I got locked inside the car on a hot day with my kid! I sat in the back to play with him and keep him company. The door closed and it would not unlock no matter how many times I would pull on the lever. I was pinched between the child seat, the driver's seat (I keep it pulled back quite a bit) and the door. I could barely move. My wife had to unlock the door from the outside. The door lock/latch mechanism has (since this incident) failed on both rear doors. Both!!! we can no longer lock the car without spending 10-15 minutes opening, closing, working the remote etc, until it finally produces the desired beep with the car being actually locked. The door would close, the alarm would be activated but the rear door (passenger side) would remain unlocked. I pull on the handle, the door opens and the alarm goes off. We are almost at the point where we might have to take the child out of the car via the front doors. I am not even talking about the car probably getting stolen over this. This is a serious child hazard! there are dozens of threads on VW forums about these mechanisms failing either on: 1. electrical harness being damaged. Or 2. door lock/latch not activating or deactivating. Or both how long is VW going to ignore this massive problem. The dealership wants $450 in parts and labor for 1 door. That's almost a $1000 for a problem that is very common. Very.

- Duluth, GA, USA

The back passenger side door lock quit working and the door won't lock at all. Anybody can open the door and hurt your child or still the car. I called the dealer here in austin, tx today, and they told me that is a very common problems with the Jetta model and it has happened to hundreds of costumers. The electric locks quit working. This is a safety issue and clearly a manufacturers defect that should be a recall.

- Manor, TX, USA

The led mirror turn signal and the front bumper orange illuminated safety reflector both on the driver's side of the vehicle simultaneously stopped working. I'm unsure if this is due to fuse issues or computer related electrical issues. A safety problem is posed when they're not working.

- Lakewood, OH, USA

My vehicle passenger door(s) will not respond to the keyless entry lock or unlock commands. They can only close and open manually. I have read several different forums and this seems to be a standard default in model years ranging from 2007 and onward. The sunroof will periodically open by itself and the blinkers do not function properly (example is when I flick the blinker up to make a right turn, the left blinker comes on instead). Why hasn't there been a recall to replace these faulty, and life threatening, issues?

- Clermont, FL, USA

Drivers side door lock actuator failed to lock or unlock the door, alarm horn fails to sound when alarm is activated. Rear driver's door lock actuator failed to lock or unlock the door. The rear drivers door doesn't have an external key hole to unlock door and the only way to open the door is from the inside. In the event of an accident with a child in a child safety seat, this could result in a delay of removing the child from a potentially dangerous situation. The Volkswagen manufacturer/dealership charges between $450 to $550 per actuator. After an extensive search of the internet and numerous forums, this actuator repair is more common than Volkswagen would like anyone to believe. This part is kept in stock at dealerships and they are vague when questioned about the frequency of repair. This appears to be more a problem with newer models. I've owned a used 2003 VW Jetta for over 5 years now and haven't needed an actuator yet.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

I was driving to work one morning and it started to smell like something was burning. I thought maybe it was just a weird smell in my vents but within 10 minutes of driving a cloud of smoke filed the driver side of my car. Luckily I was not on the highway yet and I was able to pull over and shut off the car. Not knowing where the smoke came from I immediately got out of the car. It when then that I looked down and saw the source of the smoke, there was a quarter size hole in my driver seat. I had been driving with the seat heater on and it caught fire. Luckily I was not injured and was able to quickly get off the road and discover the issue however I have read other complaints of similar events and yet no recall.

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

I have a 2008 Jetta and I started experiencing problems with 1 door. My car was still under warranty and the lock was replaced at the dealership. Then only months later I started having similar problems randomly (the lock would work some times but not others). Everytime I stopped at the dealership to have it fixed the lock worked- therefore they could not diagnose which door had a problem. The lock failed everytime and when I returned to the dealership, the car was no longer under warranty. The dealership said the locks can go bad and quoted me a cost of $400 to repair. After having one door "fixed" only to have another lock fail after months later seems excessive. At this point I have not replaced the second lock. It is frustrating to see a car with four doors have problem with two of the doors! at a cost of $400 to replace I felt there must be a larger issue that needs attention. We keep our car in the garage, the door that is now in need of repair is rarely used. This is a serious issue as the locks serve as the first line of defense in personal protection and anti-theft. After searching on line and seeing others with similar issues, I felt it was important to report this. I trust you will promptly follow up and assist me in resolving this issue.

- Hartford, WI, USA

This vehicle was purchased approximately September 2008, and to date has experienced five (5) failures of the electronic door locking/unlocking mechanisms of three of the four doors of the vehicle and in some case multiple failures. I am currently experiencing failure number six (6). The failure of the locking/unlocking mechanisms is a safety issue as these failure have at time prevented being able to exit the vehicle and in the case of an emergency it is a serious threat to my safety. Additionally, I'm unable to lock the vehicle whenever I go anywhere thus putting anything in the vehicle at risk of loss from theft. The dealer's solution is to replace the locking mechanisms as they fail and as the vehicle is no longer under warranty it's cost roughly $370 per incident. Below is a summary of the failures experienced thus far. I have copies of the service records available. 2008 Jetta door lock failures: Date ro # item responsible partycost 11/16/09 116190drivers side front door lock replaced warranty 03/02/10 118212left rear door lock replaced warranty 08/03/10 121525right rear door lock diagnosed warranty 08/06/10 121609right rear door lock replaced warranty 06/01/11 129079left rear door lock diagnosis customer paid $69 06/01/11 129247left rear door lock replaced customer paid $303.09 10/18/11 132986drivers side front door lock replaced customer paid $367.25 03/15/12 right rear door lock beginning to fail. Door lock failureoccurances drivers side front 2 left rear 2 right rear 2

- Fort Wayne, IN, USA

I first took my car to the dealership June 1st for an obvious rattling noise in between my front tires. On June 15th back to the dealership for them to replace my bushings but problem still existed so they ordered pins for caliper bracket. In July after replacing struts the problem still existed. Aug 31st they replaced the sway bar and declared the problem was resolved. When I got in my car the problem still existed and they had left my car out of alignment it was almost impossible to drive. Sept 14th I returned back to the dealership for the same problem. They replaced both sway bars. The problem was finally resolved after losing my car for 6 full days, however my brake lights were on. They assured me it was just a coincidence, the service guy discovered the tech had forgotten to connect my brakes back. I did not file a formal complaint at this time because I was so relieved they had finally fixed my suspension issue. Ive had to buy 2 brand new sets of tires since June because of all the ware on my tires from my messed up suspension. Today, Jan 3rd 2012 my car is back in the shop yet again. This time for a rear passanger side door lock that had been set on child lock will no longer lock. Ordered the part, since my car is no longer under warranty the part with labor 360. In the meantine the tech discovered an oil leak. The dealership is now saying my vaccum pump is leaking and is no longer under warranty for them to fix it. Their quote 960. I checked on the part its 257 new. Even though I didn't file a complaint or cost them money when they forgot to connect my brakes bake they are going to charge me 700 dollars in labor. My car is only a 2008 and has been in the shop more in one year than any of my other cars combined. It is daily a safety hazard because of the lingering of fixing my car right the very first day I took it to the dealership June of 2010.

- Barboursville, WV, USA

Every morning my 2008 VW Jetta 2.0T is very hard to start. Sometimes when the car is trying to start it stalls in the middle of starting. www.youtube.com/watch?V=_tgw53yvlqa&feature=youtube_gdata_player.

- Winter Garden, FL, USA

December 13, 2010. The check engine light came on. Metro VW service diagnosed an ignition miss. They replaced (1) ignition coil on cylinder #2 with a different type of ignition coil than the original. The "new version" ignition coil has insulation where the original coil did not. February 8, 2011, approximately, two months later, the check engine light came on again. At least one of the three original ignition coils is failing, causing an ignition miss, and needs to be replaced. The original ignition coils are not performing as originally designed. The original ignition coils should be recalled and replaced with the new versoin ignition coils at the manufacturers expense.

- Frisco, TX, USA

2008 VW Jetta 2.5L engine stalls and epc light illuminates.

- Trinity, TX, USA

Drivers heated seat activated on its own. Control switch on dash was set at 0, drive received moderate burns to legs and buttock. Removed fuse and took vehicle to dealer. Nothing found, dealer suggested if the seat heats up again, bring vehicle directly to the dealer, do not shut it off. Burns are similar to a bad sunburn, some redness, no blisters.

- Saint John, IN, USA