I was driving and I tried to honk my horn because a tractor trailer was merging in my lane. My horn would not sound and I had encountered this problem before and then later that evening it started to drizzle and my windshield wipers were not working.

- Loganville , GA, USA

Occasionally, the rear door on passenger side wont open even though I unlock the door with remote key. I have found in the VW consumer forum that this is not only my car's issue, but many VW Jetta owners are having the same issue. I always should get inside from other door and open the applicable from inside. This is happening too often so it is being common for me to open the door for my kid who usually sits in the back. If there is any accident and whether policeman or fireman should open the door from outside, this problem can cause severe delay on rescue the passenger who sits in the back, usually children because the door is not being opened by anyhow from outside. I think VW should recall this problem.

- Farmington, MI, USA

When the car is parked the interior and exterior lights come on until you go crank the car. The dealer completed a diagnostic test and he said everything checked out ok....this is not normal and my concern would be will it eventually affect the battery.

- Hampton, GA, USA

While driving to an early morning appointment, I notice a burning smell within 5 minutes of starting the car. I soon saw smoke coming from the upper right corner of the dashboard. I immediately pulled over and turned off the car. At that point I saw a flame appearing at the front end of the driver's side rocker panel. Plastic at the base of the rocker panel had melted and I could see electrical wires. I tried to stamp out the fire, but it was growing rapidly and I was unsuccessful. I got out of the car. Within seconds, the flames were several feet high. I closed the door and called 911. The flames eventually extinguished themselves in the closed cabin. The firefighters arrived and opened the drivers door. Most of the dashboard on the drivers side, and the headliner were melted. There was a lot of exposed bare wire visible. The temperature at the time was 34 degrees F, and this was the first trip of the day. The driver's side seat heater was turned on high, the headlights were on, and the radio was on. No other operator controlled electrical functions were on. There had been no previous electrical incidents with this car, nor were there any aftermarket electrical items installed on the car. The weather was dry. This Jetta is a tdi model (diesel).

- Darien, GA, USA

The car turned over and then turned itself off. The immobilizer activated and the car refused to start. The car was towed to the dealership and I'm not sure what was done to fix it. The yesterday, September 29, 2012, we were 5 miles from the house at a park and the same issue happened again. This time, because we were without a phone, we walked home and got it towed. Although there were no bodily injuries, this is as much a safety issue as anything else.

- Santa Rosa, CA, USA

Coming back from the mall, I turned on my car and a few seconds later the engine shut down and "immoblizer active" message appeared. Restarted car again, engine shut down and the same message appeared again. I tried it a couple of times more and then called VW roadside assistance to get my car towed to my dealer, which luckily, is near by the mall I was at. Once at the dealer (got there at 4:30pm, and they close at 5 on saturdays), the technician had time to look at my car. He came back 15 minutes later and was surprised of what he found. The diagnostic machine could not read the engine control module. He said that pretty much according to the test, the ECM/ECU did not exist! I have had the car for about 8 months (brand new) and only aprox. 9500 miles driven so far. They will check the car in detail on the following Monday. Will wait for results.

- Cypress, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2011 Volkswagen Jetta tdi. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked and upon exiting the vehicle, there was an increase in the engine rpms. The vehicle also would not shut off. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and they stated that the push to stop button failed. A switch clip on the vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000. Updated 05/31/12

- Jasper, GA, USA

The vehicle immobilizer activates, preventing the vehicle from being started and leaving driver stranded.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

Attempted to start 2011 Jetta tdi with 11000 miles after it had been sitting in a parking lot for 9 hours. Temperature 45F outside. Vehicle started perfectly and then died seconds later. Attempted to start vehicle again, but would not turn over. Had a lot of trouble getting it to start and when it did it was running very rough and then would die immediately. Finally able to start vehicle and keep it running after approximately 30 minutes. Was able to drive 30+ miles home - started fine after. This is the second occurrence. This first occurred approximately 1 month ago with 8000 miles on vehicle. Outside temperature was in mid forties. Car would not start at all - kept turning over, but would not start. Glow plug light flashed intermittently. After waiting approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour the car started up fine without hesitation. Vehicle was at dealer 2 days prior to second incident, but they could not find anything. Vehicle will be returning to dealer asap.

- West Bridgewater, MA, USA

This is a re-occurrence of the complaint 10425920 that was submitted by me on 17 September and is listed on this site. It has happened again. Symptomatically it is the same. While trying to gain access to the vehicle the key fob wouldn't open the doors. After gaining entry to the vehicle all locks are inoperative and the fuse is blown. The initial issue was worked on by my local VW dealer but due to the odd nature of the issue VW tech was consulted. The system fuse will only blow if I try to gain entry to the car with the key fobs. If a new fuse is installed and the sensors on the actual door handles are used the fuse will not blow. The dealer had the car for a week and VW was indecisive about what to do. VW advised the dealership to jump out the fuse and return the vehicle to me (and they did!) until they could figure out the way ahead. I was asked to return the vehicle to the dealer a few weeks later and a complete replacement central locking control unit was installed. I am returning the car to the dealer for another attempt at solving the problem. I am quite sure that VW shouldn't be advising dealerships to jump out fuses and return vehicles to customers for use. Beyond the technical issue VW techlines behavior is alarming and it would be worth asking to see the dialog files for my issue. I will advise regarding the outcome of this next visit.

- Springvale, ME, USA

The contact owns a 2011 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated that the horn would activate at any time independently and could not be shut off. The dealer was contacted and the vehicle was repaired under NHTSA campaign id number: 11V196000 (electrical system: Fuses and circuit breakers), but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified and referred the contact to speak with the dealer. There were no further repairs. The failure mileage was 800 and the current mileage was 11,000. The VIN was unavailable. Updated 12/02/11 updated 06/13/2012

- Yorktown, VA, USA

Automatic door locks fail to work. Manual entry must be gained to vehicle and doors opened on all doors other than drivers by pulling on inside handles. Unable to access trunk without grabbing long hanled stick and accessing trunk emergency opening latch through back seat arm rest trunk opening. While investigating for a possible blow fuse it was noted that VW fails to provide a fuse map/diagram for these cars in the owners manual and on the back of both the underhood and in car fuse panels. VW explains this away in the owners manual on page 324 as a decision they made due to the " constant ongoing development of the car" beyond the issue with the locks I believe that failing to provide the owner of the vehicle with the fuse maps could have poetential ramifications as an owner may be unable to solve a simple technical fault on their vehicle thus hazarding themselves and others. Inspection and changing of fuses is owner level maintanence/troubleshooting and Volkswagen should be made to provide that information to owners. If you web search VW fuse diagram or map you will see hundreds of complaints. Thanks for your time.

- Springvale, ME, USA

The contact owns a 2011 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact was driving 10 mph when the power steering malfunctioned and the brakes failed. The contact was unable to steer the vehicle and had to use the emergency brake to stop. The battery warning light illuminated and the vehicle was towed to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The diagnostic test did not locate a failure and the contact drove the vehicle for twenty five miles before being able to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 5,800.

- Sherman Oaks, CA, USA

At 500 miles exactly, I heard a single click while driving. A quick scan of the instruments showed that the odometer read 500 miles and was not increasing, of course the trip odometer and fuel consumption displays also failed without any input from the odometer. Dealer diagnosed problem and said the instrument cluster needed to be replaced however there were none in stock and Volkswagen of America does not have any replacements. Either. The vehicle runs perfectly so far but reading through other complaints at NHTSA I'm concerned about taking a planned 1200 mile trip not knowing whether a catastrophic electrical failure might leave me stranded. The dealer said Volkswagen has no idea when the units will be available. It could be months and it's not clear if the replacement will solve the problem or how long it will last.

- Leesburg, FL, USA

2011 Volkswagen tdi wagon does not start with any original keys based on the message the 'immobilizer activated'. I am afraid this system could shut down my car in bad situation for no reason. I think this should be investigated. I think based on my research many other owners complaining about this issue. Please investigate this.

- Granada Hills, CA, USA

My VW Jetta tdi sportwagen was operating normally on the morning of the incident, but when I went to the garage to start it that afternoon, the display read "immobilizer active" and "safe". the car would start for about 1 second then die. Evidently, the built in anti-theft system had decided that my keys (I tried both sets of keys, plus the valet key) did not belong to the vehicle. It had to be towed to the dealership, where they performed a reboot of the computer to clear the problem. They cited a possible cause as being the recent electrical storms in our area. I personally think they should be ashamed to offer such a lame excuse because surely they have electrical storms in vws home country of germany, too. I hope this is the last time this problem occurs, but I have read other such incidents with the same year and model.

- Anthem, AZ, USA

Traveling 30 mph. Battery light luminated and engine stalled. Pulled over and restarted engine and it started fine battery light turned off. Took it to the dealer and they replaced a relay. One week later driving on the freeway at 75mph engine stalled again in heavy traffic. Started right back. Drove another 10 miles and it shut off again. Started up and drove it right to the dealer. This is very dangerous. The check engine light is on now. The 2011 Jetta was issued a recall, and that repair was done a month ago.

- Sioux Falls, SD, USA

The contact owns a 2011 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated while driving 30 mph the battery lamp illuminated and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered to file a report. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 558.

- San Mateo , CA, USA

Dashboard lights found in the speedometer and tachometer will turn on and off randomly when the head lights are turned off. This makes reading the dashboard difficult. Dealer noticed the problem right away and ordered a replacement dashboard from VW. It's been two weeks and we are still waiting for the part to be shipped to the us from germany. Car has under 1K miles.

- Cary, IL, USA

The ABS, air bag, and tire pressure sensor warning indicator on dash all lit up and wouldn't goes away even after engine was shutoff. This car a Volkswagen Jetta was recently bought last month.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA