2007 Volkswagen Passat: jerking or lurching

Filed Aug 14, 2018 · Transmission · 123,000 miles · SC

Transmission does not shift into gears smoothly or sometimes not at all. Car has trouble shifting into gear going into reverse, while driving normally going 40 miles an hour in traffic, after a stop at a stop light or after putting on breaks to slow down behind car that has put on breaks. While pressing the accelerator nothing happens, car just revs as if it was in neutral and will not move, then will finally jerk/shift usually hard into gear.

Filed Nov 22, 2016 · Electrical, Engine · 106,400 miles · WA

Currently my 2.0t 4 cylinder engine is experiencing failures noted by the diagnostic system with fault code p2181 cooling system performance along with a cylinder 1 and cylinder 4 misfire. The suggested remedy for the p2181 error is to replace the thermostat and/or the water pump. In researching community forums, this pairing of issues appears widespread. There is a possible manufacturing design flaw that correlates the failure of engine coils and/or plugs with failure of the water pump as the water pump is driven by the timing belt. Furthermore, the functions are linked in this way allowing one to cause the other to fail. This is evident with a check engine light on at all times and while driving the misfire will occur between 2000-3000 RPM and cause the vehicle to jerk and stutter. The misfire causes loss of power and the check engine light flashes.

Filed Jun 30, 2016 · Acceleration, Brakes · 150,222 miles · GA

This car is out right dangerous.my wife is driving on the express way 70 miles an hour the emergency brakes come on to her surprise and lock up.thank goodness is was able to get it to the offside without incident.it seems this a common thing with this model, the gas pedal also cuts in and out unexpectedly causing the car to jerk violently in traffic. Ive just about had it with this thing.

Filed Aug 23, 2012 · Brakes, Electrical · 57,235 miles · TX

Driving home while stopped at a traffic light my car felt like it jerked forward though my foot was on the brake. I stopped my car briefly to get dinner, took a phone call and decided to leave. I put my car in drive and it would not travel forward. I put it in reverse and it would not respond. I looked at the display which indicated I should depress the brake pedal, I did. The message disappeared but the car would still not travel. I checked the parking brake button, it was on. I depressed that but it would not turn off. Everytime I put the car in drive the same depress the brake message. I called the dealership. It was suggested I keep trying to disengage the parking brake. "the car thinks the parking brake is on" I have never used the parking brake on this car. It came out of the showroom. Finally the brake disengaged. My second stop resulted into the same scenario. My fear is that this happen while I am driving. I am taking my car into the dealership in a few hours if it will move in. This car has been ideal up to this event.

Filed Jun 8, 2010 · Electrical · 27,602 miles · NE

A nice summer day transporting my family, including two small children to a baseball game. Temp was 80 f, no wind, mostly sunny. Came to a stop at a red light. When the light changed to green, pushed on accelerator. Vehicle hesitated, than accelerated slower than expected in a halting, herky-jerky way. Check engine light came on and the vehicle started to slow. I was able to move the vehicle off to the side of the road, where I contact road side assistance and the vehicle was towed to the dealership. The dealer reported replacing the coil on plug ignition.

Filed May 5, 2008 · Acceleration, Engine · 11,434 miles · NJ · crash

Tl*the contact owns a 2007 volkswagen passat. While approaching a stop, the engine began to rev and the RPM needle increased. The vehicle was in drive and the brake pedal was depressed at the time. The contact placed the vehicle into park and turned off the engine. When he restarted the vehicle, it seemed to operate normally. After a few days, the failure recurred. The dealer stated that the cause of the failure was due to a recall on the engine for unintended acceleration. The vehicle was repaired, but the contact was unsure of what was actually repaired. Three weeks after the repairs were made, the failure recurred, the vehicle jerked forward and crashed into the bumper of the preceding vehicle. The dealer was notified and the vehicle has remained there ever since. No repairs have been made yet because the diagnostic results indicate that nothing is wrong with the vehicle. The VIN and recall number were unknown. The failure mileage was 11,434.

Filed Jul 25, 2006 · Acceleration · 20 miles · IL

There is an unsafe prolonged hesitation when depressing the accelerator pedal on the 2007 volkswagen passat 3.6 liter 4 motion. When depressing the accelerator pedal, nothing happens until you've depressed the pedal approximately 3/4 to an inch of pedal travel, then all of a sudden, the car lurches and accelerates at what feels like half to full throttle. It is a random hesitation, yet occurs at probably 30% of the time. It is most noticeable when starting from a stop, yet will happen on the highway, if accelerating to pass. This is a very dangerous malfunction. If this abrupt acceleration occurs in snowy or icy conditions, it could cause a loss of control. I have experienced several times, when I expected my car to move forward when I depressed the gas pedal, only to have it hesitate and nearly cause an accident. This car has a drive by wire accelerator, which I believe is a fairly recent design change. We have another car with the same type of system which does not do this. *nm