10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 1
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 54,435 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.
The contact owns a 2006 Volkswagen Jetta tdi. The contact stated that while driving at highway speeds, the clutch suddenly failed and depressed straight to the floor. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer and they advised the contact that the clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had not been notified. The failure and current mileages were approximately 63,000. The VIN was unavilable.
- Boston, MA, USA
2006 VW Jetta tdi : re: Critical clutch failure on highway that could cause serious crash. Clutch complete failed at 62,000 miles - clutch went to floor and would not pop back out. Completely unusable and stuck in traffic and unable to shift gears. Had to have vehicle towed to dealer. 46 other complaints of this same issue at www.aboutautomobile.com/complaint.2006/Volkswagen/Jetta/clutch.
- Forest, VA, USA
69,000 mile clutch failure seems to be common place but no recall or offer to assist in the cost of repairs.
- Lakeland, FL, USA
1 clutch pedal when depressed stays down. 2 intermittent 3, fly wheel damage, return bearing damage, cost of repair $2400.
- Snellville, GA, USA
The dmf flywheel on 2006 Volkswagen Jetta tdi comes apart. Mine separated and was scraping so I stopped driving it until I received the new flywheel and clutch. It started with a scraping sound that happened more frequent everyday and a little louder. After 5 days I realized it was coming from the flywheel. There are numerous problems with these I have found on freds tdi page. Most were from a different flywheel manufacturer and I was surprised to see mine was made by sachs these can cause serious damage to a vehicle if it breaks apart. This car seems really well made and is alot of fun to drive. I have been real happy with it but think this should not have happened and could be dangerous.
- Alexandria, VA, USA
Purchased a 2006 VW Jetta tdi, used, with 61,800 miles. Clutch felt weird to me when I purchased the car but thought it was normal. Less then two weeks after purchase I noticed gears slipping. The dealership diagnosed worn clutch disk and damaged throw-out bearing. A properly manufactured clutch assembly should not fail at 61,000 miles, if ever. From what I've read it may be due to bad design of the dual mass flywheel, which over-heats the disk and causes damage. This is a serious issue which may cause sudden loss of control of your vehicle while driving down the highway. Many drivers are not "in-tune" with their vehicle and may not recognize the problem until a serious accident like this does happen. The issue is rampant, and seems it may be inevitable for most 2006 VW builds. forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?T=137014.
- El Dorado, KS, USA
Clutch failure, problem disengaging clutch.
- Ames, IA, USA
At approximately 79K miles my 2006 VW Jetta tdi began to rattle loudly in the engine compartment at idle and low rpms. Significant engine shudder also. The dealer reports that the dual-mass flywheel and pressure plate have failed. Flywheel failure is a serious safety defect. This is a known issue and VW has replaced this flywheel with a more reliable design. Believe this dmf has already been a safety recall in europe and australia, but being called normal wear and tear in the U.S.
- Fredericksburg, VA, USA
At 72K our 2006 VW Jetta tdi began to make a loud intermittent rattle in the engine compartment. The dealer says the flywheel failed it is a dual-mass flywheel that I see sometimes fragments, damaging the housing or even the transmission. We had no fragmenting but consider flywheel failure a serious safety defect. VW dealer wants to install a new dmf!
- Mt. Laurel, NJ, USA
2006 Jetta tdi 2/ 68K began shuddering at stop lights. Dealer claims the two-piece flywheel and clutch assembly is a weak design. Owner reports online claim loss of clutch (pedal falling to floor) while driving. My car will not be operated until repaired for the sake of safety.
- Summerville, SC, USA
2006 Volkswagen Jetta 54000 miles 5 speed manual transmission. I was driving and while exiting a freeway offramp I depressed the clutch to disengage the transmission. Clutch pedal went to the floor and would not come back up and it did not disengage the transmission. The car would not stop, as I could not put the car in neutral. Very dangerous!
- Alamo, CA, USA
2006 VW Jetta tdi transmission and motor failures.
- Marsyville, , OH, USA
2006 VW Jetta tdi w/ 14,000 miles approaching a yield, the clutch was depressed. The clutch stuck to the floor of the vehicle causing the vehicle to loose all transmission function. The vehicle coasted to the side of the road and was towed to the dealer. It has been identified that some sachs clutch components have a developmental (friction material) flaw which cause premature clutch disc wear.the dealer determined the transmission failure was due to driver error. Friction material flaw on clutch plate or pressure plate which leads to burnt, shredded, or missing clutch plate material on clutch plate. This should be covered by my warranty. Especially since there is only 14,000 miles. This problem has been reported by hundreds of 06 tdi owners and VW continues to accept responsibility for their flawed equipment.
- Manchester, NJ, USA
The contact has a 2006 Volkswagen Jetta. He stated that the vehicle was surging from second gear and also became hesitant and wasn't shifting gears when it should have been. While driving 70mph going up a hill he lost all power to the vehicle and it felt as if it was in neutral. After losing power it took about five seconds to reset it self. The warning lights illuminated on the instrument panel with codes. The vehicle was taken to a dealer the codes where removed. He was informed that the failure occurred from the usg in the transmission. The vehicle is currently at the dealer being worked on. The failure mileage was 68,000
- Jefferson, MD, USA
Knocking sound from passenger front, brought vehicle into dealer, they said they didn't hear any knocking. Less than a month later it got extremely worse, I took it to another shop & was told it was something serious & needed to have dealership look at it. When I returned to the dealership they took 2 days to tell me what the issue was after having to remove engine, I was told it was the flywheel & clutch had to be replaced because the flywheel damaged the clutch. Very expensive repair & after being told about this website & seeing all these complaints I called VW & they refused to acknowledge this issue even with all these complaints.
- Apache Junction, AZ, USA
I noticed a noise coming from my engine/drivetrain along with severe engine shaking. I immediately took the vehicle to the mechanic and was informed that there were several "technical service bulletins" regarding the flywheel and clutch in my vehicle. All of the bulletins acknowledged known problems with the flywheel and clutch parts. After removing the transmission to inspect the problem further it was discovered that the flywheel disintegrated causing $3800 in damage. The manufacturer was contacted by the repair facility and refused to cover the repair charges.
- Montgomery, TX, USA
Clutch completely failed, as well as flywheel. No warning, just a catastrophic failure. Fortunately, at a stop light, so no one was injured. However, if this had happened while driving down the road, could have resulted in death. Although this failure is occurring quite frequently (in cars with as little as 400 miles on them), manufacturer has done nothing to remedy situation, either to correct it or to come up with a new design. Currently awaiting response from manufacturer, but no resolution to date.
- Richmond, TX, USA
Dual mass flywheel failure on 2006 VW Jetta tdi with dsg transmission. Research shows this is not an isolated incident. Recalled in other countries. Dangerous and very expensive situation. Worthy of investigation and recall. Thanks
- Afton, MN, USA
Dual mass flywheel failed at 70,000 miles. Grease leaked out of flywheel and was all over bell housing. Was unable to rotate flywheel access holes to get access to retaining bolts and had to cut flywheel off. The clutch friction plate had plenty of usable surface left and (based on comparison with new replacement) could have gone about double the miles.
- Monticello, MN, USA
- Hilliard, OH, USA