Fax from congressman on behalf of constituent regarding a safety problem with her VW Passat. Immediately after the consumer purchased the vehicle, the air bag light illuminated. The consumer took the vehicle back to the dealership. She was told the problem had been fixed, however the air bag light continued to illuminated on a regular basis. The consumer has been to the dealer 8-10 times for the same problem. The battery was replaced. Updated 09/18/07

- Ewing, NJ, USA

I own a 2000 V6 Passat, which I have serviced regularly at a VW dealership. On March 25, 2005, the dealership performed a 60K mile maintenance check on my Passat. This service included a check of my original VW battery. The battery readouts indicated that the battery was fine. On May 13, 2005 (mileage 61336), my battery completely exploded like a bomb when I went to restart my car after refueling at a petrol station. I contacted VW usa and they not only did not care about the situation but did not see that any resulting damage should be covered by them. Ultimately, I paid for the new battery, my insurance carrier covered windshield replacement and my VW dealership covered the remaining damage to the vehicle. My dealership informed me that I was the 2nd customer to experience this problem at their dealership.

- Wayland, MA, USA

Consumer stated on 2 occasions the vehicle would not start, it was finally determined that the battery needed to be replaced.

- Auburn Township, OH, USA