i was driving down the freeway on the way to work at 75 mph when all of a sudden my EPC went off in my 2013 volkswagon gti my entire car shut down (manual transmission) i lost all steering ability while on the freeway going 75 mph i couldn't get over to the shoulder due to loss of brakes due to entire car shutting down.i was almost smashed by a semi due to inability to steer my vehicle to total loss of power. i got the vehicle towed to a service shop they tell me that my timing chain had stretched and timing chain tensioner has failed, which caused significant damage to my engine. i bought the vehicle used and have taken meticulous car on it since i have owned it 3k oil changes, proper oil, proper, premium gas as notated milage based maintenance. the service center then notifies me that there was a class action lawsuit about failing timing chains and tensioners but when i called my local volkswagon dealership they told me it only covers up to125,000 miles but what i don't understand is that this issue almost cost me my life this is a known issue hence a class action lawsuit but to actually take care of the situation they refuse to do so i do enjoy the vehicle but i almost lost my life

- Warren, OH, USA

Car shut off while driving on the freeway at a high rate of speed. EPS and Check Engine light came on. Luckily was able to pull over without hurting anyone. Local repair shop said it is the timing chain system.

- Santee, CA, USA

Misfiring after cold starts. After driving the car in freezing temperatures, problem sometimes happens when the car is allowed to sit and water in the intercooler melts. It may start fine, but then starts misfiring when pulling into traffic and creates dangerous merges. Misfire goes away in the first 30 seconds to 2 minutes or so of starting the vehicle. Several dealer complaints but they have so far refused to install their own TSB repair under warranty. The most recent dealer visit had them replace the anti-shudder valve. The problem reoccurred two days later.

- Columbus, OH, USA

The problem started about three months ago when my car had 50K mi. Right after it had been serviced by the dealer. Initially, the yellow engine light would come on occasionally (e.g. on in the morning and then off in the afternoon). Now the yellow engine light is steady on and the engine makes some weird noise when starting. The fault code P2015 (from obd-II diagnostic set) indicates that there is an intake manifold failure. The intake manifold is making an unusual rattling noise when the engine is running idle and fuel performance has been affected. The car used to run 27.5 mpg and now it is running about 24 mpg on average. Some of the forums and internet sites that I visited said that this problem occurs so frequently on the 2.0T tsi engine used on VW gti and Audi A3 between 2009 and 2015 that VW extended the warranty for this part to 120K mi. Or 5 yrs. (whichever comes first). However, when I took my car to the local dealer the mechanic said that, after checking the VIN, this recall/warranty does not apply to my car. People on the internet says otherwise and told me to try another dealer. Unfortunately, there is no other dealer nearby. The local dealer wants $ $1,400 to replace the manifold and clean the injection valve. My car has been serviced only by this dealer. I have the service records of all scheduled maintenance.

- Ventura, CA, USA

The epc started coming on, it loses power and sometimes cuts off while I am driving. My speed slows down to 3 miles an hour.

- Savannah, GA, USA

Timing chain tensioner failure at highway speeds. Loss of engine power, braking and steering

- Olympia, WA, USA

The contact owns a 2013 Volkswagen Golf. While driving approximately 65 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning and the check engine indicator illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed, but the technician could not determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 112,700.

- Westlake, CA, USA

Driving at highway speed (60mph) engine shut down abrubtly and glow plug warning light came on. This resulted in having to coast across three lanes of traffic with difficulty in steering and braking to narrow shoulder area. Engine would crank over but not restart. Vehicle towed to dealer. Diagnosis is high pressure fuel pump failure, a known issue with these vehicles.

- West Islip, NY, USA

On 5 Aug 2015, at approximately 9:00 pm, my 2013 VW Golf tdi suddenly died while driving down a major thoroughfare in lexington, ky. I narrowly escaped being hit by a tractor trailer in the rear end when the car died. I had previously put $20 worth of diesel fuel in the car earlier that morning so the car had been driven approximately 40 miles after fueling before the car suddenly died. After the car died, it would not restart so I had the car towed to the local VW dealer in lexington, ky. I went back to the dealer the next morning (6 Aug) and dropped off the key and explained to the assistant service manager (merritt) what had happened. I called the service dept back around 3:30 later that day to check on the status and was informed that the high pressure fuel pump (hpfp) had failed. They told me that they were still diagnosing the car to determine the extent of damage and what parts were going to need replaced. Since the hpfp is a known issue in the VW diesel models, he recommended that I call corporate VW of America and open a new case which I did and provided the case number back to the dealership. Yesterday (7 Aug), I got word from the dealership that the entire fuel supply system had metal shavings in it and that all major parts were going to need replaced, fuel pump, injectors, fuel lines, etc and that the estimated bill has going to be between 5-7 thousand dollars. VW of America also contacted me yesterday and let me know that they had been in contact with the lexington dealership and told me that they would let me know by Monday, 10 Aug if they would cover the parts and labor past the warranty expiration date since the hpfp failure is a known issue on the Volkswagen tdi models. I will update this as I receive new information. I am retired military and a current federal government employee.

- Winchester, KY, USA

I was sitting in traffic and when I began to accelerate the car just died in the middle of the road. I turned on my hazard lights for people could go around me so I could figure out how to get to safety. As soon as the car died I tried to turn the key to get it started again. Once I did that a bunch of lights came on and got a clicking sound once I turned the key. I then quickly put the car in park and was able to start the engine. Could be a very dangerous situation if this happened while trying to cross a dangerous intersection. I told dealer and they wrote it up but found nothing.

- Santa Rosa Beach, FL, USA

I drive 50 miles one way to work. Drove car to work and parked for the day (6 am), went out after work to start car and car would not turn over. Car acted as if the motor was locked, car is a manual drive so I left car in gear and rolled back ward to bump motor. Car attempted to start and when finally started it ran very rough. Read on internet regarding possible intercooler issue and took car to dealer. Dealer found a large amount of water in intercooler. Dealer unaware of tsb for this issue but was able to find in VW data base. Tsb equipment was installed, car has worked fine until this even after work same symptoms only car did not require bumping of motor.

- Campobello , SC, USA

Driving in freeway traffic at around 35-40 mph. Prior, to this incident, car has been well maintained and trouble free. Engine died, subsequently power steering stopped working and I needed to steer vehicle to shoulder of road. I consider myself to be an experienced driver and was able to adjust to situation, concerned that a less experienced driver could have had an accident in the same situation.

- Laguna Niguel , CA, USA

When I turned the key to start the car, the dash lights flickered and turned dim. It sounded like it does when the car battery was dead but smoke started to come out from under the hood. As I left to get to the phone, flames started to come out of the hood. I got to a phone as soon as I could and called 911. The car was parked down the street from our house because of a snow storm. The fire department came and put out the fire but the car was destroyed.

- Portland, OR, USA

After exiting the freeway, I was driving in stop and go traffic and the engine cut out without warning. I was unable to change lanes due to lack of power and power steering, so I tried to re-start the engine while coasting in the fast lane. The hud indicated that I had to put the car in park, so I stopped the car in the fast lane in order to do so. The engine started and I was able to drive away. The car was 6 weeks old at the time, and had about 1100 miles on the odometer.

- Woodside Rd., CA, USA