2003 Volkswagen Jetta: brake failure

Filed May 27, 2014 · Brakes · 36,000 miles · HI · crash

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen jetta. The contact stated that while driving approximately 25 MPH, the brake pedal sank to the floorboard when depressed. As a result, the contact crashed into the rear of another vehicle. The contact mentioned that the failure caused four other vehicles to crash. A police report was filed. There were no injuries reported. The vehicle was towed to an impound lot where it was scheduled to be inspected. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was destroyed. The approximate failure mileage was 36,000.

Filed Jul 11, 2007 · Brakes · MO

Starting car in the morning or at end of work day and brake warning lights came on. Car cannot be moved - brakes have hissing or whisking sound when pressed. Car cannot be driven, unless turning ignition to first on position putting car in neutral then starting the car. *ak 2. Brakes do not work properly - car is unsafe to drive 3. Dealer claims that there is some sort of brake switch that has a "universal recall" that is causing the problem. I did research before buying my '03 jetta and found that several complaints about brake failure and brake problems have been on-going. When I questioned the dealer they knew nothing of the sort and said "if there had been problems in the past they have been fixed." apparently these problems have not - I continue to experience them as have other jetta owners with whom I have spoken.

Filed Jun 23, 2005 · Brakes · 56,773 miles · PA

To whom it may concern: my name is [xxx]. I own a 2003 volkswagen jetta tdi that I purchased new on 3/10/03 from autohaus of lancaster in lancaster, pa. It now has 56,700 miles on it. (mostly highway) while driving on 6/21/05, I went to apply the brakes and the brakes got mushy and then grabbed and the pedal went to the floor in a sudden stop. As it was stopping you heard a sound like the vehicle now had air brakes. I depressed the pedal again the brakes let up. I was nearly rear ended by a truck the first time it happened. I pulled off the road and called the garage. It turned out to be a brake booster. Prior to this problem, while the vehicle was still under warranty at 48,000 miles, I had the vehicle in for service at the dealership where the vehicle was purchased. It was in because several times I applied the brakes in the snow and the tires locked up. This vehicle has anti-lock brakes. At this time the anti-lock brakes did not work. This happened several times. The dealership found no problems. They checked it and said all was ok. It happened again about a week after I got it out of the shop. My current mechanic (roberts automotive) who specializes in volkswagens mentioned that he believes that two problems are very likely the same problem. The mechanic ([xxx] @ roberts automotive) also told me that he called the local dealership (autohaus of lancaster, pa) for the part, and he was told they replaced 8 of these brake boosters in the last two years. I also talked to the service manager at autohaus. Dave told me they have had several brake boosters go bad on the tdi models. The vehicle is now in the hands of autohaus. It sounds to me like there is a problem with quality and workmanship here. This is a definite safety issue. By sheer luck I was not hit by that truck. I will be sending a similar letter to volkswagen of america with my complaint. Thank you for your cooperation. Regards, [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Aug 2, 2004 · Airbags, Brakes · MD · crash

While driving 25 MPH in inclement weather consumer applied the brake pedal and the brakes failed. This caused the vehicle to crash into a tree. Upon impact, both frontal air bags failed to deploy. Vehicle was towed to the dealer for inspection.

Filed May 7, 2004 · Acceleration, Brakes · KS · crash

When the brake pedal was depressed to disengage the cruise control brakes failed. This resulted in a rear end collision. The insurance was not able to prove that the failure was due to a malfunction in the brake mechanism.

Filed Aug 27, 2003 · Brakes · 10,900 miles · WA

I recently bought a brand new 2003 vw jetta tdi at the end of november. On the day of the incident my car first started losing power, I noticed the pick-up wasn't as good as normal, secondly I started noticing the heat gauge went up as my car started over heating, thirdly I was almost home going down the off-ramp and when I put my foot on the brake to stop, the brake made a popping noise and then the brake hit the floor. I pumped the brakes and put the car in nuetral and was able to stop, as I began driving the car would not pick up any power and it felt as if the car was pulling against itself, I could not even get my car to go above 15 miles an hour in second gear. I drove the rest of the way home in 2nd, and with no brakes. When I made it home I thought there was a fire under my car because of how hot it was, the smell of burning was awful and as I got out of my vehicle there were chunks of creamy grease dripping from my car. I called roadside asst. And had them come to my house and tow the vehicle to a local dealership (overturf volkswagen). After several days of trying to find what the problems was overturf decided they could not find a problem with my vehicle. My husband and I had to force them to look into the braking system. Overturf explained to us that what happened to me out on the highway was typical and not to be concerned, I knew differently and enforced the fact that they needed to check the braking system. After several hours of debating over the fact that the breaks didn't need checked, they test drove the car again and the car reinacted the problem. In the end, my brake booster and master cylinder had to be replaced. Luckily my car still is under warrenty, but the car only had 10,900 miles on it, something like the whole breaking system should not fail with as little as mileage as the car had. One week later the car gets picked up and the next day my cruise will not set. I now have another appointment to get my cruise control fixed.