Before American automaker General Motors (GM) made the announcement of a new round or recalls for SUVs and pickup trucks at the start of the New Year, Volkswagen America has actually beat it to the draw by issuing back-to-back recalls of nearly 90,000 of its vehicles in the US.
On December 30, 2014, the German automaker recalled approximately 50,000 of its 2015 Jetta models with halogen headlights for what the company discovered as a problem with the headlamp control unit software.
The problem, according to Motor Trend, will shut off the low-beam headlights when the high beams are engaged. Thus, the light output would become too negligible, especially at night, that the driver’s vision may be impaired, which can be a cause for accident on the road.
Volkswagen will be notifying owners of the affected Jetta models so that they can set up appointments with their respective dealers, who shall be updating software in affected control modules.
Second recall in two days
The following day, New Year’s Eve, Volkswagen America announced a voluntary recall of almost 38,000 vehicles on certain 2014-15 Beetle, Jetta, and Passat models, as well as with 2015 Golf and GTI models for an issue with fuel system.
The problem, according to Car Connection, involves one of the sealing caps on the fuel rail which has a good chance for failing that could lead to a leakage. When that happens, the fuel may leak into the engine compartment and if combined with an ignition source, may cause the leaked fuel to ignite and set the vehicle on fire.
The German automaker has advised American owners of the affected vehicles, numbering about 37,979 to bring their cars to their respected dealers where the fuel rails of their Volkswagen vehicles would be replaced with new and fool-proof parts.
Volkswagen America has yet to send the notifications to vehicle owners. Nonetheless, they have been advised to get in touch with the automaker or its dealers at the soonest opportunity they can get and citing recall number 24Bi in doing so.
The second round of Volkswagen recall covers various models including the 2014-15 Beetle models built from March 31 to November 27, 2014; the 2014-15 Jetta models built from March 28 to November 24, 2014; the 2014-15 Passat models built from April 7 to November 18, 2014; and the 2015 Golf and GTI models built from July 1 to November 20, 2014.
There have been no reported accidents or injuries related to Volkswagen’s fuel system issue with its affected vehicles thus far. Obviously, the company is taking on the virtue of prudence rather than valor and not risking the lives and safety of the drivers and passengers of its vehicles.
In both recall cases, Volkswagen America assured vehicle owners that there will be no cost at all on them as the company shall shoulder the expense.