I wos driving from work to home I took the parkway I wos going 60 miles then in his own the car starting increasing speed so I move the shoulder I put the car neutral and stop the car.the took me 3 try to the car go back to normal. I dont know if this car got I recall.

- Forked River, NJ, USA

Passat began to accelerate under no pressure to pedal. Passat started to accelerate fairly slowly but steadily at first, then it increased. It wasn't possible to decelerate/no pressure on the brake pedal stopped the acceleration. It began to reach an unsafe speed then I began to downshift and to apply the brake in sequence to slow the Passat, then I tried to slow the vehicle to coast it onto the shoulder, but the speed remained too high to halt the car. Having no other way to slow the vehicle, I started to downshift and to apply extreme pressure to the breaks, and was able to slow the vehicle enough after several miles of downshifting and riding the breaks to reach a point at which I could shift the car into neutral, then began coasting it up a long driveway while the engine continued to race and rev. I then dropped the car into neutral and engaged the emergency break, then forced the trans into park and shut the Passat off. The front breaks were both glowing, with the driver's side having burst into flames as a result of the friction and heat from having ridden them for several miles. Shop that examined the Passat assessed that the throttle body control module had failed and wasn't communicating with the main on-board computer, and that this type of problem had been seen before on other Volkswagen models of the same era. Technician indicated that this was the third time that he'd seen this failure. It apparently usually results in the car coming to a stop although there are other cases customers reported that resulted in the uncontrolled acceleration that I experiences. The breaks and other internal components were significantly damaged as a result of the accident/throttle body failure, and the vehicle had to be scrapped. Someone should research this further as this is a potentially fatal issue. Please contact me if any further information is required to investigate.

- Sharpsburg, MD, USA

1999 VW Passat glx accelerated on its own and would not stop when brakes were pressed or car was put into neutral. Car accelerated on its own and speed kept increasing. Extremely dangerous and I was unable to stop the vehicle by pressing the brakes. Car accelerated on its own.

- Boston, MA, USA

Winter 2008-2009 had several times when car would accelerate on it's own. Brakes did not help. Only way to stop is to apply brakes with both feet and slow down enough to pull over and put in neutral, which makes tac go over 7000 RPM's. had throttle body cleaned and reset in spring of 2009 but problem recurred again this year. On Monday, Feb. 8, 2010 temperature was in low teens. Warmed car for approx. 7 min. Drove slowly due to bad road conditions and at approx. 3 miles into drive car started accelerating again on its own and no place to pull off. Had to stop in extremely dangerous position and pray I wasn't hit before I could safely start car again. Finally able to restart engine after approx. 5 min. Without revving problem but approx. 2 miles later car again accelerated on it's own. Took to dealer and they did a general diagnosis which showed nothing. This is an extremely dangerous situation and makes me extremely nervous to drive my car. VW of America states that my car was not in any recall and they are unaware of any problem with my car and could not divulge if they received any other complaints.

- Smithsburg, MD, USA

2pm in southern California with perfect driving conditions.... driving about 30 mph down city surface street - when all of the sudden the car accelerated to 60mph - very scary - 1999 VW Passat glx car is a bit over 115K miles in excellent condition. Car was pulled over after braking and pulling up emergency brake - car continued revving until car was quickly turned off. Popped hood - let engine cool for 10 - 15 minutes - tried to restart but car revved again so shut it off and will have repair shop retrieve it & bring to shop to get looked at. Too scared to drive again. First time it happened since purchasing car a few months ago.

- San Diego, CA, USA

The contact owns a 1999 Volkswagen Passat. While driving approximately 65 mph on normal road conditions, the accelerator pedal became stuck when it was depressed. There was unintended acceleration and the engine revved excessively high and uncontrollably. The vehicle came to a complete stop when the contact applied both feet on the brake pedal. The vehicle resumed normal operation and was driven with caution. The vehicle has not been repaired. The failure mileage was 160,000 and the current mileage was unavailable. Updated 3/19/09 updated 03/23/09.

- Storrs , CT, USA

Car accelerator pedal locks up when decelerate and accelerating when making a "U" turns.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

- the contact called regarding the 1999 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated that the vehicle began to accelerate on its own and the contact was unable to stop the vehicle by braking. The contact stated that the driver had to weave in and out of traffic to avoid hitting other vehicles. The vehicle eventually jumped the curb and struck a fence. There were no injuries. The side air bag deployed. The failure mileage was 120,000. There was no police report filed. Updated 04/05/07.

- Baltimore, MD, USA

In September of 2006 I purchased a 1999 Volkswagen Passat from Suburban collections at the troy motor mall in troy, Michigan. About two weeks ago I experienced severe problems as I was on my way into work. My car took on a mind of it's own. As I turned the corner onto w. 13 mile road in royal oak, Michigan my car started to accelerate rather quickly. Before I knew it was going 60 mph, without even hitting the gas at all. The most frightening part of all of this was that my brakes wouldn't work do to the fact that the engine was still accelerating. As I pulled off the road and put the car into park the RPM's immediately red lined and the engine was reving. Needless to say I took the vehicle to the Volkswagen dealership at the troy motor mall. The dealership two days later then told me that I needed to have the throttle body replaced. Oddly enough, after this occurred two hours later my car was finished? I picked the car up that Friday and drove it for exactly one week without any further problems. Well, I got into my car on Friday as I usually do and once again my car began to fun by itself. I was extremely frightened driving down rochester road going 70 mph with no available way to stop my car. I made it home safely and contacted my dealership once again. The strange thing is that the same day I received a notice in the mail on Friday saying that my part (throttle body) was in at the dealership ready for replacement. So all in all, the Volkswagen dealership presented me with false documentation stating that my throttle body had been replaced when in fact it hadn't been and to boot, those people at the dealership sent me away driving a reckless vehicle knowing full well that the problem had not been resolved. I hit curbs, experienced extreme emotional anxiety attempting to drive, stop and control my car. Due to the lack of prompt remediation of my vehicle there have probably been more problems added to the vehicle because the original problem was never fixed but was known about.

- Rochester Hills, MI, USA

On the evening of January 25, 2007 I was driving home when I noticed that my car was not slowing down when I released pressure from the gas pedal. It then became apparent to me that the car was still accelerating despite the fact that my foot was not on the gas pedal. I shifted the vehicle into neutral and the tachometer showed that the engine was revving in the 5,000 RPM range without my foot on the gas pedal. I managed to get the car off of the road and turned the vehicle off while the transmission was in neutral, then shifted to park. I attempted several times to restart the car, but each time the engine immediately revved up to the 5,000 RPM range as if the gas pedal was floored. After about 4 attempts of shutting down the car and restarting the engine finally idled as is should upon start up and I was able to finish my drive home without further incident.

- Glenshaw, PA, USA

The contact stated without warning vehicle accelerated to over 100 mph. After the first incident the throttle cable was replaced. A month later it happened again, the dealer made repairs to the cable. The vehicle has been returned to the dealer a third time for the same problem. Currently the dealer was unable to duplicate the problem, and no additional repairs were made.

- Glens Falls, NY, USA

When stopped, car will rev up over 3000 RPM without my touching the accelerator. Feels like car is going to take off, right into an intersection. Have had to turn off ignition to avoid a potential accident. It also occasionally accelerates while driving even once my foot is off the accelerator and not in cruise control mode.

- Knoxville, TN, USA

Our 1999 Passat with the 1.8 liter engine stalls repeatedly when decelerating, this is dangerous. We purchased the car new and had a problems before 20,000 miles. VW cannot diagnose this problem. I took VW to the BBB since they were very uncooperative in repairing this problem, and then they changed the throttle body. Then the problem went away for a few years and is now back and VW again refuses to replace the throttle body. The throttle body is obviously defective and they will not admit that there is a problem or fix it.

- Fairfield, CA, USA

Approximately six to eight times since the car was bought, as the car was brought to a stop the engine raced with the tachometer rising to about 2200, and it required maximum force on the brake pedal to prevent the car from accelerating into a stopped car ahead or into a barrier or intersection. If the transmission was shifted into park or neutral, the tachometer swung up into the range of 6000 to 7000, and then dropped back to its normal idling speed of 750. Only then did the car stop pulling dangerously. This has been reported to the dealer three times, and on one occasion he held it for three days, hoping to have a mechanic experience the problem, but the problem occurs too infrequently to reproduce it. The dealer has never been able to provide any repair, and the problem still exists, ocurring most recently on 10/1201.

- Silver Spring, MD, USA

While driving 60 mph vehicle accelerated to 85 mph. Consumer applied brakes. It took 1-2 miles for vehicle to slow down, and engine to stop revving. Vehicle still at dealer.

- Oakland, CA, USA

While driving the vehicle suddenly accelerated which may have caused a crash. Driver had to place vehicle in neutral in order to stop. Dealer could not determine cause. Common problem.

- Buckner, MO, USA

Vehicle suddenly accelerated on its own at least 4 times, each time while decelerating/braking on highway exit ramp after cruise control system malfunctioned earlier. Also, the cruise control system fails to resume and reset. Dealer reset readiness codes, but the problem still reoccurred. Dealer will not replace any parts until problems can be confirmed. The consumer states that the cruise- set button was so stiff that brushing it would cause the driver to switch on the left turn signal.

- St. Louis, MO, USA

Cruise control worked intermittently, and it will engage without application. Problem was reported to the dealership. Vehicle has been worked on three times. Dealer was not able to locate what was causing this problem.

- Normal, IL, USA

When applying brakes to make a normal stop vehicle will lurch forward before it comes to a complete stop. Dealer cannot determine cause.

- Alexandria, VA, USA

Accelerating, could not stop auto with brakes. Shifted auto transmission to neutral, engine revved, pressed accelerator, engine went to idle.

- Marysville, PA, USA