Check engine light came on, car lost power. I figured it was an engine coil, because this has happened to me before, last time it was covered under warranty, #6 coil. Since I was 30 miles away from dealer, I took my 2002 Gti to a local mechanic, who diagnosed the problem as the # 5 ignition coil. I called the dealership to find out if there was a recall or extended warranty on this part since this was the second one to fail. Dealer said "no recall and the charge would be about $200 since the vehicle is no longer under warranty. Vehicle has 50,850 miles at this time. Since it wasn't covered, I had it fixed locally. Gti has the 24 valve vr 6 engine.

- Post Falls, ID, USA

Engine running rough, possible coil pack in ignition failure.

- Powder Springs, GA, USA

Had a coil pack failure causing car to stall and decrease in power which almost caused an accident while driving through an intersection. VW should issue a recall with this problem.

- Rockford, IL, USA

I have a 2002 Volkswagen Gti 1.8T with 4700 miles at the time of this common coil pack failure. I was on my way to work when I was making a left turn at a busy intersection. One of my coil packs went while turning onto main road and causing my car to sputter and lose power. On coming traffic had slam on their brakes to avoid hitting me. Thankfully an accident was averted. This is a safety issue. These coil packs are failing at epidemic levels. Major newspapers are doing articles on this problem. My car had to be towed while I waited in freezing temperatures and I missed work. VW will only replace bad coil packs as they fail and my dealer admits that it will happen again. They replaced the bad coil pack but I still have 3 that are going to fail at some point. Can you imagine living with this in your mind? please do something about this because it is a dangerous situation.

- River Edge, NJ, USA

Had two coils go out on my 2002 Gti 1.8T as I was leaving my house. Car lost all power and was un driveable. Had to be towed to the dealer. Only the two failed coils were replaced leaving me to worry about when and where the others will fail causing my car to become once again un drivable.

- Rossville, GA, USA

Ignition coil pack failure

- Negley, OH, USA

While traveling the highway the vehicle will shut down with out prior warning. Please provide additional information dealer is aware of the problem.

- Overland Pk, KS, USA

I have a 2002.5 Volkswagen Gti 1.8T with a 4-cylinder turbocharged engine. All VW engine ignition systems are affected. The coil or coilpack fails due to poor manufacture or design. In some cases multiple cylinders will loose power. I lost cylinder #1 when accelerating away from an intersection. I lost cylinder #2 while attempting to merge with traffic on surface streets. In both cases the significant lose of horsepower could have caused me to remain in an intersection longer than expected and cause an accident. VW is currently replacing failed coils free of charge and providing rental cars when a replacement cannot be performed immediately. However, VW will not replace all coils, just those that fail. This leaves the others to fail and potentially cause accidents. I must drive with the knowledge that I could lose power from one or more cylinders at any time. This is especially dangerous at highway speeds and heavy traffic or when crossing any intersection where cross-traffic has the right-of-way.

- Pikesville, MD, USA

Coilpacks are prone to failure, causing the car to violently lose power. Also having an issue where the car is trying to start itself again with the clutch depressed.

- Mason City, IA, USA

VW policy on there defective coil packs is to replace the broken coil with a new one and send the driver back on the road with 3 defective coils just waiting to leave them stranded. I am pushing for a recall do to the safety concerns of the near absolute failure of the defective "H" coils and possible collisions with other vechicles.

- Houston, TX, USA

3 ignition coils failed while driving on two separate occasions. This resulted in vehicle stalling on highway. Consumer had to wait 4 weeks for replacement coils in both incidents. Dealer adviser consumer will not replace remaining coils until failure. First incident occurred mid-October 2002. 2nd incident in December 2002.

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

Car was running rough, smelled bad, and was considered un-drivable by my dealer. VW towed the car in. In about 30 minutes, my dealer informed me that one coil pack had failed and they would have to order the part. I asked if they could just replace all 6 of the coil packs as there seems to be a history of them failing. Dealer said VW would not approve such a preventative maintenance action. They also told me the part was on a national backorder and they did not know when they would receive it. I was provided $25/day for a rental car. I'm not too upset with the handling of this one incident, but I'm very concerned that there are arguably 5 other 'time bombs' in my car waiting to fail and leave me stranded in a much less convienent manner than this first failure. With such a high number of coil pack failures in VW's line [both the 1.8turbo and the VR6], I wish VW would issue a recall once the part supply is available. This problem along with a chronic warm-start stalling issues has resulted in me not being able to recommend VW to my pals.

- Portland, OR, USA

Engine coil failure. Car lost power and was only running on 3 of 4 cylinders.

- Atlanta, GA, USA

Coilpack failures are a safety issue. Is volkswagon waiting for someone to die until they recall this? while your at it, fix my windows that are going to break soon too.

- Chelsea, MA, USA

Ignition coil pack failure, coil pack #1 and #2. first of two differnent occasions.

- Middletown, CT, USA

I purchased a new, 2002 VW Gti 1.8T in August 1 of 2002 from howard cooper Volkswagen in ann arbor, Michigan. On December 16, 2002, my Gti with only 5200 miles started rumbling and shaking violently while being driven in a cold morning. The ''check engine'' light began flashing, and the car lost power and was unable to accelerate. I researched and I found countless VW and Audi owners who had experienced the same failures on their vehicles with the 1.8T engine on more than one ignition coil. The car sat in the dealers' lot for more than two weeks waiting for an ignition coil that was on national backorder.

- Canton, MI, USA

Ignition coil failed after 1900 miles. This seems to happen to all VW's nowadays there really should be a recall as I still have 5 faulty parts since only one coil was replaced

- Northboro, MA, USA

Ignition coil failure on my 2002 VW Gti 337. Coil on cylinder #3 failed, cause rough idle and signifigent loss of engine power.

- Baltimore, MD, USA

Coil packs on the VW 1.8T motor.... I had ignition coil #1 fail this week.... they are failing in a number of 2002 1.8T's. the dealer replaced the failed one with a the new "J" type coil but I have 3 other coils that can fail at any time strangling me on the highway or in the new england cold weather (as the case earlier this week). I would like VW to replace all me defective coil packs with the new "J" type before I get stranded again.

- Peabody, MA, USA

Just had 20K mile service completed along with warranty replacement of broken window regulators. I've had the car back from service a week. Now, the cell light is on yet again, and acting like a coil pack failure which I had about 4 months ago.

- Palo Alto, CA, USA