On November 13, 2013, Volkswagen announced it was recalling 2.64 million Volkswagen and Audi cars worldwide due to multiple potential issues.  Volkswagen is Europe’s largest automobile manufacturer.  The recall is one of the largest ever recall impacting Volkswagen.  Many of the vehicles being recalled are located in China and the United Kingdom.

One of the safety issues involves vehicles with seven-speed dual-clutch gearboxes.  The affected gearboxes are known as DQ200 gearboxes.  Vehicles impacted by the recall include Scirocco 1.4Ts, 1.4Ts and 1.2Ts Beetles, Audi A1s and A3s, Golf wagons, and Golf sports convertibles.   Other affected vehicles include Boras, Sagitars, Magotans, and Tourans.  According to Volkswagen, the synthetic oil in these gearboxes needs to be replaced.  This safety issue affects 1.6 million vehicles.  Volkswagen has indicated the issue involves vehicles subjected to hot, humid conditions and stop-and-go driving.  These conditions, coupled with the synthetic oil, can cause damage to electronics in the vehicles in question.  Replacing current synthetic oil with a mineral oil has been found to correct the problem.

800,000 Tiguans are also subject to the recall.  The Tiguans suffer from a possible fault in a fuse that can affect lighting.  Models built between the years 2008 and 2011 are affected.  The recall requires replacing the fuse with a fuse with a more durable surface.  Obviously, issues with the failure of lighting can be disastrous, depending on the circumstances involved.  No one wants their headlights to fail in the dead of night while driving down dimly-lit roads.

There recall also involves 239,000 Amarok trucks.  The trucks have fuel lines that potentially leak.  The recall involves fitting protection to the fuel lines to prevent damage.

If you drive a Volkswagen or Audi vehicle, in order to verify whether your vehicle is subject to this recall, you can visit the following website:

http://www.vw.com/en/owners/parts-and-accessories/protection/recalls-campaigns.html.

Relatively minor issues such as those affecting the Volkswagen and Audi vehicles in question may seem unimportant, but it is vital to ensure any vehicle you drive is up-to-date on any replacements, modifications, etc., necessitated by recalls.  Nearly everyone can remember the safety recall and related issues that plagued Toyota during 2010.  Over five million cars involved in the Toyota recall were recalled due to issues with floormats.  While it sounded innocent enough, the floormats could cause the pedal to stick and thereby cause extremely unsafe acceleration issues.

While our law firm is certainly not suggesting that the current Volkswagen recall is at all similar to the Toyota recall, it is important to note that proper maintenance and attention to your vehicle is important for your safety, as well as the safety of all other individuals on the road.

If you have been involved in an accident and you believe a malfunction related to your motor vehicle might have caused or contributed to the accident, it is important that you retain an experienced personal injury attorney as soon as possible. Accidents involving failed or malfunctioning component parts are extremely complicated to litigate.  More than likely, your case will require extensive accident reconstruction and expert analysis. If you have been injured, these issues are the last things you want to be focused on.  You need to focus on recovery.  Let us help you through this difficult time by focusing on the legal aspects of your case.

Barrett Law, PLLC has been representing the rights of individuals injured in trucking accidents for many years.  If you or someone you love has been injured as a resulting of a motor vehicle accident and you suspect that defects in the motor vehicle caused or contributed to the accident, please contact our firm today at reached at (800) 707-9577 to schedule an initial, no-cost consultation.