The contact owns a 2006 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated that while driving 30 mph, the steering warning light illuminated on as the vehicle stalled. The contact was not able to restart the vehicle. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign I.D. number 05V540000 (steering) and called the manufacturer, who advised that the VIN was not included in the recall. The contact did not take the vehicle to a dealer or mechanic for a diagnostic test. The failure mileage was 120,000.

- Dyer, IN, USA

Went to start my car after work, it turned over and stalled immediately. I get the error message 'steering column lock is defective' followed by 3 loud beeps. This issue had me stranded for about a half hour until many times of trying, it finally started and ran. From what I have seen this is a very common issue and VW dealers are wanting on average $1800 to repair.

- Waterford, MI, USA

After starting car it would immediately stall this would happen over and over again until eventually it would start during this time I would see on the cars display a warning that the steering column lock was defective. This issue continues to happen intermittently and sometimes the key will get stuck in the ignition and until you get it out it will not allow you to try and restart the car. The key can be removed by pressing the button on the gear shift three times in succession. I found that bit of information on a car forum but not in the VW manual. After looking on the internet I have found that this is a pretty common issue with the VW Passat spanning several years.

- Overland Park, KS, USA

Got warning message that 'steering lock was defective'.

- Dartmouth, MA, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated that when driving at various speeds, the vehicle would stall with the illumination of the column steering lock warning light. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer were notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 83,000 and the current mileage was 85,000. The VIN was unavailable.

- Howell, NJ, USA

When I use the key to start my 2006 Volkswagen Passat it will not start, the steering wheel locks and the car immobilizes. I cannot start the car from 15 minutes to 1 hour. The key will not come out. When I call for help all anyone tells me is to turn the steering wheel to the left and right, but this does not work. I have encountered this problem about 3 to 5 times a day. I purchased this car in Sept. 2010 and this has happened every day since I purchased this car. When I took it back, I was told they could not find anything wrong and the car started. The engine light also comes on and they can't find anything wrong. As I write this, the car is immobolized in my garage and will not start, I have missed appointments over and over. I went on forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?3656214 to try to find out how to correct this and found out that several people has or has had this problem with their Volkswagen Passat and the solution seems to be to replace the steering column. I do not have any money to pay for such a big job, especially since I have not had this car for six months. This car was sold with this problem.

- Byron, GA, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Volkswagen Passat 346. The contact stated that while driving 35 mph the front end of the vehicle started shaking making it impossible for him to control the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to a local repair shop who stated that the left tie rod arm knot became loose. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but they refused to honor the recall ( 05V540000) since the VIN was not included. The failure and current mileages were 78,700.

- Imperial Beach , CA, USA

I got 2006 VW Passat 2.0T - 77,000miles. Last week, I got engine light came on during the drive and went to dealership and they checked computer system then fixed air filter housing. I paid $585. I don't understand how it can break, but I don't have choice. And next day on the driving it happen again and I went to dealership again. This time they told me PCV valve was not working so another fix cost $281. Last September I did regular maintenance service and they told me everything good. But after every month it happened again and again, first problem was steering columns......I paid $485 second problem was battery........I paid $130 third problem was engine light came on I paid $585 and this time another engine light came on $281 within two day. Now I knew VW cars are pieces of junks. It is really junks.

- Houston, TX, USA

I own a 2006 VW Passat 3.6, engine died suddenly after pulling out across a 45mph state route, after engine failed, there was no steering or brakes, had to push car out of traffic with my 2 young sons inside. Young VW, easton pa. Stated the failure as a oil pump bolt that had backed out and sheared off, causing the catastrophic engine failure. After some research I found 58 failure of this type of this same year and engine, at: forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?3462993-attn-3.6L-owners-has-your-engine-failed, - this is clearly an issue VW was aware of several years ago, as evidenced by the replacement or repair of so many, 58+ engines that I can document, and chooses not to recognize the issue, I believe due to financial reasons as this fix is $3,000 in labor alone. I contacted vwoa, (ref. # [xxx]) and VW ag, (,ref. No.: [xxx]) with this issue and neither had recognized this as a known issue, my vehicle is out of warranty, and VW estimated the repair at $12,800 for a rebuilt engine. Aside from being abusively expensive, this failure should not be allowed to occur randomly, in traffic or anywhere creating a very unsafe and life threatening situation, vwoa should be well aware of these potential problems with this year engine, by the many they have replaced or fixed and should make the public aware and effect a fix to prevent a loss of life due to this known engine defect. My VIN # [xxx], 2006 VW Passat 3.6L 4motion. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Walnutport, PA, USA

I am filing a complaint regarding the stalling issues I've experienced on my 2006 Volkswagen Passat 3.6L model. The description below is a historical account of the problem and how it progressed to the current state. I first noticed the issue around 8000 miles or so where the key fob would get stuck in the ignition. After reading some posts on vwforum, I worked around the intermittent issue by clicking the gear shift 3 times to disengage the key fob from the ignition. Around 24K mile or so, I noticed the stalling issue immediately after the car was started. This problem was intermittent as well and seemed to occur during extreme weather conditions - cold or hot. At this time, the error 'steering column failure' would register intermittently. Around 60K the problem progressed and the frequency of occurrence increased. I reported the issue to the dealership and they were not able to reproduce the issue. Looking back at the multiple blogs and forums on this topic, I believe the dealership should have been familiar enough with the issue that further research into the problem would have been warranted. I was not aware of the widespread issue at the time and did not insist on having the dealer research the issue while the car was still in warranty. The inspection fee was enough to deter me from pushing further specially if the problem could not be reproduced. Currently, at 88K miles, the problem of stalling when starting can be reproduced at will. There is a workaround posted on the same VW forums of specific steps to start the car that I'm currently using. Otherwise, the car does not start and the errors 'steering column failure 'immobilzer defective' is displayed consistently. We also experienced two instances of the car stalling while driving on the freeway. I believe this is caused by the same immobilizer error caused by the steering column failure as the two errors displayed when trying to restart. This is a serious and life threatening issue.

- Chula Vista, CA, USA

The problem that I am having with my 2006 Volkswagen Passat is that while I am driving the car shuts down completely. This has happened to me about five times this year. It has almost caused me to be in two accidents and to have to quickly pull off the road. The dealer wants me to pay $1,700 to repair it.

- West Babylon, NY, USA

2006 Volkswagen Passat - "steering column lock defective " error message. 1. car will not start immediately; sometimes up to 20 minutes after initiating the starting procedure. 2. failure occurs several times a week. Consequence for first incident was a lost contract for an independent consulting position. Car is currently out of service requiring me to use public transportation and/or walk to work and appointments. 3. issue has not been corrected. Car is currently out of service.

- Ashland, KY, USA

My car is 2006 VW Passat - 2.0T. Around 60,000miles, car became increasingly harder to start. But it works. And at 75,000miles it looks like the battery died and "steering column lock" is defective. So I talked to the dealership service guy, he told me the battery had low voltage. So I changed, but it happened same problem with new battery. I don't know what happened only my car or other VW also has same problem. I have 73,000 miles, I did it regular maintenance service, after that the car wasn't the same because wheel side had more noise but I trusted dealership. Dealership didn't say anything, so I thought everything was ok. But the same problem happened. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Houston, TX, USA

2006 VW Passat "defective steering column lock" warning sign and the car won't start at once.

- Santa Rosa, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Volkswagen Passat. While driving approximately 75 mph, the vehicle stalled. The contact pulled over but the vehicle would not restart after several attempts. Then a steering column light illuminated. After ten more attempts, the vehicle restarted; the contact took the vehicle to the dealer where the contact was informed that the steering column modular needed to be replaced. The failure was intermittent and became progressively worse. The key also became stuck in the ignition because of the failure. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 56,000 and the current mileage was approximately 90,000.

- Clinton, MD, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated that the steering wheel locked. The contact stated a little red light blinked on and off and the power steering failed. The contact looked in the manual and it stated that if this light came on that the steering wheel would lock. The manual stated that the coils in the dashboard control the steering and dashboard functions. The vehicle was unable to be towed since everything locked, including the wheels. The VIN was not available. The failure and current mileages were 37000.

- Fall River, MA, USA

2006 VW Passat has intermittent problems starting (steering column lock, etc - same as everyone else) and then one day while driving @ 55 mph, my car died. I had to try and get over to the side of the road. Very scary! I tried to restart with no luck and just about the time I was ready to give up, I tried one more time (while waiting for aaa to answer the phone) and it worked. I've had it into my mechanic several times for the starting issue and the dealer gave me the "replace the whole steering column" thing. I have been holding off bc its so expensive and I can go for weeks or even months without having the problem, then it flares up again in spades. My biggest concern now is the motor cutting out on me again while I'm driving. There should be a recall based on the hundreds of complaints for this same issue.

- Foothill Ranch, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated the ignition would only start after several attempts. The "steering wheel lock defective" message lluminated on the instrument panel intermittently. The failure occurred seven times. The dealer was notified of the failures and the contact was informed that there was not a problem if the warning indicator did not remain illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 38,000.

- Winter Park, FL, USA

I had a steering wheel lock defective warning light come up in my car, the car also would not start. After numerous attempts, it started. I called my dealer and he said he had no knowledge of the car having this problem. Volkswagen of american too had no knowledge of this problem. I googled the problem online and found thousands of people having this problem no only here in the states but all over the whole where the car was sold. My car only had the warning and the no start problem. But many others were complaining that the car would shut down while traveling at a high rate of speed. I can't believe Volkswagen won't acknowledge the problem. My car is a 2006 Passat with only 38,000 miles. Something should be done here.

- Winter Park , FL, USA

My car has had starting issues since I have had it. Sometimes, everytime I would try to start it would not start and give me the "locked steering column" message. It would stop doing this for several months and then start again. Finally, after 100,000 it stopped completely and would not start. It is $600 to fix it but it seems like a lot of people have this issue and they had a recall on the steering column. What can I do?

- Atlanta, GA, USA