What 399 owners told NHTSA about the 2014 Volkswagen Jetta Hev

[XXX] driving on [XXX] , my car accelerated to almost redline without me pushing the pedal, I tried the brake only to find it didn't control the car., it died in the slow lane, no power anything. Eng lite was on, towed to my mechanic, he couldn't find why but the code said EGR, so he cleaned and replaced glow plugs, & regen'd the DPF to 0.. so I picked up the car, and a few days later, it did it again through a 4way stop. I called vw & was told to go to the dealer. Oakland VW inspected & said need new DPF $6K. Since the filter doesn't affect throttle, I declined, plus in 2022 on an extended warranty I went to dealer to have the filter replaced, instead they regen'd it & left the bad part in my car. Now the corporate Care Manager wants the DPF replaced for $6K b4 proceeding with any further testing to identify the source of the acceleration problem. The shop mgr, Joseph, was test driving & the car did take off and was not stoppable with the brakes. That was confirmed, yet VW of America is still in a holding pattern and cannot explain why this is happening. THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY PROBLEM. The car takes off out of control unexpectedly, and the brakes won't stop the force forward. PLEASE help me, I cannot stress enough the danger this car puts me and others in, and it is my only vehicle. The dealer is trying but corporate is being difficult and are not interested in compromise. The DPF, emissions issues they have had, have nothing to do with the acceleration and they just refuse to move forward or discuss anything else. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11677411

WHAT HAPPENS IS MY CAR SHUT DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC AFTER ME GETTING GAS SOMETIMES AND ENGINE LIGHT APPEAR. WHEN SHUTTING DOWN A QUICK FLASH OF BATTERY LIGHT SHOWS UP, NOW ENGINE LIGHT IS ON LONGER AND THE CAR POWER JUST SHUT EVERYTHING DOWN AS IF THE BATTERY IS DEAD NOTHING WORK BUT WITH A JUMP I WAS ABLE TO MOVE CAR AND WHEN I CUT IT OFF IT SHUT DOWN AGAIN THIS BEEN GOIN ON FOR ABOUT 1 MONTH ADVANCE AUTO TEST IT AND SAID IT HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH MY FUEL PUMP DON'T REMEMBER THE CODE BUT ENGINE KEEP COMING ON VERY OFTEN.

NHTSA ODI 11579775

The camshaft sensor is faulty, which then causes the cruise control to stop working, the traction control to turn off, makes the car unable to accelerate, then the steeling wheel begins to shake and the engine to shut down. Which is extremely dangerous while driving. I was luckily able to pull over, but I was almost rear ended because the car stopped accelerating. My check engine light didn’t come on until AFTER this incident occurred.

NHTSA ODI 11500575

WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY, MY CAR BEGAN TO STOP ACCELERATING BY ITSELF. ONCE THE RPM EXCEEDED THREE, THE EPC LIGHT CAME ON. FURTHER ON DOWN THE ROAD, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, SO I HAD THE CODES READ AND WAS TOLD TO REPLACE THE CAMSHAFT POSITION SENSOR. THE FOLLOWING DAY I HAD THIS PART REPLACED AND PROCEEDED TO DRIVE ON THE HIGHWAY AGAIN. THE LIGHTS CAME ON ONCE AGAIN AND AN ADDITIONAL LIGHT CAME ON AS WELL. THIS TIME THE CAR SLOWED DOWN SO MUCH THAT I WAS ALMOST HIT TRYING TO GET TO THE SHOULDER OF THE HIGHWAY.

NHTSA ODI 11318105

THE EPC LIGHT CAME ON AND I PULLED TO SIDE AND TURN THE CAR OFF. WHEN I TURNED CAR BACK ON THE LIGHT WAS OFF. THEN IT CAME ON ANOTHER TIME AND I NOTICE WHEN TRYING TO ACCELERATE TO THE CAR IS LAGGING. SO I DECIDED TO TAKE TO VW DEALER IN MARTINEZ GA AND THEY SAID I HAD GOTTEN SOME BAD GAS, THEY ADDED SOME 44K ADDITIVE TO THE TANK. I WAS ONLY USING SHELL GAS, SO I WAS TOLD TO TRY ANOTHER BRAND THAT WAS A TOP TIER GAS. I TRIED CITGO AND THEY HAD THE TOP TIER STICKER ON THE TANK. THE CAR DROVE GOOD FOR A DAY AND A HALF THEN THE LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN WITH ALSO THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT AND THE CAR STARTED TO SHAKE. I HAVE REACHED OUT TO THE DEALERSHIP ONLINE AND I GOT A CALL FROM A SALES REP, WHO SAID SHE COULD HELP ASSIST WITH PURCHASING A SAFER OR NEW CAR. I DON'T WANT TO BUY ANOTHER CAR AT THIS TIME. I ONLY HAVE 125K MILES AND THE CAR WAS RUNNING FINE. I LOOKED ON THE INTERNET AND I SEE THAT THIS IS NOT A NEW ISSUE WITH VW JETTA FROM 2014 TO 2018 AND VW HAS NOT FIGURED OUT THE FIX FOR IT. I WAS SUPPOSED TO GET A CALL BACK FROM THE SERVICE ADVISOR AND I HAVE NOT HEARD FROM HIM. SO AT THE PRESENT TIME I AM DRIVING AND PULLING TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD TO GET THE LIGHT TO TURN OFF. WHEN I GET HOME I TRY NOT TO GO ANYWHERE OTHER THAT TO WORK AND BACK.

NHTSA ODI 11266177

THE ENGINE MAY IDLE AND STUMBLE UPON ACCELERATION. THIS MAY BE DUE TO FAULTY ENGINE CONTROL MODULE SOFTWARE MISADJUSTING THE VALVE TIMING." THI IS THE CURRENT SAFETY RECALL FOR THE SAME MAKE MODEL AND YEAR OF MY CAR, HOWEVER, MY VIN HAS NOT BEEN INCLUDED. THIS IS THE ISSUE WITH MY CAR. IT WILL HAPPEN WHILE IN PARK, WHEN SLOWING DOWN TO STOP. MY CAR HAS STALLED AS A RESULT AT A STOP SIGN OR AT A LIGHT. LAST TIME THIS HAPPENED WAS TODAY.

NHTSA ODI 11180860

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2014 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVING SLUGGISH AND WAS SLOW TO ACCELERATE IN ANY GEAR. IN ADDITION, VARIOUS WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT WAS NOT ABLE TO DRIVE OVER A CERTAIN RATE OF SPEED. THE VEHICLE DRASTICALLY DROVE SLOWLY AND THEN RACED INTO THIRD GEAR. THE DEALER DIAGNOSED THAT THE FUEL INJECTION MAY BE AT FAULT, BUT PROVIDED NO SPECIFIC DIAGNOSIS. THE FAILURE CONTINUED. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE O-RING NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. IF THAT DID NOT PROVIDE A SOLUTION, THE TRANSMISSION MAY NEED TO BE REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE VIN WAS INVALID. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS NOT AVAILABLE.

NHTSA ODI 10935888

PARKING THE CAR IN PARKING SPACE. CAR MADE EXTREMELY LOUD NOISE (LIKE A BACKFIRE) AND THEN AUTO ACCELERATED. TRIED HITTING THE BRAKE BUT BRAKE DID NOT DECOMPRESS. HIT A PARKED CAR IN FRONT OF ME. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10714571

STOPPED FOR PEDESTRIAN CROSSING THE STREET, NORMAL STOP, TOOK MY FOOT OFF THE BRAKE, STEPPED ON THE GAS AND NOTHING! CAR STALLED AND I COULD NOT MOVE. TRAFFIC WAS BACKING UP BEHIND ME AND THE CAR WOULDN'T MOVE. PUT IT IN PARK, TURNED IT OFF AND ON, AFTER TWO MINUTES IT FINALLY WORKED WHEN I STEPPED ON THE GAS. DID THE SAME THING ABOUT TWO WEEKS LATER...TWICE IN ONE DAY! TOOK IT TO THE DEALER THE SAME DAY IT HAPPENED FIRST, TOLD ME I HAD AN ENGINE SOFTWARE RECALL, SPENT TWO HOURS AT THE DEALER. THEY TOLD ME IT WAS "FIXED." TWO WEEKS LATER, AT A STOP SIGN AND THEN A RED LIGHT, DID THE SAME THING. BROUGHT IT TO ANOTHER DEAL THAT NIGHT, WHO TOLD ME THERE WAS NO LOANER CARS AVAILABLE, TOOK THE CAR FOR THREE DAYS! THEY CALLED BACK AND SAID THEY COULD NOT RECREATE THE PROBLEM, THEREFORE THEY WERE GIVING ME BACK THE CAR. I DON'T FEEL SAFE!! HAVE HAD NUMEROUS OTHER PROBLEMS WITH THE CAR SINCE OCTOBER 2013, HAS BEEN IN THE SHOP 8 TIMES IN 6 MONTHS.... NOW AFFECTED BY THE O-RING RECALL! *TR

NHTSA ODI 10597417

FROM A COMPLETE STOP, PUSHED THE ACCELERATOR AND NOTHING HAPPENED FOR 4 TO 5 SECONDS. TRIED AGAIN AND THE CAR SLOWLY ROLLED FORWARD ONLY TO HAVE THE ACCELERATOR NOT WORK AGAIN ALMOST CAUSING THE CAR TO BE T-BONED IN AN INTERSECTION. THIS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIME THAT DAY. FOOT WAS NO WHERE NEAR THE BRAKE PEDAL. THIS HAS OCCURRED SEVERAL TIMES SINCE AND 5-24-14 HAPPENED AGAIN ALMOST CAUSING US TO GET HIT CROSSING TRAFFIC. 2 DEALERSHIPS HAVE YET TO DUPLICATE IT AND WILL GO IN AGAIN 6-3. THIS CAR IS DANGEROUS TO DRIVE, SO MUCH IT HAS SAT TWICE A WEEK AT A TIME. IT IS NOT A TURBO OR DIESEL RESPONSE. THERE IS A HUGE PROBLEM WITH THIS CAR. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10594291