NHTSA complaint: 2025 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA — FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Two safety defect incidents involving unintended acceleration. This defect has resulted in two loss of control incidents causing property damage. First incident: While attempting to move vehicle inside garage, I started engine with foot firmly on the brake, shifted the transmission into drive, and maintained full brake pressure. Immediately upon shifting, the vehicle bolted forward at an accelerate rate, despite my foot remaining fully depressed on brake. Vehicle travel about 30 feet in only a few second, coming within three feet of a structural cinder-block wall supporting house beams before braking force finally overcame the surge. Avoided a serious collision required immediate corrective action and full driver control. Second incident: Again, vehicle parked in my driveway in front of storage garage. After briefly backing up to clear the driveway, I again shifted to drive with my foot firmly on brake. As with previous incident, the vehicle surged forward unexpectedly and forcefully, overcoming normal braking and collided with full-length of storage cabinet system inside garage, destroying the cabinetry and stopping the vehicle's forward motion. At the time, my brother-in-law was nearby. Had he been in the vehicle's path serious injury could have occurred. As in the first incident, avoiding a more catastrophic impact required immediate and precise driver intervention. Following these incidents, I presented the vehicle to Garnet Volkswagen of West Chester, 1620 Wilmington
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — Office of Defects Investigation