While driving in the left hand lane on a divided 4-lane (2 lanes each direction) road, a car in front of me slowed in order to make a left hand turn. I braked to slow, looked and saw space in the adjacent lane, moved into that lane and pressed the accelerator to get to the speed of the approaching traffic in that lane. There was no throttle response at first so the approaching traffic was quickly closing the gap. I lifted my foot off the accelerator and then immediately pressed it again at which the throttle responded and I was able to accelerate to the speed of the approaching traffic (in this case a large dump truck) and narrowly avoided a rear-end collision. I have complained of this kind of throttle response hesitation at service visits to two different VW dealers, both of which were unable to reproduce the condition and for which they detected no error codes. I bought the car as a used car in Feb 2019. The VW dealership from which I bought the car did not disclose any such problem with the car, which car they claimed to have provided service for the previous owner. The problem has occurred intermittently since I have owned the car and I have been unable to reproduce it successfully for service personnel during service visits. Today's occurrence was the closest I have come to a collision with another vehicle. With the next occurrence I might not be so lucky.

- Talbott, TN, USA

PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) valve malfunction. VW's PCV valve, also sometimes called the oil separator valve, which is found on many of their cars/SUVS becomes faulty around 40-50K miles. What often happens is the the valve fails to vent internal engine pressure, which causes the pressure to build up within the engine. Eventtually the pressure will find some place to vent, usually out of weakest oil gasket point, often being the rear main seal and valve cover. Since the exhaust is behind the engine, there is a chance that oil can spray onto the hot exhaust. My golf leaked oil from the rear main seal when the PCV failed. Even though the car was under warranty, VW didn't want to diagnose the problem unless I was willing to pay for it. This malfunctioning PCV valve is a regular problem on VW's and could pose a root failure leading to a potential vehicle fire.

- Martinsburg, WV, USA

From 3 months of ownership until now 12 months I have been experiencing multiple engine misfires. I've taken it to the dealership but that has been hopeless. They simply clear the code and it pops back up on my way back home. It's a little frustrating when you pay $40,000 for a car and experience problems in as little as 2000 miles.

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

Was driving down the freeway when the car lost coolant. Discovered road debris had punctured the secondary heat exchanger located on the lower front passenger side. The front facia provides absolutely no protection from debris and other damage was noted on the exchanger surface. Had to pull over as the engine overheated and get the car taken to the dealer for repairs. This seems to be a design flaw - searching the internet there are several incidences of punctured heat exchangers.

- Gilbert, AZ, USA