This is my story involving my 2000 Volkswagen Jetta and problems I was having with the breaks. I was in a near fatal car accident driving this car.Three times before my accident, and it didn't matter if there was a minute amount of snow or 6 inches, it didn't seem to matter, the car would react the same way if it were in the slightest skid. Again, no matter how minor the skid was, my ALB would kick in and leave me basically with OUT brakes. As I said, 3 times before my BIG crash, it had snowed while I was working, I was on grave shift then. I started out of the parking lot at my job. When I approached the stop sign that led to a main road, that I would take to get home, as I would put my foot on the brake, to come to my complete stop, it felt like there was something stuck underneath the brake peddle itself, I could NOT come to a stop, and subsequently went out into the middle of the road. I turned around, re-parked, and called for a ride, all 3 times, swearing my brakes went out. It was terrifying! Each time my husband brought me back to work in the morning, he got into my car, and the brakes worked fine. He said that this how anti-lock breaks are supposed to work, that they will come on when my car is in the starting of, or in the midst of a skid. He's no mechanic, & I told him that THIS was so different, that they didn't respond correctly and that something was VERY wrong with my brake system. It seems to me, for my brakes to all of the sudden be taken away from me like that, was so dangerous, skid or not. It seemed to me to put me in even more danger, NOT keep me out of it! I was 38 yrs old at the time, and certainly not a "newbie" driver. I even lived in NH for 8 yrs, all the while having ALB, and I had NEVER had that happened to me before. I was terrified, thank GOD another car wasn't coming down the road, or was at that stop sign, as I slid out into the road as a result of my cars ALB, or NO BRAKES, I might as well say!

I had to travel with my son, out of state to visit family the day after Christmas, shortly after these 3 "no brakes" incidents. It had snowed the night before, the highway was pretty clear though. However, the highway did have some inevitable snow that had collected on the sides,as a result of the snowplows, near the guard rails. I took my eyes off the road for just a moment, I looked down because my cd player had jammed, however brief, I never heard that warning noise you hear,from the grated pavement, if you've gone to far, or to close to the guard rail. They were covered by the snow. When I looked up & saw how close I was to the rail, I quickly turned my steering wheel away from it, in attempt to not come into contact with the guard rail. As a result, my anti lock brakes kicked on. I was judged to be going about 70 mph, 65 mph is the speed limit. I could not even remotely slow down slow the car down, it felt like, once AGAIN, like there was something under my brake peddle preventing me from pressing down on them, from breaking. They were firmly locked into place, and not budging even a mm. I lost control, veering across both lanes, as I said, my breaks were NOT there, there was NOTHING I could do to slow down, hence lessoning my impact. Sadly, a tree that was about 30 feet off the highway stopped my car instead. My son was 13 yrs old at that time, and in the passenger side seat. He was actually the one who jammed the cd inside before the crash, and was yelling at the stereo for eating his cd. I wish I would of just told him I'd figure it out later, but with the long drive I knew he'd be better occupied and happier with at least some music.

We DID both survive, he was in a coma for 7 days, received a bad TBI (traumatic brain injury) and a lacerated liver from his seatbelt, he DID eventually make a full recovery. I was NOT wearing a seatbelt, as a result I broke my neck and back in 5 places, collapsed a lung, and broke my shoulder. I spent 7 days in the hospital, and after 6 months, I too made basically a full recovery. I KNOW I shouldn't of taken my eyes off the road for those couple of seconds, its a cross I will bare until the day I die.

But I keep waiting, expecting a recall letter from Volkswagen having to do with defective brake issues. I still get them mailed to me because my car was under warranty at the time of my accident. Because it still pops in my mind, I STILL insist that how my brakes kept reacting was NOT NORMAL. Especially having them before and living in NE my entire life, 8 of which were in NH, and having so much snow driving experience under my belt! I do have to give props to Volkswagen for the cars body integrity ironically. I mean I hit a tree going like 70 mph with NO seatbelt and LIVED! The garage even told me that housed my totaled Jetta, there are only a handful of car models that could withstand that type of an impact, and hold up that well. Any other car, he later told me, we would likely not of survived that exact same accident. He was very impressed, as were we, with the solidness of my Jetta. I swore I'd stay loyal as a result, and did in fact by a newer jetta, a wagon this time. And in true Jetta form all the little things seem to break on this one too.

There is still this nagging ongoing suspicion, way in the back of my mind, that I think I will always wonder." Were the brakes on my Jetta faulty? Or did they react exactly the way they were supposed to?" If anyone knows the answer to this, or is confident they do, please leave me a comment. Not if you a Volkswagen dealer or manufacturer of course LOL! No offense, but I don't think I'd believe you enough to put my my mind at ease.

Sorry this is such a long story too, I felt it was important to tell, just in case there are others something like this has happened to, who owned a 2000-2001 Volkswagen jetta. PLEASE tell your story if this is the case, I really need to know. Is this car a structurally sound "Hero", or a possible defective serial "Villon" in my story.

Thank-you to whoever took the time to read this.