Vw, 2006 passat, now has a "steering column defect" warning, and the car doesn't start. The car has 60,000 miles on it, and this started just after the 50,000 mile warranty expired. The car also stalls at high speed when this light comes on without warning, and can cause a serious accident. The car also has a problem with downshifting when on the highway, and slams into low gear as though the car hit something. The dealer cannot find the problem when the car is put on the diagnostic computer. I have read many other complaints on the internet about these same issues with the 2006 passat, and found that the fix for the steering column alone costs between $1400 and $2000. Because this appears to be a factory defect, and it is a safety issue, I wanted to report it as such. Although there hasn't been an accident caused in my case, the potential for disaster is huge. I'm afraid to drive the car, because this is a recurring problem, and can happen at any time.
2006 Volkswagen Passat steering complaints
Page 3 of 5: complaints 41 to 70 of 112, newest first, as owners wrote them.
My daughter owns a 2006 volkswagen passat. Recently the key box, has not always worked to start the car. It has become very undependable. I took it to my mechanic and he checked everything and could find nothing wrong. He thought it might be the chip in the key that had a problem and maybe the key needed to be reprogrammed. She starting using her other key and there was no problem for a few weeks. Called about having the key reprogrammed and the local volkswagen dealership in braintree thought it wasn't the problem. The car wouldn't start again and took the car back to the mechanic and googled the problem and discovered many websites where there were descriptions of the same problem and all when the car had just gone past the warranty and all were attributed to the steering column locking up. All were solved if the owners were willing to pay $1500-$2000 to replace the steering column. This has been going on for years according to the information I read. I think this is outrageous. The car only has 72,000 miles and is only 4 years old. In the process of contacting the main volkswagen office to complain, but according to all the people and sites I found on the web, they were of no help.
2006 vw passat 2.0 turbo difficult to start taking several tries. Steering colum lock immobilizer activated code shown. Vehicle will now not start at all. Called dealership and informed of steering column failure need to be replaced at $1800.
I have a 2006 volkswagen passat 2.0t with 65,000 miles on it. For the past several days I've been receiving several error messages from the hud / heads-up display: "defective steering column lock" and "immobilizer active". This is always accompanied by the car firing for a few seconds and then stalling out. Attempting to start the car again immediately only results in a strange and loud on/off "clicking" type sound (as if it's trying to unlock the steering wheel and failing to do so). Waiting 2-3 minutes and trying again usually seems to do the trick, but today the car wouldn't start at all. Had to have it towed to the dealer and have the entire steering column replaced-- nearly $2000 in repairs. Of course, curiosity got the best of me, and I decided to research into this a bit more. Turns out there are literally hundreds of thousands of posts online of vw customers having the exact same problem with the exact same year and model. It's sort of insulting, especially learning that vw initiated a recall in ireland for the same issue, just not in the united states. This has class-action law suit written all over it. Obviously I was not harmed by this defect, but I can see how it *could* harm somebody, and read of several other victims who have had this happen in the middle of rush hour traffic. It's only a matter of time. It's just sad that it takes something as awful as personal injury, death or property damage before somebody steps up and takes action. This is not right...
All of a sudden car would not start, would try over and over and it would finally start. Eventually it would not start at all. Was told I had a defective steering column. Was also told that there would likely be a recall and I would be reimbursed the $2000 I had to spend to get it fixed.
The car will occasionally, yet sporadically, not start. The key gets stuck in the ignition. The car sounds like it is going to start but it stalls. The error message sometimes says steering wheel lock defective. This happens at all times of the day, including when I leave from work. The car was taken to the dealership once before the warranty ran out and once after and they could not diagnose the problem.
Steering lock control module defective: signals warning messages, prevents vehicle starting, shuts vehicle off.
2006 passat with 54,000 miles, suddenly am having trouble starting the vehicle. Got stranded on downtown flint, michigan (not where you want to be after 7:00pm at night!). Car just would not start, then discovered that moving the steering wheel allowed car to start. Has happened several times since, and twice while driving at highway speed, making it very hazardous to pull car to shoulder. After talking with the dealer, was informed that they would need to replace the steering column and the comfort sensor for $1,600! I called vwusa, and was told that since it was 4,000 miles out of warranty, I was on my own! This is not only a design flaw, but is proving to be hazardous as it is causing the vehicle to stall during highway driving.
2006 vw passat steering column lock defective due, evidently to computer module malfunction inside steering column which prevents the car from starting reliably. Not covered by recall or warranty. Dealer want $2,000 for new steering column, new steering column, lock, new steering column module and then the convenience module has to be replaced to sync them. With 8-10 hours over labor over 2 days estimate is $2,000. All because their crappy design put the defective computer module inside the steering column and they won't update the software or replace the module. They replace the entire steering column!
My 2006 vw passat 2.0t sedan refuses to start giving a "defective steering column defect" error. The first error was on the 18th of may, 2010. It happens at least 3-5 times per week. After repeated attempts to start it finally starts. 3-15 attempts starts the car. Dealer has quoted me $1800 to repair, car is out of warranty is their response. After searching the internet, apparently it's a known issue and vw hasn't done much about it.
In april 2009, while driving, the "steering column lock defect" message appeared. As directed, took it immediately to dealership. After service, they indicated no problem could be found. After this, I would have this same error message appear when trying to start the car. Many times, it would take 5-10 minutes of trying before the vehicle would start. Had it in for other service over the past year & each time relayed the problem. They never could diagnose it & said it was probably just an issue with the computer. In april of 2010, the problem started occurring more & more frequently. In late may 2010, could not get the vehicle to start after same steering column lock message. Then could not remove the key. Finally got the key out; however, the dash and internal lights stayed on and ran down the battery. Was able to get a charge to the battery but then the anti-theft system immobilizer engaged rendering the vehicle unusable. After a year of repeatedly taking the car to the dealership, it is now back there but it had to be towed. Doing research I have found that this seems to be a very common occurrence with this make and model of car; however, no recalls, etc. Have been issued and obviously the local dealership was unable to diagnose/fix the problem before it came to the point of the car being totally unusable.
2006 vw passat experiencing "steering wheel column lock" failure. The light comes on and the car will not start. Sometimes the car will simply turn off when driving down the road. My online research found that this is a common problem with 2006, 2007, 2008 models. This is also a safety issue because the car will sometimes continue running after the key is pulled out of the ignition. Dealership service departments all over the country are replacing the steering column and control module for $1500 and this normally happens outside of factory warranty so we the consumers are stuck with the bill. Please look into this as this should be a safety recall! And not the financial responsibility of the owners.
The 2006 -2009 vw passat is having massive problems with the ( defective steering column lock ). There is a problem with the anti theft module at the base of the steering column. This is happening to passat owners all over the country and there should be a recall. I am giving you ammunition to get the recall done.
Symptom #1) car will not start or if it does start it will immediately stall and steering column will lock. After moving the steering wheel back and forth repeatedly, reopening the door several times and attempting to start the push ignition 5-10 times it will eventually start and run. Symptom #2) major safety issue! Car will lose all power without warning at highway speeds. This defect causes the engine to stall immediately, the loss of power steering and the loss of all power controls at speeds at least up to 70 MPH. There is no warning from the car itself. There is no stuttering or noise. Suddenly the car is just dead and rolling along at extreme speeds. The fix is to shift the car into neutral and attempt to restart by removing and reinserting the key until it starts again. The dashboard will light up "steering column defect" and prompt a warning light for the steering column as if it were locked from a car alarm prompt. Occasionally, I have been unable to restart the car while in motion and have had to pull off to the side of the road. This is done without the aid of power steering and can be very dangerous in traffic and at high speeds as there is no way of "knowing" when the defect will occur. This defect is occurring daily. I took the car into the dealer for diagnosis. Was told it was a defect in the steering column requiring a complete replacement. Estimated cost to myself was $1,000-2,000. Car is now out of warranty (58,000 miles). I believe this defect is not a result of any habit of myself as the driver but rather a defect in the workmanship of the vehicle and the dealer should be subject to a recall. A search on google about this issue revealed thousands of other drivers with the exact same problem (stall at highway speeds, loss of power steering, difficulty starting and restarting, possible stranding of the driver). I urge a recall to move forward immediately!
2006 volkswagen passat. Car will not start and the steering column locks up. Then at times the car will not shut off and key gets stuck in the ignition. This happens at least once a day.
My 2006 vw passat 2.0 turbo has steering column issues. The car will not start without moving the steering wheel, and then waiting and keep on trying. The car will start then immediately stall, with an error in the message board that the steering column is defective. This happens 9 times out of 10 when going to start the car. The car has died while driving on the highway, and then restarts. I have seen this issue reported by many other consumers on various forums and complaint sites, but vw refuses to recall for the issue.
Vw passat 2006 2.0t steering wheel lock failure light. Comes on and does not allow you to start the car.
When trying to start 2006 passat 2.0t, I get error messages about steering column lock being defective or there are no dash lights and car won't turn over. Problem is getting worse. Located online forum with 6 pages of complaints like mine. See the following website: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?3656214-steering-column-lock-for-2006-passat/page1.
2006 passat starts and stall immediately. "steering column lock defect". Dealer wants $2000.00 to replace it along with comfort sensor.
Steering wheel column lock error on computer of 2006 vw passat. Car stalls anytime this light warning comes on. It has come on while driving causing it to stall at high speeds making it hard to steer to the right shoulder safely. This issue has caused two incidents while in highway traffic and was a near miss accident each time. It occurs on a daily basis now and was intermittent at first. I was told that the fix is to replace the entire steering column which is about $2k. To get the car started again, you have to move the steering column back and forth and after about 4-10 attempts to start, the car will start. There is no warning, it just stalls when this issue arises. It has stalled at a rail road crossing which has a stopping point before you cross. Very unsafe situation, I work for the united states air force as a safety investigator and if this existed in our air force we would have an immediate recall. This matter needs to be pushed forward and investigated. After researching this issue I have noticed multiple forums stating the same issues and same complaints.
My wife's car 2006 passat has been starting and then stalling immediately. A warning light comes on indicating "steering column lock defect". It was fine for a week or two, then it started occurring several times a week. I took car to repair shop and was told that problem would need a dealership repair shop to correct. After doing some online searches for problems of this nature I noticed many owners were having same problem and were told that the steering column and comfort sensor would both have to be replaced, estimates from $1200 to $2000 dollars for repair. Our car is out of warranty as of feb, 2010 but has less than 50,000 miles on it. Reports from mechanics say a person can get stranded at any time, but if car starts it will not fail while driving. This replacement should not be at the cost of the owner. Please investigate occurrences and request a recall for defective new vehicle electrical equipment/ steering column.
06 vw passat steering column lock indicator light on. Message reads" steering column locked take to workshop. We have had the message a couple times before. Wondering about a recall to have this very common problem fixed.
1a. I inserted the key fod and the "steering wheel" light on the instrument panel flashed yellow and the mfd on the instrument panel said, "steering column lock malfunction. Go to vw dealer immediately" 1b. Other times, it's the same, but the "steering wheel" light flashes with red light. 1c. Other times, I must insert the key fod anywhere from 5-20 times before the car even starts. The car won't start and I must repeat the process until it does. 2. It occurs at least 5-9 times per week with the yellow light flashing, 3-5 times a week with red light flashing, and 1-3 times per week when I must repeat the inserting of key fod to turn on. 3a. The vw dealer says they have seen this problem and it usually runs $1500-$2200 to fix. They said they usually replace the steering column module (computer board stuff) and the steering column as well. They say the problem is cause by the module going bad and not responding and telling the computer to turn the car on. 3b. The vw corporate customer care said they cannot help because warranty has expired. I have about 60k miles and warranty expired at 50k miles. Please go to this thread to see how common this problem is: http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3656214.
Steering wheel column lock error on computer of 2006 vw passat. I did research on the internet regarding this and its an known issue among many owners of this troublesome car. Its not fair to have to pay of $ 1500 for something the mfg built defectively.
My car keeps getting the message, "steering column defective" message in the mfd. The car will not start on more than six times now. Whenever, the message "steering column defective" comes on, the car will not start. I did a google search regarding this problem, and many people online expressed the same problem with their vehicles.
My 2006 vw passat has a "steering column lock" error and the dealership said that there has been lots of the 2006 vw passats with the same problem but no recall yet. If I don't get it fix it will stop while driving, and this is a huge safety issue.
I am very disappointed with the fact that vw has failed to offer a recall for 2006 passat steering column and comfort module malfunction. Thousands have been replaced, safety issue is a potentially stranded driver.
Brand new vehicle, 06 vw passat, drove it for about 9 months--then, car starting dying suddenly after being stopped (at a red light) then accelerating once light turned green. Wouldn't sputter or choke--just die. Took it to vw to check into it--they tried to convince me it was the gas I was putting into my car--but it wasn't. Finally, after 34 consecutive days in the shop, the dealership admitted there was a problem, but didn't know how to fix it. I talked with vw headquarters. They offered me $300. I explained that the car was dying--completely quitting on me--in the middle of intersections--and how many near miss accidents I had avoided--so $300 wasn't going to cut it--but vw claimed it was not a "safety issue". I explained further that because the car was intermittently doing this, I would lose all steering, all control of the vehicle--still, vw would not admit to there being an issue. Out of sheer panic, I called the dealership and convinced them to get me a new car. I believe the dealership re-sold my old car, the one they didn't know how to fix. A year later, a friend of mine had the exact same issue happen with her 92 jetta. Her mechanic said it was the ignition coils and replaced them. Now, a year later, vw sent a notice to me in the mail saying it is "not a recall" but they wanted us to replace the ignition coils "only if a certain light indicator" goes on in the car. I never had such a light go on in my old car, so I thought this was ridiculous and took my current vw vehicle in to replace the ignition coils anyway. Thankfully, the dealership did it for me, because they knew my history. The notice from vw clearly states that they only want you to replace them if the light goes on in your car and you only had until a certain date (feb. 28th) to do it. Still seems to be no acknowledgement from vw that there is a serious safety issue at hand.
For the past few months my steering column light has been flashing on and off. It states steering column defect. Sometimes the light turns off after I restart my car a few times. I figured it was an electric issue. Now for the past week or so, my car has problems turning on and it continues to state steering column defective. It took 10 times to get my car started today. My steering column light, battery light, parking brake light and engine all came on each time I tried to start my car without success. I took it to the dealership and before I finished explaining myself, they knew exactly what was wrong. They will have to replace my steering column. They told me it would be very expensive to fix, but my car is certified so it may be covered. There are over 40 complaints regarding this issue and volkswagen needs to recall whatever is causing this problem!
I have a 2006 vw passat 2.0t with 30,000 miles. I've had the following problems over the last year, key will not come out in park, steering wheel locks, car continues to run even without the key in the ignition. I brought these items to the dealer's attention, but was brushed off because they couldn't get the vehicle to "do it again." now the power steering warning light is on. Vw dealership says I need a new steering column. If not replaced, the steering wheel could lock while driving. I was told replacing the steering column should fix all the above problems.
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