CAR ONLY HAS 72,000 MILES AND IS ONLY 4 YEARS OLD. IN THE PROCESS OF CONTACTING THE MAIN VOLKSWAGEN OFFICE TO COMPLAIN, BUT ACCORDING TO ALL THE PEOPLE AND SITES I FOUND ON THE WEB, THEY WERE OF NO HELP. *TR

I HAVE A 2006 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT 2.0T WITH 65,000 MILES ON IT. FOR THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS I'VE BEEN RECEIVING SEVERAL ERROR MESSAGES FROM THE HUD / HEADS-UP DISPLAY: "DEFECTIVE STEERING COLUMN LOCK" AND "IMMOBILIZER ACTIVE". THIS IS ALWAYS ACCOMPANIED BY THE CAR FIRING FOR A FEW SECONDS AND THEN STALLING OUT. ATTEMPTING TO START THE CAR AGAIN IMMEDIATELY ONLY RESULTS IN A STRANGE AND LOUD ON/OFF "CLICKING" TYPE SOUND (AS IF IT'S TRYING TO UNLOCK THE STEERING WHEEL AND FAILING TO DO SO). WAITING 2-3 MINUTES AND TRYING AGAIN USUALLY SEEMS TO DO THE TRICK, BUT TODAY THE CAR WOULDN'T START AT ALL. HAD TO HAVE IT TOWED TO THE DEALER AND HAVE THE ENTIRE STEERING COLUMN REPLACED-- NEARLY $2000 IN REPAIRS. OF COURSE, CURIOSITY GOT THE BEST OF ME, AND I DECIDED TO RESEARCH INTO THIS A BIT MORE. TURNS OUT THERE ARE LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF POSTS ONLINE OF VW CUSTOMERS HAVING THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM WITH THE EXACT SAME YEAR AND MODEL. IT'S SORT OF INSULTING, ESPECIALLY LEARNING THAT VW INITIATED A RECALL IN IRELAND FOR THE SAME ISSUE, JUST NOT IN THE UNITED STATES. THIS HAS CLASS-ACTION LAW SUIT WRITTEN ALL OVER IT. OBVIOUSLY I WAS NOT HARMED BY THIS DEFECT, BUT I CAN SEE HOW IT *COULD* HARM SOMEBODY, AND READ OF SEVERAL OTHER VICTIMS WHO HAVE HAD THIS HAPPEN IN THE MIDDLE OF RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC. IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME. IT'S JUST SAD THAT IT TAKES SOMETHING AS AWFUL AS PERSONAL INJURY, DEATH OR PROPERTY DAMAGE BEFORE SOMEBODY STEPS UP AND TAKES ACTION. THIS IS NOT RIGHT... *TR

THE CAR WILL OCCASIONALLY, YET SPORADICALLY, NOT START. THE KEY GETS STUCK IN THE IGNITION. THE CAR SOUNDS LIKE IT IS GOING TO START BUT IT STALLS. THE ERROR MESSAGE SOMETIMES SAYS STEERING WHEEL LOCK DEFECTIVE. THIS HAPPENS AT ALL TIMES OF THE DAY, INCLUDING WHEN I LEAVE FROM WORK. THE CAR WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALERSHIP ONCE BEFORE THE WARRANTY RAN OUT AND ONCE AFTER AND THEY COULD NOT DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM. *TR

2006 PASSAT WITH 54,000 MILES, SUDDENLY AM HAVING TROUBLE STARTING THE VEHICLE. GOT STRANDED ON DOWNTOWN FLINT, MICHIGAN (NOT WHERE YOU WANT TO BE AFTER 7:00PM AT NIGHT!). CAR JUST WOULD NOT START, THEN DISCOVERED THAT MOVING THE STEERING WHEEL ALLOWED CAR TO START. HAS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES SINCE, AND TWICE WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEED, MAKING IT VERY HAZARDOUS TO PULL CAR TO SHOULDER. AFTER TALKING WITH THE DEALER, WAS INFORMED THAT THEY WOULD NEED TO REPLACE THE STEERING COLUMN AND THE COMFORT SENSOR FOR $1,600! I CALLED VWUSA, AND WAS TOLD THAT SINCE IT WAS 4,000 MILES OUT OF WARRANTY, I WAS ON MY OWN! THIS IS NOT ONLY A DESIGN FLAW, BUT IS PROVING TO BE HAZARDOUS AS IT IS CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO STALL DURING HIGHWAY DRIVING. *TR

2006 VW PASSAT STEERING COLUMN LOCK DEFECTIVE DUE, EVIDENTLY TO COMPUTER MODULE MALFUNCTION INSIDE STEERING COLUMN WHICH PREVENTS THE CAR FROM STARTING RELIABLY. NOT COVERED BY RECALL OR WARRANTY. DEALER WANT $2,000 FOR NEW STEERING COLUMN, NEW STEERING COLUMN, LOCK, NEW STEERING COLUMN MODULE AND THEN THE CONVENIENCE MODULE HAS TO BE REPLACED TO SYNC THEM. WITH 8-10 HOURS OVER LABOR OVER 2 DAYS ESTIMATE IS $2,000. ALL BECAUSE THEIR CRAPPY DESIGN PUT THE DEFECTIVE COMPUTER MODULE INSIDE THE STEERING COLUMN AND THEY WON'T UPDATE THE SOFTWARE OR REPLACE THE MODULE. THEY REPLACE THE ENTIRE STEERING COLUMN! *TR

MY 2006 VW PASSAT 2.0T SEDAN REFUSES TO START GIVING A "DEFECTIVE STEERING COLUMN DEFECT" ERROR. THE FIRST ERROR WAS ON THE 18TH OF MAY, 2010. IT HAPPENS AT LEAST 3-5 TIMES PER WEEK. AFTER REPEATED ATTEMPTS TO START IT FINALLY STARTS. 3-15 ATTEMPTS STARTS THE CAR. DEALER HAS QUOTED ME $1800 TO REPAIR, CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY IS THEIR RESPONSE. AFTER SEARCHING THE INTERNET, APPARENTLY IT'S A KNOWN ISSUE AND VW HASN'T DONE MUCH ABOUT IT. *TR