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Matthew of Bakersfield CA (4/16/05):
My wife has a 2001 VW Beetle that uses about 1.25 quarts of oil per 2500/3000 miles. The dealer states that this is normal and will do nothing about it, and the 1-800 number through Volks was a waste of time and they were rude. Several mechanics state that there is something wrong, and now we are replacing o2 sensors, mass air flow sensors and the check engine lite is always on. I have seen numerous complaints from people all over the country with this same problem, and no one wants to help, or make it right!

Bridget of Kittery ME writes (4/30/01):
I have gotten the runaround about oil consumption. It's ok to burn a quart every 1,000 miles. I changed to synthetic to help. Why should I have to carry oil around in my car with a new vehicle? I think the engine will probably blow but before it does Volkswagen will be aware of who is blowing this off and not taking it seriously -- they are.

Fine its a lease they can have the car back. But... it better last the lease and I am upset because I anticipated buying the car at the end. My assumption was that Volkswagens were reliable, safe vehicles. They have a 5-star rating for safety but the oil consumption is ridiculous. It is too difficult to maintain it. In between oil changes it burns 2 quarts. The oil is black after 1,000 miles.

I am fed up and will never buy a Volkswagen again. I am tired of their service and being treated like a dummy.

Gary of Stockton, CA, writes:
We took a 5-year lease on a new 1999 2.0 liter Jetta in July of 1999 for my son. This is his first car, he was 16 and really wanted the Jetta. My father told me it was rated #2 overall in Consumer Reports so we went ahead and got my son the car of his dreams. It turns out it is actually a nightmare.

At around 9,000 miles on the car, my son told me the oil light was on. I checked and the car was low on oil over 2 1/2 quarts. I thought it related to the improper amount of oil during the last oil change so I had him go get the oil and filter changed the next day. I checked and it was full. A week later he drove from Stockton to San Diego and back to Stockton in order to check out the college there. Upon his return I checked the oil and it was down a quart.

I had him and his mother take the car in to Volkswagen here in Stockton since there was obviously a problem. They filled the oil back to full and stated on the receipt that this was due to break-in of the engine. At this time the car had over 10,000 miles on the odometer. Shortly thereafter I again found the oil low and had my wife and son take it back to the dealership. They said they would do an oil consumption check. They filled it precisely and took note of the mileage. They returned the car with instructions to not add any oil and bring it back after 1,000 miles of driving. They also told them that there was a technical bulletin from the factory relating to oil consumption.

We brought the car back with 1,300 additional miles. At that time I checked the dipstick and noted the oil line was at the very bottom of the dipstick. I personally went to the dealership this time along with my son. The service writer (Randy) did not even look at the car! He told us Volkswagen states that oil consumption up to .85 quarts per 1,000 miles is NORMAL on this car! I asked for a copy of the technical bulletin and after waiting 45 minutes, got a copy of a service bulletin dated 1992 indeed stating the car could "normally consume up to .85 quarts of oil per 1,000 miles. I was also told there was a more recent service bulletin relating to this issue but they could not find it. I told them this was ridiculous and I wanted to talk to the manager. They took my number and promised he would call me but he never did.

I then called the Volkswagen 800 number. They opened a "case number" on me and promised to follow-up shortly. They never did follow-up with a call back. This is a situation where they obviously have put out some defective engines and they are stonewalling by telling owners that this is a normal oil consumption situation. I have talked with several mechanics and they all state that this is not normal and something is internally wrong with the car. Furthermore it will only get worse with time, not better. It appears I am stuck with a defective engine and also it appears there are thousands of even millions of others who are in the same situation and VW is telling everyone this is not a problem. They do not even respond when you call and open a complaint! In addition, I am wondering what this is doing to the air quality since the car is burning between .75 and 1.0 quarts of oil per 1,000 miles and I have never had a car that burns even 1 quart of oil between my normal 5,000 mile oil changes.

Besides the obvious situation where we now have to carry several quarts of oil in the trunk of a new car, we feel cheated by Volkswagen and outraged that they not only are telling us this is normal but they won't even follow-up on a formal complaint. We feel great anger and betrayal. My son who is a good student with a good attitude has now been warped in his attitude towards large manufacturers and thinks every large company is full of crooks. As this was his first car and also his dream car I understand his feelings.

It's indeed scandalous that VW considers this rate of oil consumption normal. These cars should be classified as diesels! Mechanics specializing in European cars shake their heads at this but stress that it is not necessarily a defect; it's just how the engine was designed.