2012 Volkswagen Passat steering problems

“Any time it rains and the car goes through a deeper than surface level puddle/wet area where the nose of the car has to dip down (think by railroad tracks, high water retention areas with lack of drainage, etc) as soon as the car dips down into the water, the steering wheel will lock up and I am unable to turn. It's severely dangerous as there is no give at all to the wheel as it is solidly locked and if you happen to be taking a curve or changing lanes etc, you will not be able to turn the car. My husband and myself have narrowly escaped severe car accidents as this is random and there is nothing you can do except try to force the wheel to turn. When I say the wheel is locked, it's a good 15-20 seconds of desperation trying to turn the wheel before it finally unlocks and I am able to correct the direction of the car. Living in FL with high rainfall chances, including sporadic downpours that unfortunately leave situations like this to occur often, it is a severe safety risk for myself and for other drivers. I have been lucky so far that when this has occurred I have been able to eventually correct the steering, however there have been several severe near misses…”

“The contact owns a 2012 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated that while turning the steering wheel in either direction, there was a clicking sound was coming from the steering column. Additionally, while operating the vehicle, the air bag warning light remained illuminated, with the cruise control feature inoperable. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the clockspring was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The contact stated that the failure was repaired on two previous occasions. The manufacturer was not yet notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 120,000.”

“I was driving this particular day through a busyfour way stoplight intersection around time school was dismissing so 3:30ish PM. And I lost all power to my vehicle with just the battery light flashing once. I barely made it out of the i intersection and to the shoulder of the road as there was no power steering and i had to pump my breaks to stop. I called the local police and let them know it would be towed tomorrow morning. The tow bill was 100 dollars and i had replaced the battery thinking it was the problem. The brand new battery drained in two minutes tops after install alternator was tested and fuses were in working order all except for one that went to my12 volt charging port which was replaced as well as serpentine belt was replaced with alternator test. The battery still drains instantly and when speaking with volkswagon suntrup in sunset hills st. Louis which is the nearest Volkswagen dealership about 30 minute drive my car still is under a dealership warranty for the national emissions recall that was just fixed after i purchased the vehicle. The dealership refuses to come get/ fix/ diagnose or rectify vehicle although admitting to knowing this year…”

“The clock spring has went out on my 2012 VW Passat, but VW does not have them in stock, nor do they know when they'll have them in stock. This means that the drivers air bag will not work in the event of an accident. They are not doing a recall, but are doing an "extended warranty". They are knowingly putting unsafe vehicles out on the road.”

“THIS VEHICLE HAS PROBLEMS SINCE DAY ONE I BOUGHT IT AIR BAG LIGHT CAME ON I DON'T THINK THE RECALL WAS DONE PROPERLY CAUSE I HAVE SAME ISSUE AS IT WAS STATED BY OTHER DRIVER'S AIRBAG LIGHT ON STEERING MAKING NOISE IT'S RIDICULOUS”

“STEERING WHEEL HAD A SLIGHT TUG AND A NOISE. LOST ALL FUNCTIONS ON STEERING WHEEL. WAS ON A COUNTRY RD. TOOK IT TO A VW MECHANIC IN QUINCY PA ON SEPT 4 2020. THEY SAID THE CLOCK SPRING BROKE AND THERE WAS A RECALL ON IT. I LOOKED IT UP AND RECALL NUMBER 15V483000 CAME UP. IT WAS ALREADY FIXED EVIDENTLY. I GUESS I SHOULD NOT HAVE IT DONE NOW IT IS COSTING 800 DOLLARS.”