Lemon Law Blog

We are currently working with a Pittsburgh TV station to find Western Pennsylvania consumers who have experienced a fire either in their Volkswagen Passat or their Ford truck?  If you have, please contact 1-800 LEMON LAW Communications Director Michael Sacks at msacks@lemonlaw.com or 1-800-536-6652 ext. 131.

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Eagle eyed blog readers may notice that one vehicle, the Volkswagen Jetta, is mentioned both on the 2007 Car Complaint Index (in the number 3 position) and among the compact cars in this year’s Best Bets. How can that be?

“Best Bets” are based on expected performance in ten categories (crash tests, safety features, fuel economy, rollover, overall, maintenance and repair costs, warranties, insurance costs, and complaints), with the greatest emphasis placed on crash test performance and complaints.

The Car Complaint Index compares the number of complaints submitted to the National Traffic Safety Administration to the number of sales. The Jetta has been one of VW’s top selling cars for many years, and with higher sales sometimes comes a higher number of complaints from drivers. As we discussed in a previous blog entry, these comments can be subjective. However, it is important to note that we saw consumers complaining about the same components, namely electrical, so we feel their observations may carry some merit and perhaps this is an issue the manufacturer may want to look into.

On the other side of the coin, the CCI does not take any of the other factors into consideration, most notably VW’s 4 year/50,000 mile warranty, safety features, and fuel economy, all of which are ideal for a consumer looking for a compact vehicle.

Hope this clears up the confusion! Safe driving!

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From Car Connection:

Volkswagen will recall some 790,000 vehicles for faulty brake lights.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in a recall notice last week, cited the company’s Jetta, Golf, GTI, R32, and New Beetle models in the recall, stating that brake lights in these vehicle may have brake lights and switches that do not function properly, which could lead to an accident.

The specific models and years included in the recall are the 1998-2007 New Beetle; the 1999-2005 Jetta sedan; the 1999-2006 Golf and GTI; the 2001-05 Jetta wagon; the 2003-07 New Beetle Convertible; and the 2004 R32.

Last year VW recalled Jettas and New Beetles for the same problem, CNNMoney.com reports.

Repairs will begin on or after April 27, 2007, and will be made for free.

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