3.5
definitely annoying- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 36,754 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
Failure to warn.for safety reasons, 2004 Volkswagen vehicles equipped with a 100-hp tdi diesel engine option require use of a special engine oil for all oil changes and topping off of the oil level. Volkswagen has stated that for these engines, "failure to use engine oil for your engine that expressly conforms to Volkswagen oil standard $505.01 can cause engine failure on the highway that can cause a crash and serious personal injury" however, this information was not conveyed to me by Volkswagen. The owner's manual supplied with the car acutally requires use of a non-conforming oil specification, and contains no safety warning. Other owners have received the correct information either in their owner's manuals, or by means of an adhesive yellow and red warning label affixed in the engine compartment. My vehicle also lacks the warning label. Volkswagen has issued a service bulletin 17-03-01 dated Sept 17, 2003 which discusses the requirement for the special oil, but only in the context of warranty coverage and not safety. To attempt to obtain safety warning labels for my vehicle, I have made several contacts with both the dealer and Volkswagen customer care. At this time the dealer is attempting to obtain the stickers for me. The label is identified by Volkswagen as: 241.oilsticker.diesel.pdengine.21 (copyright) 2003 Volkswagen of America, Inc however, while researching the oil information it became apparent to me that there are other Volkswagen owners with the same engine series who are also unaware of the safety warning, and will be until Volkswagen takes the initiative to provide the information.
- Lindsborg, KS, USA
- Glennville, GA, USA