Dt*: the contact stated while driving various speeds, the airbag light illuminated intermittently without incident. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer who determined the front driver side airbag inflater module needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was alerted. Updated 10/31/06.
2001 Volkswagen Passat airbags complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 26 of 26, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Dt*: the contact stated while driving various speeds, the instrument cluster panel lights illuminated. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer who determined there was a short in the airbag wiring harness, and needed to be replaced. The airbag and harness were replaced, but the problem persisted. The manufacturer was alerted.
2001 volkswagen passat low mileage of 21,000 miles. Normally garaged and maintained according to schedule. After rain, found an inch of water in rear passenger floor. Transmission non-functional, air bag warning light and other warning lights on. Dealer said the pollen filter seal was no good and that water leaked in and destroyed the transmission control unit which is located in the floor behind the passenger seat. Cost of repair in excess of $3,100. Vw refuses to compensate in any way because warranty was only for two years. Transmission and power train are covered for 5 years, but vw says the failure was due to "outside influence". I have read many accounts on the internet from many angry owners of similar problems where leaks from this seal have caused catastrophic repairs. The service manager at the vw dealer told me that checking the pollen filter seal is not part of any regular maintenance and that in order to check it, you'd need to disassemble quite a few things in the engine compartment. When I asked him how an owner could possibly know if the seal needed replacement and he replied "you found out how". I am clearly not alone in having experienced a failure from a part that is not in any way maintainable (the pollen filter seal) and that has caused major damage to the car. I feel this is a consumer issue and that this is a design defect in the passat that vw should compensate owners for. There is no way for an owner to be able to avoid this situation -- it is not a matter of maintenance. It got to do with the passat leaking water and the location of an extremely expensive component in the rear passenger floor, the area where any water that leaks migrates to. If this failure had occurred during driving, I might have had an accident.
Dt: caller said the air bags deployed without warning. While driving caller said both curtin air bags deployed over the doors. Caller said he did not have a crash or hit a bump. Caller said an engine warning light came on ,and there wa sa blinking warning light. Caller made appointment to have it looked at, but did not make it before the air bag deployed. Vehicle was at dealer, and they said they have never seen this before. Manufacturer has not been contacted yet.
I,m sending this complain on behalf of my brother-in-law who will not pursue this matter.however, I'm adimant as to the nature of this complaint.he has a 2001 vw passat.after hitting a bump at normal speeds, two of his air bags deployed. Vw said this is a normal occurrence as the sensor decided it was the thing to do. He's lucky he didn't lose control of the car. Obviously if this were a common malady in vehicles today, I dare say many accidents would occur. Vw will have nothing to do with it since he's out of warranty. Simply speaking, this ain't right!! Don brown.
While driving at 25 MPH air bag light came on and stayed on. Vehicle was taken to the dealer, who replaced the o-ring in the driver's side air bag.
While the vehicle was parked with the engine off, the side airbags deployed. Dealer notified. *ak *ph
2/18/03 - reported air bag light on to dealer. Dealer could not find problem and reset light. Airbag light came back on again in may '03. Returned to dealer on 6/28/03 for service. Told that airbag spiral spring and harness be replaced. Could not change on that day (saturday) due to time constraints. Returned to dealer on 8/26/03 to replace spiral spring and harness.
Windshield wipers do not work on rainy days making it difficult to see out the windshield. A lady hit my car on the right side collapsing that side along the doors and some of the rear and the air bag did not deploy. I put my feet on accelerator for speed and the car refuses to respond. The more I accelerate the slower the car goes.
As consumer entered the parking lot, the vehicle all of a sudden accelerated, consumer had no control over the vehicle and subsequently crashed through some large boulders and into a ditch, the side airbags deployed, however the front air bags did not, consumer suffered injuries. Mr
Consumer states that the airbag warning light keeps illuminating. Cause is unknown. Please provide any further information.
At highway speed consumer rear ended another vehicle when brakes failed to stop. Upon impact, airbags did not deploy. Please provide any further information.
Front crash at 50 MPH and neither airbag deployed. Damage to vehicle unknown at this time.
Airbag light came on. Took vehicle to dealer on 9 may, replaced clock spring assembly. Light came on again on 16 may, dealer found no problem. Airbag light on again on 23 may, dealer replaced 1 airbag and clock spring assembly.airbag light on again on 3 june, and dealer will replace both airbags. Vehicle still at dealer at this time.
Airbag warning light turned on starting 02/12/2001. It was check by the dealer on 03/06/2001 but no problem was found and cleared code. Three days later airbag warning light turned on again with airbag fault sign was also on. Took to dealer on 03/22/2001 along with the new transmission problem. The car was towed in because of the transmission pan, gasket punctured and oil leaking. The dealer service replace the airbag and upper harness under warranty of the car, while transmission repair was charge to my insurance. My safety complaint is that the transmission pan is maybe too low to the ground that it can easily be punctured, which may cause serious transmission problem. And for the airbag warning sign turned on, the airbag will not deploy if accident occurs or may accidentally deploy while driving.
Cruise control was set at 65 MPH with about 400 miles on vehicle, and brakes did not turn off cruise control . Vehicle did not stop. Driver had to use emergency parking brake, and crashed into vehicle in front of him. Upon impact, driver's and passenger's airbags did not deploy, which did not protect the occupants. *ak vw did not give consumer a loaner car and could find nothing wrong with vehicle.
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