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Volkswagen Coils

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After months of whining and slithering around refusing to face the problem, Volkswagen finally got up the nerve in February 2003 to do something about these defective ignition coils. (story)

Paula of Horseheads NY (2/2/03):
The 2002 VW Passat is a ticking time bomb. 3 out of 4 ignition coil sets have been replaced, and the other one (or any of those already replaced) may go. There is no guarantee by VW that the old or new coil sets will last. Meanwhile, VW will not issue a recall since it "does not pose a safety hazard." I guess they've never experienced extreme loss of power on a busy highway at 65 mph. Mine will be declared a lemon. It has spent over 35 days at the dealer in the short 9 months I have owned the car. Otherwise, I'd still be in passionate love with my car. But the unreliability of the ignition problem, and the lack of initiative by VW has killed any enthusiasm I have with the Passat.

David of Daly City CA (1/29/03):
All the issues people have cited regarding faulty coil packs by Bremi that were installed in 2001-02 1.8T 4 cylinder engines, W8 engines and 2002-03 3.0 six cylinder engines, can easily get more information on the topic by checking out VWVortex.com or AudiWorld.com. I know of a lot of owners of 2001 Jettas and Golfs who complained of faulty window issues, as well as coil packs. It's unfortunate the VWOA refuses to deal with the coil pack issues quickly and efficiently.

Apparently, a VW exec claims that a recall wasn't issued because VW feels the coil pack issues is not life threatening. The fact that it results in a drastic loss of power when the coil packs goes out and could strand owners in an unsafe environment or result in a car accident is life threatening to any owner. As an owner of a '02 A4 1.8T quattro sedan, I too had to wait 2.5 weeks before my dealer could acquire a new coil pack. They did offer me a rental...a Mazda 626...at their cost.

I did have a lengthy discussion with an Audi Customer Care representative, where she cited that should it happen again, they will provide me with a car rental again. I replied that I wouldn't accept anything less than another Audi for a loaner. The reason I pay the monthly car payments that I do is to drive my Audi, not some damn rental car and especially NOT a Mazda 626. At this point, the representative had nothing more but additional "...I apologize for the incovenience this has caused you...". She did continue to explain that a "courtesy rollout" in the coming months was going to be implemented by VWOA, contacting owners by VIN numbers.

Ryan of Upland CA (1/22/03):
I currently own a 2002 Volkswagen Jetta 1.8 turbo. It has about 38,000 miles on it and I was driving it and all of a sudden it started shaking. The dealer said they thought it was the ignition coil. After 2 weeks they called to tell me that it did not work. They are now telling me that I need to bring proof that i made all oil changes on time between 3000 - 5000 miles.

They said that in order to warranty it that I need ALL of my receipts showing I got them all. Is there anything i can do or am i out of luck?

Ryan should sue the company in Small Claims Court for the cost of the repairs.

John of Mullica Hill NJ (1/3/03):
Purchased 2002 VW Passat GLS on 8/24/02. Car was delivered to me without master keys which had to be ordered and programed. That process took 4 weeks. Car has been serviced three times due to coil problems and is currently being serviced due to cataylic converter failure. All of these problems occurring on a car that is only 5 months old.

I drive approximately 90 miles a day back and forth to work. I brought this car for dependablity. I am a technical consultant. I get paid by the hours I work. Each time I havbe had to take the car back for service I miss hours which equate to loss of pay. Since this is a known issue with this model Passat, Volkswagen Corporation should issue a recall to address this problem.

Louise of Mansfield MA (1/3/03): I bought a brand 02' VW Jetta, back in July. On Dec. 21, it went in for routine maintenance and oil change. On Dec.23, while driving to work, my engine light was flashing and my car started to struggle, when I applied the gas. Then, there was a terrible smell. I was able to turn around and creep slowly to my parking lot. I called a tow truck, and got it towed to my dealership. Then, I placed a call letting them know what had happened and that it was on its way to them.

I questioned why this would of happened, service told me that they have had several problems with my model and that he already had 30 cars having the same issues and that the problem was a faulty coil pack on the engine. Also, VW was only authorizing them to be replaced "as they go". Well, my car only has 7500 mi on it, and 1 has already gone. I called VW to verify the info that the dealership told me. I was told that they were not replacing all 4 coil packs, just the ones that fail. I explained that this is ridiculous, that I had just bought the car and I think that it is a safety issue. Also, that I was not comfortable with the fact that my car eventually will break down again and again until all of these coil packs are replaced.

I explained this until I was blue in the face, all I got from VW was that the car is under warranty and they will take care of the problem as it happens, and not authorizing any preventive maintenance, because of the fact that the car had not technically been recalled. He also told me that they used the new coil packs in the 03' model. I think this is awful, the car is only 6 mo old. Can they do this? I feel that my car will always have engine trouble, and I may just trade it in and never even look at a VW again. What can I do to get piece of mind? I really love the car and want to be happy with it.

Denise of Beulaville NC writes (9/13/02):
On August 30, 2002 my 1999 Passat began misfiring and vibrating violently while idling. The vibration did not improve with increased RPMs. There was also a smell of rotten eggs. The Malfunction Indicator Light was on and sometimes flashed when the misfires were particularly bad. We immediately called National Dodge VW Subaru of Jacksonville, NC where we purchased the car and had warranty work performed in their service department. My car had approximately 56,650 miles on it at the time. Because it was Labor Day weekend, they could not check the car until the next Tuesday, Sept. 3.

We dropped the car off on Sat so they could get to it right away on Tuesday morning. When I called, I was told that their one and only VW tech had hurt his leg and couldn't come into work. Maybe he would be there on Wed. they said. Well, finally I received a call on Wed that said the ignition coil was bad and causing cylinder 2 not to fire. I was also told that the spark plugs were completely worn worse than the tech had ever seen on another car. The tech recommended fuel injection cleaning, air filter, and tune up along with the coil replacement. When we went to pick up the car, the total bill was $520.89.

The service manager went to take the car through the car wash before delivery and the MIL lamp came on again. The car began vibrating and misfiring. The manager drove the car immediately back into the garage and ran another diagnostic test. The exact same problem again: misfiring in cylinder 2. So we went back home without my car. On Friday, I called to see if they had identified the problem. Yes, they said, it was not the coil after all, it was now something they called a "spark module". It was on order and would not be in until Monday, Sept. 9.

I searched the internet and could find nothing called a "spark module". The new repair would be $303.90. I asked if it was the ignition control module and I was told no, it was something different. Well, on Monday, my car was finally fixed and the service manager said that he had never seen one of these go out with the mileage my car had. I called VW customer assistance and requested that they offer payment for this part. I told them everything that had happened and requested that they pay for the $303.90 repair since the earlier repair was mostly routine maintenance anyway. Two days later they called to say they could not help.

The only explanation I got was that my car was old and had too many miles on it for assistance. When I asked for them to send a copy of my case file, they refused. I asked them to tell me the information given by the service manager, they said that National Dodge had my car in the shop for only 1 day and the part in question was an ignition wire. I told VW that this was false information and requested the case to be reviewed a second time with correct info. They refused. I have not spoken yet to the service manager about the problem.

We are not sure if the ignition coil was faulty in the first place. We spent a total of $824.79 on a car that is barely 3 years old and has less than 60,000 miles on it. The repairs were necessary for the car to function. We were without transportation for 11 days. There was a technical service bulletin for engine misfiring in May 1999, the same month I purchased my car. I feel that VW should have addressed the defective parts then before they caused a break-down.

Christopher of North Smithfield RI (10/16/02):
My 2001 VW Passat has been in the shop 3 times with the exact same diagnosed problem. Each time the System Ignition Coil has had to be replaced. There is obviously a deeper problem that is causing the coils to fail but VW of America refers me to the dealership and the dealership refers me to the corporate office. So I am waiting to see if the coil breaks a 4th time before 28,000 miles.

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