This car is out right dangerous.my wife is driving on the express way 70 miles an hour the emergency brakes come on to her surprise and lock up.thank goodness is was able to get it to the offside without incident.it seems this a common thing with this model, the gas pedal also cuts in and out unexpectedly causing the car to jerk violently in traffic. Ive just about had it with this thing.

- Marrietta, GA, USA

On Saturday Jan 10, 2014, while cruising at approx 45 mph driving straight, on a dry and clear day, the ecp dash light came on with no warning and the power of the car diminished significantly slowing down immediately and acceleration was extremely slow making it unable to maintain traffic-flow speed and driving uphills was even worse, slowing down and not able to maintain speed until over the hill.(Virginia hilly roads). I took car to the local VW dealer, terry VW lynchburg, va who told me that the 2 timing chains and all associated parts would need to be replaced with an estimate of $3536. I mentioned to them about the issue relating to the 3.6 engine in this make/model/year having a repeated problem with the oil pump bolt that holds these together working loose and that VW had recognized this issue and replaced the "oil pump bolt" with a new model bolt on the assembly line after this same issue had occurred repeatedly with other owners of this same 3.6 engine. Same issue recorded multiple times in vwvortex.com, passatworld.com, carcomplaints.com, volkswagendefect.com, arfc.org, and others. I contacted VW of America who denied this problem existed and that they would not assist in the repair whatsoever. Since this is not an isolated issue and VW is not ignorant of it, and it causes the car to slow down immediately without notice, this could have been a serious issue had I been on a hi-speed highway and/or in congested traffic, VW needs to recall these vehicles with this engine and replace these items as this is not a normal failure item on most vehicles with is low of mileage.

- Lynchburg, VA, USA

My VW Passat 2007 stalls and/or does not start. It has stalled while driving on the freeway and then sometimes does not start at all. Sometimes if tried after a while it may start. I'm told it is a high pressure fuel valve problem that is part of a recall but my VIN does not qualify for that.

- Plano, TX, USA

Throttle not responsive to accelerator pressure. Various responses -- sometimes accelerates normally, other times very little acceleration. Occurs when engine is warm and at speed on expressway. I have no idea how the car will accelerate when I need to, e.g., needing to accelerate to switch lanes. It has happened 4 times in the past week (March 27-30, 2010). When this happens, the "epc" and the "slip control" signals on the dashboard light up, as well as an "!" and an image of a tachometer. In the morning when the engine is cold, the warning lights are not on, or when the car has be turned off for a while. I took the car to the Volkswagen dealer immediately the first time it occurred on the way home from work (March 30). The service representative indicated that there was a problem between the throttle body and the accelerator. I drove the car home that evening and brought it back to the dealer the next day. I picked the car up that evening and paid $407 dollars for the repair. I indicated that I thought this was a serious safety issue and I would have thought VW would cover the expense. They said it has happened to other cars but there was not recall. The same thing occurred the next day (Friday) on my way to work, but not on the return home. The next Monday (March 29), it occured on the way home. I stopped at the VW dealer and made an appointment for the next day. The car is currently at the VW dealer and they indicated that the throttle body programming was not working and that they would install a new throttle body ($400 part plus $120 labor -- the part would be free since I am a good customer). I told them that I was going to file a complaint with NHTSA because I thought this was a serious safety issue and to see if this was occurring with other VW vehicles. The service representative also suggested that I contact VW directly. I will do that today.

- Mokena, IL, USA

The contact owns a 2007 Volkswagen Passat. While approaching a stop, the engine began to rev and the RPM needle increased. The vehicle was in drive and the brake pedal was depressed at the time. The contact placed the vehicle into park and turned off the engine. When he restarted the vehicle, it seemed to operate normally. After a few days, the failure recurred. The dealer stated that the cause of the failure was due to a recall on the engine for unintended acceleration. The vehicle was repaired, but the contact was unsure of what was actually repaired. Three weeks after the repairs were made, the failure recurred, the vehicle jerked forward and crashed into the bumper of the preceding vehicle. The dealer was notified and the vehicle has remained there ever since. No repairs have been made yet because the diagnostic results indicate that nothing is wrong with the vehicle. The VIN and recall number were unknown. The failure mileage was 11,434.

- Freehold, NJ, USA

When stopped the engine RPM's has intermittently raise substantially, to the ~1500-2000 RPM range. Almost like it's racing. This makes it difficult to hold the car stopped. Dealer could not duplicate the problem.

- Phoenix, MD, USA

There is an unsafe prolonged hesitation when depressing the accelerator pedal on the 2007 Volkswagen Passat 3.6 liter 4 motion. When depressing the accelerator pedal, nothing happens until you've depressed the pedal approximately 3/4 to an inch of pedal travel, then all of a sudden, the car lurches and accelerates at what feels like half to full throttle. It is a random hesitation, yet occurs at probably 30% of the time. It is most noticeable when starting from a stop, yet will happen on the highway, if accelerating to pass. This is a very dangerous malfunction. If this abrupt acceleration occurs in snowy or icy conditions, it could cause a loss of control. I have experienced several times, when I expected my car to move forward when I depressed the gas pedal, only to have it hesitate and nearly cause an accident. This car has a drive by wire accelerator, which I believe is a fairly recent design change. We have another car with the same type of system which does not do this.

- Naperville, IL, USA