Tl* the contact owns a 2009 volkswagen routan. While driving approximately 30 MPH, the power steering failed intermittently without warning and the engine stalled. The vehicle became increasingly difficult to control. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the technician diagnosed that the ground strap cable needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 90,000.
2009 Volkswagen Routan steering complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 34 of 34, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 volkswagen routan. While driving 35 MPH, the vehicle stalled and the power steering warning light illuminated. The failure recurred on numerous occasions. The vehicle was taken to a dealer who was unable to diagnose or repair the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 88,000.
After my van has been sitting for a while and it been warmed up for 15 minutes. With in the first 2 to 5 miles of driving the traction control light will come on and the van will shut off and the steering wheel and break will fail. Then I have to turn the key to off and restart the van and it sometime repeat itself if I'm stuck in traffic.
I bought this routan aprox 8 months ago,nothing but problems,it has shut down in city traffic and highway speeds,I am aware of recall #28h1 from vw that 2 vw dealerships deny even exist.the dealer I bought this from test and diagnosed it as a defective wins module { ignition switch } and contacted a vw dealership in barre vermont and said they would order a module and scheduled a date to install it,a couple of days before appointment I myself decide to bring in myself and called to verify the date and time,there service department asked me for a recall number of which at the time I did not have because my service manager where I bought it from set this up.after tracking down the correct service rep at walker vw in barre vermont she informed me they did not order the part and there is no wins modules available yet 06/01/15 even though this recall was dated in march of 2014 ,still no fix whats up with that ? I guess our lives and the lives of our loved ones do not matter it is time for someone or the federal safety agency to impose some serious preasure on volkswagon and demand that our vehicles be repaired correctly they should be brought up on charges for deceiveing the public.even my own dealership has not been telling me everything until I corner them or catch them off guard, come to find out after squeezing it out of my own local service manager is that a wins module had already been replaced in my routan for the prior owner,probably to pasify the customer.I am at this point looking at the legal grounds we all should have against these corperations like volkswagon or even chrysler since they produced routans for volkswagon. I would hate to trade this vehicle in just for some other sap to be stuck with a lemon .its just not safe or dependable and we have a long trip in two days 50/50 chance we make it down and back with know problems ???
My wife was driving our van when she pulled out onto the main road from our driveway when the vehicle lost all power, including power steering and brakes. Fortunately there was no accident but she did have to stop the vehicle and cycle the keyswitch to restart the vehicle. I have contacted the closest dealer to have this known recall fixed on our van only to be told they have to witness this event happening. Though this has happened 3 times since we bought the car used 3 months ago it is a very intermittent issue. The dealer is about an hour and a half from our house which makes it a 3 hour round trip and a day off from work. I don't mind taking a couple of days off to get this problems solved but the service manager told me some of these vans have not been repaired for 4 months because they cannot duplicate the problem. Whatever happened to the customer is always right? Needless to say this is a safety issue and a huge liability. I did contact volkswagen customer care and they told me the dealer should replace the part and it does not have to be witnessed by their personnel. With that information in an e-mail I once again contacted the dealer and they basically told me vw customer care was wrong and they would have to duplicate the problem in their shop. I am very frustrated with this whole process. It is a known problem...shouldn't they fix it before harm or even death comes to my loved ones? The dealer is lithia vw (phone (541) 774-7500) in medford ,oregon and the service personnel I talked with was named [xxx]. I do have the e-mail from vw customer care and that came from a representative named [xxx]. I would appreciate any help in this matter. Thank you! Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
We have owned the vehicle for about 2 months with no issues, when we purchased the vehicle it came with a clean carfax listing no recalls. On 3/10/15 my wife was driving on a 2 lane country road going about 35mph when the vehicle suddenly lost power and she lost control of the vehicle. The engine appeared to have cut out, she had no power steering and no power brakes and was unable to stop or steer the vehicle. The dash displayed the anti-slip light, but no others. The vehicle slowed down to a stop, thankfully there was no oncoming traffic as she was no longer in her proper lane, and no cars behind her. She was able to put it in park and restart it as if nothing had happened and it was fine after that for the rest of her commute. We contacted vw about the issue and they requested that we bring the car to a vw dealer for inspection. We did that, and vw claimed that our vehicle was not impacted by recall # rna1, but instead they insisted the issue was caused by a faulty egr valve, and gave me an engine trouble code of c121c that they claimed corresponded with the failing egr valve. Vw charged me over $100 for the diagnosis, and a day later after complaining to vw customer care they agreed to refund the charges. I brought the vehicle back to the independent dealership that I originally purchased the car at the same day that vw diagnosed this, and they were not in agreement with the egr diagnosis, and also could not corroborate the trouble code c121c as being related to an egr issue, rather it comes up as a torque request signal denied trouble code instead. The independent dealer also found that I had stored codes for ABS malfunctions, sunroof errors and mic/ccn instrument cluster. The independent dealer cleared these codes before leaving that day. On 3/25/15 my wife was driving at about 35mph when the cars engine shut off again in a similar fashion. No codes
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 volkswagen routan. While driving approximately 40 MPH, the steering wheel seized without warning. In addition, the contact stated that the brakes failed to respond when the brake pedal was depressed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign number: 14v396000 (electrical system); however, the part needed to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 91,770.
The clockspring in the steering wheel went out. At 28 miles the traction control turns on and the car starts braking even if the car is not skidding. Very dangerous. Our mechanic told us the clockspring is a common problem with both the volkswagen routon and the chrysler town and country. I found one report on the internet that said volkswagen started servicing the clockspring as of 2010 routon models but did nothing for the 2009 routon.
Was driving on a residential street when the engine shut off without warning. Completely lost all power (steering, brakes, etc). Was able to pull over to side of road thankfully only going 25 MPH and no traffic. Put vehicle in park, started up immediately and ran fine after that. Received recall letter in mail the following week stating the ignition switch can turn off without notice incident happened 2 additional times, similar circumstances. Spoke with dealer and vw corporate on 3 separate occasions. Volkswagen states they do not have a solution for the recall repair at this time, nor will they do anything about the possible safety issue of the vehicle shutting off and causing an accident.
Catastrophic failure of transmission at 76k. Major transmission work done approximately 26k. Transmission replaced 6 months later and still has issues (sluggish, non-smooth shift between gears at higher cruising speeds. Vw engineer gerardo zeledon calls this the "routan shake" and claims this is normal. Approximately 95,000 miles steering began seizing up while in motion. This is, according to recall notice and service manager at flow vw winston salem nc, a behavior related to a recall on the ignition switch (ntsha 14v‑396). No parts are available and the car is unsafe to drive. However, vw cannot fix the problem and will not allow us to use a loaner.
While driving in phoenix az the van began to shake and steering became difficult. (this has happened in the past multiple times intermittently). Later the same evening brakes began to squeak and grind. Until this day the only issue had been the intermittent shaking while braking. There was no squeaking prior to the grinding. Right rear caliper was replaced along with all front/rear brakes rotors drums and hardware. Cost=$780.55.
My wife took our 2009 vw routan minivan to a vw dealership today to repair inoperable electronic door locks and faulty headlights (separate complain filed), at which time she was informed of an ignition problem recall. The ignition part was placed on order and my wife was told the part had to be shipped from out of state and should arrive within five days. My wife asked, and was informed the vehicle was safe to operate; however, I looked up the recall when I got home from work and discovered the recall specifically states the engine can shut of during operation due to added weight from other keys or key rings on the vw key fob. According to the recall, dealership and maintenance personnel are supposed to inform customers to remove added keys from the fob. My wife had keys on her fob which the dealer mechanic had in his hand during inspections, but the mechanic never informed her of the risk, and allowed her to jeopardize her life by driving the vehicle without the required safety information.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 volkswagen routan. The contact stated that the emergency brake warning indicator illuminated, which indicated that it was locked. The vehicle veered to the right and crashed into a parked vehicle. There were no injuries and a police report was filed. The dealer performed an unknown repair, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 850.
When the vehicle is traveling near 30mph or even higher than that, when the brakes are applied, it shakes violently. This causes the driver to have to hold the steering wheel very tightly to avoid loosing control. The braking system in general seems to be faulty as the brakes and rotors have had to be replaced/changed every two to three months. It is very expensive to replace these brakes and rotors as well as pay for the labor every few months. This is a great concern and should be considered for a recall.
The engine turned to off while I was driving and depowered power steering and brakes. At that point I restarted the car and was able to drive. Took the car immediately to vw dealer, kept the car for 24 hours, and they could not replicate the incident so nothing was done by them. This happened again at 93000 miles on august 8, 2014.
Our 2009 vw routan completely shuts down while driving 3 times now. Not only does it shut down, but the steering and brakes lock as well. On the last occurrence, my wife (with our children in the car) came very close to hitting a parked car in the street. We have taken it to 2 vw dealers so far in charlotte, nc and they state: "we cannot duplicate the issue." unfortunately, that is not the right answer when you have something as dangerous as this happening to our family car. We have called vw corporate to help 2nd dealership with a resolution, but nothing has been fixed at this time. We are not sure what do at this point, and seems like both vw and vw dealerships are aware of issue, but no one wants to touch it! Please help!
At least twice per month when I drive my van, the steering will suddenly go out, then the brakes will stop working, then it will just shut off. So far it has only happened when I was driving at pretty low rates of speed. I've called the vw dealership several times and each time they say that they haven't heard of anything like this before and want to charge me a fortune just to look at it. With the newest recall, I cannot understand why my vehicle is not included and the dealership still claims that they have no clue what I'm taking about when all these vehicle were made bu the same manufacturer. This has happened so many times, I can feel it in the steering right before it happens. As soon as my steering starts to get tight, I have to hit the brakes right away before they go out, and turn the car off. Usually when I restart the car, it's fine. This is getting ridiculous and I should have to go through this with a vehicle when there is a proper fix. I have 4 children and another on the way and this is not safe.
Where to begin with this car. All 4 valve stems needed to be replaced. I was losing pressure in my tires, and mechanic said they were corroded. Then my tiptronics did not work, also when you shifted in to gear, it didn't want to move. Had the whole shifting lever component replaced. Lots of trouble with the doors not opening right, then when closing the sensor doesn't always work. Almost had my kids get caught in the door. If the car is even on the slightest slope the door won't close. While driving down the road at 55mph the car just shut off. No power steering! Very dangerous. I had to rent a car to go on vacation, I didn't feel safe enough to drive on the interstate with it. Happened may times. They couldn't find anything wrong with it. Now I think the transmission is going. I am so frustrated with this car!
I was driving approx 65 MPH on a highway. Without a warning (no check engine light, no battery light, etc) my engine turned off while still cruising at 65 MPH. The vehicle still had momentum, but no power steering to safely pull the vehicle over. I had to wait for the road to turn, so I can position the vehicle to stop on the shoulder of the vehicle. I almost crashed into other vehicles, because I had no control of the car other than braking in the middle lane of a highway. Towed vehicle dealer found a blown engine fuse. They replaced the engine fuse. Two hours later, same scenario and same issue came back. Towed back to the dealer, and they believe its a grounding wire. Please investigate this issue. Could potentially translate into major accident or death.
Completely lost control of the vehicle (no power, no power steering) while driving 45mph on a 7 lane major street. Thankfully it was in the early morning hours and I was able to glide across the intersection to a side street where I turned the vehicle off and on and it resumed power. This has happened at least 4 more times since then, usually while idling at a red light.
Our routan was only going about 20 MPH after pulling out of parking places and turning in to main roads the power steering, brakes, gas all stop working the car becomes impossible to turn the wheel the brakes and gas both do not work and you have to coast to a stop once stopped you have put the van in park turn key off and restart the engine. This has now happened twice in a 2 week time frame extremely concerned with two young children in the back both in car seats. What happens if I am on a freeway and this happens at 60-70mph?
Engine shutdown-resulting in loss of steering. During normal driving speed between 15-25 MPH, engine shuts down (quits running) during turns (either direction) . Male driver of vehicle is retired law enforcement , trained in emergency procedures, during failure it takes extreme effort to maintain physical control of vehicle to bring to a stop. Vehicle will not restart when shifting to neutral while moving, ignition is on when failure occurs. Vehicle can be restarted after stopping and placing in park. Can reoccur without warning . Vehicle has been at volkswagen dealership for a total of three weeks as of this report. First diagnosis is vehicle ESC system (trouble code for faulty switch). No result. Failed again. Second trouble code indicates problem in dash assembly - waiting for parts expect another 6-10 days for repairs to start. Additional. Writers spouse lost control on 2/24 - into ditch lost a tire. Further incidents of engine shutdown over a period of two weeks during which vehicle has been in dealership for analysis until this last 3 week period. Again - during turns . The engine will shut off - no power with lost of steering control- in turns - living in west virginia - it is a serious safety problem.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 volkswagen routan. While making a right turn at 10 MPH the vehicle swerved to the right without effort. The anti-skid warning sensor illuminated on the instrument panel. After repeated brake application he was able to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer for inspection. The technician stated the failure was contributed to the steering angle sensor. No repairs were made because the part was unavailable. The failure and current mileages were 9,000. Updated 12/7/09 *cn updated 12/08/09
Driving approximately 25mph when the one month old vehicle just suddenly felt like someone slammed on the brakes. The vehicle came to a halt. The motor was still running. I got in the car again to move it out of the way and the same thing occurred. Immediately had it towed to the volkswagen dealership. There it stayed for 13 days. The following problems were repaired/replace: faulty transmission sensor, replaced sensor. Also, ABS steering angle sensor erratic performance. Faulty steering angle sensor. Replaced sensor.
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