2006 Volkswagen Passat: sudden unintended acceleration

Filed Oct 9, 2017 · Acceleration · 170,000 miles · GA · crash · 1 injury

On september 25th, 2017 my stepdaughter was involved in a vehicular accident on I-75 n. In macon, georgia. She was driving a 2006 vw passat, 3.6 l. The accident occurred due to sudden acceleration on its own. The accelerator quickly, and without notice, engaged by itself. This resulted in her crashing into the guardrail on both sides of the interstate, in macon, ga. Fortunately, she was wearing her seat belt and survived. She suffered lacerations, bruises, neck and arm injury, and some immediate short term memory loss when she hit her head. The vehicle was a total loss. Volkswagen said they would come to examine the accelerator to determine if there is a problem with it.

Filed Dec 4, 2015 · Acceleration · 29,000 miles · GA

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 volkswagen passat. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle unintended accelerated without warning. The contact also stated that when the failure was occurring, the brake pedal required being depressed with both feet in order to completely stop the vehicle. The failure was persistent. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 29,000.

Filed Jul 1, 2008 · Engine · 48,000 miles · FL

On a warm day with the A/C running, my 2006 passat 3.6l will have an engine surge increasing RPM to 1,000 while stopped. This has almost amounted in a crash on numerous occasions as it makes the car difficult to keep stopped and causes it to lunge forward. It also results in low fuel economy as the car idols much higher than the normal 600rpm.

Filed Jul 1, 2008 · Transmission · 15,000 miles · AZ

I have a 2006 vw passat 3.6l. During the summer months or during hot days I turn on my A/C to high. When I do this occasionally, my cars engine will race and the RPM's will shoot up from about 600 to around 900-1000. This idle raise causes the car to surge forward thus making me the driver have to really push hard on the brake to stop the vehicle from moving forward. I understand that is what brakes are for, but I have almost been in 3 or 4 minor fender benders because of this. I am conscious of this on a daily basis in phoenix. I know others are having this problem and there is a recall out for some of the newer passat vehicles, but none for my 2006. I must stress this happens all the time when the A/C is on high and during the hotter times of the year.

Filed May 17, 2008 · Engine · 31,140 miles · TX

About a year ago our new 2006 vw passat 2.0t started to have very hard shift when downshifting when car slowing down. Then the car engine started to hesitate and accelerated by itself until cal was undrivable. Dealer fixed the card in two weeks. Today a year later the car had the same issue, hard shifting when slowing down and engine hesitation accelerating by itself. Car undrivable.

Filed Mar 27, 2008 · Body · 10,000 miles · MD

The distance between the acceleration pedal and the brake pedal seems much shorter than in other cars (ie, my toyota camry)...I will not drive our passat 2006 2.0t because there have been instances when my tennis shoe has hit both pedals in the attempt to apply the brakes. This must be a continuation of the audi5000 "sudden acceleration" problems of the early 1980's?,,,,,,

Filed Aug 10, 2007 · Acceleration · 6,800 miles · NJ · crash

I was stopped at a traffic light on a slight uphill grade when the car's engine suddenly started to race. The car surged forward before I could brake and hit the car in front of me. I had to practically stand on the brake to stop it. Fortunately there was no damage and even more fortunately there wasn't a pedestrian crossing in front of me. The temperature that afternoon was 98 degrees which, I understand from the vw forums is relevant. Other people have experienced this problem in very hot temperatures as well. This has happened to me once before but I already had my foot on the brake and only had to stand on it to restrain the car.

Filed Aug 9, 2007 · Engine · 10,000 miles · PA

Issues with hesitation when a rolling stop, and when completely stopped. There is a 2-3 second delay before the car responds to the gas pedal. I have almost been hit 3 times now when pulling out into traffic. That 2-3 delay in acceleration could cause an accident. This is an issue known to vw, they say they are workig on a fix. What are they waiting for, someone to get killed! Numerous v6 owners have the same issues! Also seond issue is, when I am stopped in heavy stop and go traffic and extreme heat my car idles at 1000rpms. This is corrected by me putting the car in park, stepping on the gas till 3000 RPM and it will go back to normal. It feels like the car in ready to lunge forward unexpectedly. Again well known issue to vw, several internet forums discuss this vw has don't nothing.

Filed Aug 9, 2007 · Acceleration · 15,000 miles · NJ

During heavy usage of the A/C system (especially on hot days), the car increases RPM's, presumably to compensate for the increased load on the electrical system. The vehicle feels like it wants to surge forward through any normal braking or the oem "autohold" feature. This happens most often during stop and go traffic. I asked the regional vw representative, thomas kerr about the issue this morning who said it is "normal behavior for this car."

Filed Jul 25, 2006 · Acceleration, Suspension · 300 miles · FL

Dt*: the contact stated that while driving at low speeds of 0-5mph the engine jumps to RPM's of 900 to 1000 RPM's causing the vehicle to lunge forward. This occurs more often when the vehicle has been running for a while and the engine is hot. The RPM's go down only when the engine is placed in neutral and the motor is revved up, or when the vehicle shifts into second gear. The vehicle idles roughly and hesitates. While stopped at a light or stop sign, there is lag between when the accelerator is depressed and the when the engine kicks into gear. When this occurs, the vehicle lunges forward. The dealership cannot duplicate the problem. While parked, at low speeds, or turning the vehicle right or left, there is a grinding sound coming from the right suspension area. The dealership replaced the right front passenger strut bearing which seemed to help for a while, but now the grinding sound is back. The grinding sound is now coming from the left suspension area.

Filed Jul 24, 2006 · Acceleration, Body · 25 miles · FL

On 7/13/06 I purchased a new 2006 vw passat from bert smith vw in st. Petersburg, florida. I took delivery at 5pm on friday 7/14/2006. I have 4 major problems. Bert smith vw service person (noel aponte and his service manager michael) and they say that they have never heard of the below issues. First issue: I have extreme idle shaking of the engine. This is constant - meaning you would have to turn off the ignition to stop it. I can shift the transmission into neutral and still feel the shaking. I can put the gear in park or in drive and it is still shaking. Sometimes the shaking is mild (like the shaking while braking) other times it is severe...so severe you can see the entire car shake. Second major issue: I drive my car of a parked position (or after coming to a rolling stop at a light) and the car feels like it is trying to pull or lunge forward while my foot was previously on the brake. At this time I have to put extreme pressure on the brakes to keep it from moving forward. The light turns green and I am off. I come to another light, the same thing happens. Regarding these 2 issues, here is a threaded discussion on the website vwvortex.com. Http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2619540 all of these owners have the same problem. All feel vw is giving them the run around. I am not happy about this. Is there a tsb on this problem? These issues are on-going the moment I left the bert smith dealership on friday 7/14/06. Third issue: the car seems to have severe throttle lag while driving and at a stand still. I am at a light, I press the gas pedal and there's significant lag time between the time the car begins to roll. Fourth issue: the front end squeaking really bad. It became progressively worse and bert smith replaced the front passenger side strut bearing on thursday 7/21. It's happening again. The 2nd front bearing has to be replaced, and maybe the one that was already replaced has to be fixed again.

Filed Mar 6, 2006 · Acceleration, Brakes · 21,526 miles · MA

Dt*: the contact stated while driving 10mph and attempting to come to a stop, the RPM gauge needle gave sporadic readings. While the RPM readings were inaccurate, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the brake pedal went to the floor and the vehicle did not stop. The contact was forced to down shift and use the emergency brake in order to get the vehicle stopped. After the vehicle was restarted, the engine revved. The vehicle was shifted into gear and suddenly accelerated. The vehicle engine was quickly shut off. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and currently is under going additional testing.