Picked up the car from the dealer on 10/03/12 at 11:00 a.M. it was new---had 47 miles on the odometer. Drove it to work and then arrived home at 6:45 that evening with odometer reading 81 miles. As I was parking the car in the garage I put it into reverse to back it into the spot and then switched the gear(this is a automatic transmission) to drive to straighten out. The car continued to move backwards in reverse and if I had not had my foot on the brake I would have crashed into the concrete wall of the garage. Tried to put the car back into drive--the gear shift was stuck in reverse. I turned off the car and of course, could not start it again because the car was in reverse. The electrical panel on the dashboard continued to read that the car was in park. Tow truck driver arrived and he had to manually pull the cable wire in the engine while the car was running to change gears and get the car to start. This is a very serious problem---the dealer and Volkswagen claim it has been fixed by simply tightening a clasp on the transmission cable. Why was the clasp loose? I maintain this is a design flaw. If I had been trying to make a U turn in traffic or park on the street the result could have been horrific.. I am petrified to drive the car again and the dealership and Volkswagen want to sweep this incident under the rug. Please investigate and prevent this from happening to someone else. Thank you

- Washington D.C., DC, USA

Driving at about 50 mpg, engine control malfunction and engine light both came on at once and vehicle lost power all of the sudden. At this happened on the highway while passing a vehicle it could have ended in an accident.

- Orlando, FL, USA

After less than 3 minutes of operation, the vehicle can stall under a specific set of circumstances. The incidences (13 and counting in 2 months) always occur when in second or third gear at ~30-35 mpg. The driver is slowing down (as to stop at a red light) and then accelerates (light changes to green). About 2-3 seconds after acceleration begins the engine stalls and must be restarted. The engine just cuts out during acceleration.

- Burnsville, MN, USA

On 9 March 2012, I bought a VW tdi Jetta sportswagen with automatic transmission. From the time I took possession of the vehicle, the transmission bucked, hesitated, and lunged. I took the car back to the dealership on 26 April to have it examined, but they said that it was "normal" and there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. I told them that if that was normal, I was surprised that anyone would want to buy one. After 2 months of this, I took the car back and exchanged it for one with a manual transmission. I believe the so-called automatic transmission (which is really a manual transmission with 2 clutches controlled by a computer) is inherently dangerous.

- Aberdeen, MD, USA