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Honk if you want to stop your VW Jetta

Discussion in 'Other Cars' started by cwerdna, Mar 29, 2011.

  1. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    The headline was funny so I just had to post it.

    VW recall over Jetta-stopping horn - Mar. 28, 2011
    I'm glad to see that VWs are getting attention for recalls. As I've posted in the past, it seemed like VW and other automakers which only sell small quantities of cars in the US were almost getting a free pass from recall scrutiny. I was in disbelief about what seemed like a relatively low # of recalls for VWs (and also little press attention) when most have such notoriously bad reliability records. It just didn't compute... unreliable cars, yet few recalls?

    My guess is that the absolute # of safety defect complaints being filed w/NHTSA was really low since VW sells so few cars in the US.
     
  2. bretaz

    bretaz Member

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    When I had my Jetta, it would stop even when you didn't honk. I have owned probably 25 new cars, and it was by far the worst.
     
  3. seftonm

    seftonm Member

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    Recalls are for safety / emissions reasons. Unreliable ≠ unsafe.
     
  4. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Yep, agreed on the first point along w/non-conformance w/Federal Motor Vehicle Safatety Standards.

    However, it just strikes me as odd that somehow unreliable VWs and Audis appear to have a disproportionately low incidence of recalls. Assembly errors and failing parts just all happen to be centered around things that aren't safety, FMVSS or emissions related?
     
  5. seftonm

    seftonm Member

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    Most of the common complaint areas that I am aware of don't seem safety related. HPFP and DSG temp sensor are two exceptions that I can think of. The DSG had a recall and I believe the HPFP is under investigation.

    Older models seem to have issues with things like window regulators, cooling system, switches / controls and so on. Some things that I rarely heard any complaints about, like the hazard switch, were recalled. At least in that case, there was a recall even though failure rate did not seem abnormal.
     
  6. bretaz

    bretaz Member

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    Here in Arizona, where it gets very toasty, the Jettas and Beetles windows are constantly falling down into the track. Apparently, the adhesive they used on some of the parts don't hold up well in the heat.
     
  7. wick1ert

    wick1ert Senior Member

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    Off topic, but i was behind a mazda mini-van a couple weeks ago, and everytime they'd break their rear window wiper would go. Apparently they'd gotten so sick of it, that they removed the entire wiper arm so this little stub kept going back and forth. It was a little mezmerizing and distracting because it's not something that mentally is correlated together.
     
  8. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    I'd heard about the falling windows on Jettas but didn't know it affected Bugs too.

    Earlier this week, I noticed for the first time, the Touareg that showed up within the last month or two at my apartment complex has red tape over one of its windows to hold it up (since it rains here a lot). He's got the tape on the outside of the glass, over the door frame and onto the back of the glass.

    It always makes me wonder what they were thinking to buy such a notoriously unreliable vehicle. Too bad Bad Touareg! Bad Touareg! is gone and all we have left is text only from the Wayback machine...
     
  9. seftonm

    seftonm Member

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    The clips that hold the windows to the power window mechanism were originally made of plastic. After a while, the plastic clips tended to break. Can't imagine why an engineer / manager would decide to go with plastic for a mechanical component like that.
     
  10. bretaz

    bretaz Member

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    Here in Arizona, it is very hot in the summer, and we get alot of dust storms. Not a good combination. I have heard alot of interesting stories about windows dropping down in the track at the worst possible time. I guess if you own a VW, and this is the only problem you ever have, you are pretty lucky.
     
  11. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    That made me laugh out loud. Thanks for sharing :D

    I'll share the adolescent humor with my son and wife.
     
  12. billnchristy

    billnchristy Active Member

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    A cool person would've put a little hand on it so it waved every time you stopped.