Problems with 2006 Volkswagen Passat STEERING

My vw has been hard to start and getting the steering lock fault warning. i understand there was a voluntary recall, but i was the original owner and do not remember getting the recall notice.

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 volkswagen passat. the contact stated that the air bag warning indicator illuminated while driving. the contact was concerned that the air bag might deploy while driving. the vehicle was taken to joseph volkswagen of cincinnati (located at 3813 montgomery rd, cincinnati, oh 45212, (513) 914-1785) where it was diagnosed that the curtain air bags needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the contact stated that the vehicle was previously repaired per nhtsa campaign number: 18v247000 (air bags). in addition, the contact stated that the steering wheel seized when attempting to drive. the vehicle was towed back to the dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired due to the repair fees. the manufacturer was notified of the failures and provided case numbers: 180151960, 181324957, and 08125390. the approximate failure mileage was 200,000.

Have been getting steering lock malfunctions when trying to start the car for about two weeks. today, the steering wheel locked while driving. unable to steer the vehicle at all. was able to stop and turn the vehicle off. seems this is/ was a common problem for this model volkswagen and a voluntary recall was available until 2013. unfortunately, the previous owners of the car never did any recalls or even remembers ever being notified of any recalls. this problem is one of many for this model. i called volkswagen and they were no help. this is a major safety issue. my 17 year old son drives this car. i cant allow him to drive it now after this. how can volkswagen allow this? they basically dont care if we crashed and hurt others because of this issue. a voluntary recall for a steering issue?? does that sound safe??

For a couple of weeks now the car starts and suddenly turn off. i went to start the car on 09/10/2017 and a message appeared on the mfd: "steering column lock" and the key is unable to be removed from the ignition. i have been reading about the steering column lock on various forums and found that vw issued a voluntary recall which expired somewhere around february 28, 2013. since it was voluntary, and many people did not have the problem myself included, it would seem that this should be a mandatory recall. it is certainly a safety concern because the steering column can lock up and cause a major accident if this should occur while driving. it has been several years later and i have read many of the newer vw models are expiriencing the same issue. i certainly believe that this should merit a recall.

Car will not start after flashing sign or it could stop anywhere which could cause crash: steering - inspect for steering concern - comfort control module need to be replaced at no cost to the owner of the car - steering column control module: electronic steering column lock, hardware need to be replaced and program correctly at no cost to the owner of vehicle as it is vw programing is defaulted.

Car is immobilized at this time w/ key stuck in ignition, defective steering wheel appears before this happens. car was stationary in my drive way, cold weather, first start. it's intermediate & has happened multiple times. steering has been fixed a few years ago for issues of the same sort. car has approximately 194,000 on it but the issue is there has been multiple problems, cam (replaced 2 x's; once under warranty other time had to pay out of pocket), turbo, sensors, pvc, steering, converter (out of pocket), rear axle (out of pocket), etc. have all documents but do not have a way to provide them in this forum. problems started under certified warranty but continued after. bought car w/ approximately 23,000 miles on it. been nothing but a big headache. car is well taken care of but continues to have issues.

We have had trouble for the past week with our car not cranking in the afternoon. we figured it was the alternator causing the battery to die. we replaced the alternator. so the car did great for only a few minutes, then when backing out of the driveway, the steering column light came on, the steering wheel locked up, and the car continued to run. if we had been going down the road like i have read hundreds of other complaints for this, we could have been killed. why has this not been recalled as many complaints have been made? the steering column light comes on going down the road and everything locks up for someone to die. will volkswagen then decide its time to recall it? now the key will not come out of the ignition and it will not crank at all.

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 volkswagen passat. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 15v613000 (steering) however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. the contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. the manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. the contact had not experienced a failure.

Attempted to start my vehicle by pressing the key fob into the ignition. car did not start and the message "steering column defective" was displayed. attempted to start the car again, but this time the car failed to even turn the engine over. in addition, the key fob cannot be extracted from the ignition. now the car is immobile. i researched this issue and quickly discovered that this is a prevalent issue with this make and model. many other's have voiced their complaint with vw regarding this issue but despite this, vw still has yet to even acknowledge that there is a manufacturing defect. the car, being bought through a vw dealership pre-owned, was not under warranty. the car has less than 80k miles on it and had only accrued 10k miles since it was purchased, by me and from the dealership, 14 months ago.

My car suffers from a "steering column lock defective" issue for which vw of america has issued a recall as it is a very common problem on this year of the car. for some reason my car was not included in the recall (by vin), and now that the piece is starting to fail they will not cover it. it is a clear defect and it is well documented, but they still want me to pay out of pocket ($800) to cover the repair costs. if this part fails, i will be left stranded with no way of turning the car on. a lot of money has already been spent fixing this car as this was a problematic year for this model. i do not want to spend more money fixing what is clearly a defect and something that vw has recognized is a problem and is fixing in other calls from the same year. thank you.

Steering column lock defective -just like all the other complaints that are listed. does someone have to die in order for this to be investigated? i don't know how many more pages of complaints you need. *tr

Steering lock defective - should be a recall on the part of vw - i have a vw passat 06 and keep on getting this problem. *tr

Steering column lock defective light came on and the car would randomly die out turn back on and randomly die out again. almost causing an accident. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 volkswagen passat. the contact stated that when attempting to start the vehicle, the steering colum lock defective warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. the vehicle was taken to the dealer. the vehicle had not been diagnosed. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 140,000.

The problem started off small. my passat one day started and shut off. over the next couple months the problem got much worse. first it took a couple tries to start and now typically takes about 15 minutes to start. the steering wheel light pops up and the cars warning states "steering column lock defective". today 6/8/14 i was driving 60 mph on the highway and the car stalls. luckily we made it to the side of the highway. with a crying baby in the backseat, i finally got the car to start after 2 hours of trying! *tr

Electronic emergency brake fault; was driving on january 18,2014. my daughter was driving about 35 mph when this emergency brake light started flashing yellow. also there was a red brake light that was flashing and beeping three times. she got the car under control mind you she is only 17 and she just bought this car from campus auto here in fort dodge, ia on the 10th and he told her nothing was wrong with the car. everything has went wrong with this car that can go wrong. she pulled over and read in her manual that with the beeping 3 times and the red light indicator said that she was suppose to get it to a trusted mechanic right away. so she did the smart thing and called me to have the car taken to a mechanic. but what if she would have been on the highway and this would have happened. she would have lost control of this car on a highway. please look into these passat. there is something seriously wrong with them. wheel bearings are bad in the rear. fuel pump went bad. coils burn. these are all dangerous things. please help. *tr

I have code steering lock column defective this is my second vw passat with same problem. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 volkswagen passat. the contact stated that while driving 30 mph, the steering warning light illuminated on as the vehicle stalled. the contact was not able to restart the vehicle. the contact referenced nhtsa campaign i.d. number 05v540000 (steering) and called the manufacturer, who advised that the vin was not included in the recall. the contact did not take the vehicle to a dealer or mechanic for a diagnostic test. the failure mileage was 120,000.

Got warning message that 'steering lock was defective'. *tr

After starting car it would immediately stall this would happen over and over again until eventually it would start during this time i would see on the cars display a warning that the steering column lock was defective. this issue continues to happen intermittently and sometimes the key will get stuck in the ignition and until you get it out it will not allow you to try and restart the car. the key can be removed by pressing the button on the gear shift three times in succession. i found that bit of information on a car forum but not in the vw manual. after looking on the internet i have found that this is a pretty common issue with the vw passat spanning several years. *tr

Went to start my car after work, it turned over and stalled immediately. i get the error message 'steering column lock is defective' followed by 3 loud beeps. this issue had me stranded for about a half hour until many times of trying, it finally started and ran. from what i have seen this is a very common issue and vw dealers are wanting on average $1800 to repair. *tr

Takata recall first i would like to say my sunroof opens and closes it self then. sometimes when i turn car on it shuts off says steering defected then its takes a couple seconds to come on. my wind shield wipers keep sayin i need water but its full then my daytime lights are off this car has many problems i keep getting the same parts fixed over and over. and then i have no recalls what the only way if we crash and die then we will get it fixed im putting so much money into car so can you please help thank you. this happen in different places the car shuts off different times. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 volkswagen passat. the contact stated that when driving at various speeds, the vehicle would stall with the illumination of the column steering lock warning light. neither the dealer nor the manufacturer were notified of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 83,000 and the current mileage was 85,000. the vin was unavailable.

When i use the key to start my 2006 volkswagen passat it will not start, the steering wheel locks and the car immobilizes. i cannot start the car from 15 minutes to 1 hour. the key will not come out. when i call for help all anyone tells me is to turn the steering wheel to the left and right, but this does not work. i have encountered this problem about 3 to 5 times a day. i purchased this car in sept. 2010 and this has happened every day since i purchased this car. when i took it back, i was told they could not find anything wrong and the car started. the engine light also comes on and they can't find anything wrong. as i write this, the car is immobolized in my garage and will not start, i have missed appointments over and over. i went on http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?3656214 to try to find out how to correct this and found out that several people has or has had this problem with their volkswagen passat and the solution seems to be to replace the steering column. i do not have any money to pay for such a big job, especially since i have not had this car for six months. this car was sold with this problem. *tr

I got 2006 vw passat 2.0t - 77,000miles. last week, i got engine light came on during the drive and went to dealership and they checked computer system then fixed air filter housing. i paid $585.00. i don't understand how it can break, but i don't have choice. and next day on the driving it happen again and i went to dealership again. this time they told me pcv valve was not working so another fix cost $281.00. last september i did regular maintenance service and they told me everything good. but after every month it happened again and again, first problem was steering columns......i paid $485.00 second problem was battery........i paid $130.00 third problem was engine light came on i paid $585.00 and this time another engine light came on $281.00 within two day. now i knew vw cars are pieces of junks. it is really junks. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 volkswagen passat 346. the contact stated that while driving 35 mph the front end of the vehicle started shaking making it impossible for him to control the vehicle. the vehicle was towed to a local repair shop who stated that the left tie rod arm knot became loose. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was contacted but they refused to honor the recall ( 05v540000) since the vin was not included. the failure and current mileages were 78,700.

I own a 2006 vw passat 3.6, engine died suddenly after pulling out across a 45mph state route, after engine failed, there was no steering or brakes, had to push car out of traffic with my 2 young sons inside. young vw, easton pa. stated the failure as a oil pump bolt that had backed out and sheared off, causing the catastrophic engine failure. after some research i found 58 failure of this type of this same year and engine, at: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?3462993-attn-3.6l-owners-has-your-engine-failed , - this is clearly an issue vw was aware of several years ago, as evidenced by the replacement or repair of so many, 58+ engines that i can document, and chooses not to recognize the issue, i believe due to financial reasons as this fix is $3,000 in labor alone. i contacted vwoa, (ref. # [xxx]) and vw ag, (,ref. no.: [xxx]) with this issue and neither had recognized this as a known issue, my vehicle is out of warranty, and vw estimated the repair at $12,800 for a rebuilt engine. aside from being abusively expensive, this failure should not be allowed to occur randomly, in traffic or anywhere creating a very unsafe and life threatening situation, vwoa should be well aware of these potential problems with this year engine, by the many they have replaced or fixed and should make the public aware and effect a fix to prevent a loss of life due to this known engine defect. my vin # [xxx], 2006 vw passat 3.6l 4motion. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

I am filing a complaint regarding the stalling issues i've experienced on my 2006 volkswagen passat 3.6l model. the description below is a historical account of the problem and how it progressed to the current state. i first noticed the issue around 8000 miles or so where the key fob would get stuck in the ignition. after reading some posts on vwforum, i worked around the intermittent issue by clicking the gear shift 3 times to disengage the key fob from the ignition. around 24k mile or so, i noticed the stalling issue immediately after the car was started. this problem was intermittent as well and seemed to occur during extreme weather conditions - cold or hot. at this time, the error 'steering column failure' would register intermittently. around 60k the problem progressed and the frequency of occurrence increased. i reported the issue to the dealership and they were not able to reproduce the issue. looking back at the multiple blogs and forums on this topic, i believe the dealership should have been familiar enough with the issue that further research into the problem would have been warranted. i was not aware of the widespread issue at the time and did not insist on having the dealer research the issue while the car was still in warranty. the inspection fee was enough to deter me from pushing further specially if the problem could not be reproduced. currently, at 88k miles, the problem of stalling when starting can be reproduced at will. there is a workaround posted on the same vw forums of specific steps to start the car that i'm currently using. otherwise, the car does not start and the errors 'steering column failure 'immobilzer defective' is displayed consistently. we also experienced two instances of the car stalling while driving on the freeway. i believe this is caused by the same immobilizer error caused by the steering column failure as the two errors displayed when trying to restart. this is a serious and life threatening issue. *tr

The problem that i am having with my 2006 volkswagen passat is that while i am driving the car shuts down completely. this has happened to me about five times this year. it has almost caused me to be in two accidents and to have to quickly pull off the road. the dealer wants me to pay $1,700 to repair it. *tr

My car is 2006 vw passat - 2.0t. around 60,000miles, car became increasingly harder to start. but it works. and at 75,000miles it looks like the battery died and "steering column lock" is defective. so i talked to the dealership service guy, he told me the battery had low voltage. so i changed, but it happened same problem with new battery. i don't know what happened only my car or other vw also has same problem. i have 73,000 miles, i did it regular maintenance service, after that the car wasn't the same because wheel side had more noise but i trusted dealership. dealership didn't say anything, so i thought everything was ok. but the same problem happened. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

2006 volkswagen passat - "steering column lock defective " error message. 1. car will not start immediately; sometimes up to 20 minutes after initiating the starting procedure. 2. failure occurs several times a week. consequence for first incident was a lost contract for an independent consulting position. car is currently out of service requiring me to use public transportation and/or walk to work and appointments. 3. issue has not been corrected. car is currently out of service. *tr

My volkswagen passat has a steering wheel lock warning light come on.. manual says the steering could be compromised... volkswagen of america did want acknowledge the fact that many cars had this problem all over the world.. the problem was eventually fixed. now, less than 10,000 later, i have the problem again. this is a known issue that vw doesn't not want to acknowledge or take care of. there should be a safety recall done on this matter as it could be very dangerous. in my case not only did it affect the steering, but it also would not let me start the car at all. the problem was intermittent at first but got progressively worst. it got to where i could not start the car at all.

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 volkswagen passat. the contact stated that the steering wheel locked. the contact stated a little red light blinked on and off and the power steering failed. the contact looked in the manual and it stated that if this light came on that the steering wheel would lock. the manual stated that the coils in the dashboard control the steering and dashboard functions. the vehicle was unable to be towed since everything locked, including the wheels. the vin was not available. the failure and current mileages were 37000.

I had a steering wheel lock defective warning light come up in my car, the car also would not start. after numerous attempts, it started. i called my dealer and he said he had no knowledge of the car having this problem. volkswagen of american too had no knowledge of this problem. i googled the problem online and found thousands of people having this problem no only here in the states but all over the whole where the car was sold. my car only had the warning and the no start problem. but many others were complaining that the car would shut down while traveling at a high rate of speed. i can't believe volkswagen won't acknowledge the problem. my car is a 2006 passat with only 38,000 miles. something should be done here. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 volkswagen passat. the contact stated the ignition would only start after several attempts. the "steering wheel lock defective" message lluminated on the instrument panel intermittently. the failure occurred seven times. the dealer was notified of the failures and the contact was informed that there was not a problem if the warning indicator did not remain illuminated. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the failure mileage was 38,000.

2006 vw passat has intermittent problems starting (steering column lock, etc - same as everyone else) and then one day while driving @ 55 mph, my car died. i had to try and get over to the side of the road. very scary! i tried to restart with no luck and just about the time i was ready to give up, i tried one more time (while waiting for aaa to answer the phone) and it worked. i've had it into my mechanic several times for the starting issue and the dealer gave me the "replace the whole steering column" thing. i have been holding off bc its so expensive and i can go for weeks or even months without having the problem, then it flares up again in spades. my biggest concern now is the motor cutting out on me again while i'm driving. there should be a recall based on the hundreds of complaints for this same issue. *tr

My car has had starting issues since i have had it. sometimes, everytime i would try to start it would not start and give me the "locked steering column" message. it would stop doing this for several months and then start again. finally, after 100,000 it stopped completely and would not start. it is $600 to fix it but it seems like a lot of people have this issue and they had a recall on the steering column. what can i do? *tr

I have a 2006 volkswagen passat 2.0t with 65,000 miles on it. for the past several days i've been receiving several error messages from the hud / heads-up display: "defective steering column lock" and "immobilizer active". this is always accompanied by the car firing for a few seconds and then stalling out. attempting to start the car again immediately only results in a strange and loud on/off "clicking" type sound (as if it's trying to unlock the steering wheel and failing to do so). waiting 2-3 minutes and trying again usually seems to do the trick, but today the car wouldn't start at all. had to have it towed to the dealer and have the entire steering column replaced-- nearly $2000 in repairs. of course, curiosity got the best of me, and i decided to research into this a bit more. turns out there are literally hundreds of thousands of posts online of vw customers having the exact same problem with the exact same year and model. it's sort of insulting, especially learning that vw initiated a recall in ireland for the same issue, just not in the united states. this has class-action law suit written all over it. obviously i was not harmed by this defect, but i can see how it *could* harm somebody, and read of several other victims who have had this happen in the middle of rush hour traffic. it's only a matter of time. it's just sad that it takes something as awful as personal injury, death or property damage before somebody steps up and takes action. this is not right... *tr

2006 vw passat 2.0 turbo difficult to start taking several tries. steering colum lock immobilizer activated code shown. vehicle will now not start at all. called dealership and informed of steering column failure need to be replaced at $1800. *tr

My daughter owns a 2006 volkswagen passat. recently the key box, has not always worked to start the car. it has become very undependable. i took it to my mechanic and he checked everything and could find nothing wrong. he thought it might be the chip in the key that had a problem and maybe the key needed to be reprogrammed. she starting using her other key and there was no problem for a few weeks. called about having the key reprogrammed and the local volkswagen dealership in braintree thought it wasn't the problem. the car wouldn't start again and took the car back to the mechanic and googled the problem and discovered many websites where there were descriptions of the same problem and all when the car had just gone past the warranty and all were attributed to the steering column locking up. all were solved if the owners were willing to pay $1500-$2000 to replace the steering column. this has been going on for years according to the information i read. i think this is outrageous. the car only has 72,000 miles and is only 4 years old. in the process of contacting the main volkswagen office to complain, but according to all the people and sites i found on the web, they were of no help. *tr

The car will occasionally, yet sporadically, not start. the key gets stuck in the ignition. the car sounds like it is going to start but it stalls. the error message sometimes says steering wheel lock defective. this happens at all times of the day, including when i leave from work. the car was taken to the dealership once before the warranty ran out and once after and they could not diagnose the problem. *tr

Steering lock control module defective: signals warning messages, prevents vehicle starting, shuts vehicle off. *tr

2006 vw passat experiencing "steering wheel column lock" failure. the light comes on and the car will not start. sometimes the car will simply turn off when driving down the road. my online research found that this is a common problem with 2006, 2007, 2008 models. this is also a safety issue because the car will sometimes continue running after the key is pulled out of the ignition. dealership service departments all over the country are replacing the steering column and control module for $1500 and this normally happens outside of factory warranty so we the consumers are stuck with the bill. please look into this as this should be a safety recall! and not the financial responsibility of the owners. *tr

2006 passat with 54,000 miles, suddenly am having trouble starting the vehicle. got stranded on downtown flint, michigan (not where you want to be after 7:00pm at night!). car just would not start, then discovered that moving the steering wheel allowed car to start. has happened several times since, and twice while driving at highway speed, making it very hazardous to pull car to shoulder. after talking with the dealer, was informed that they would need to replace the steering column and the comfort sensor for $1,600! i called vwusa, and was told that since it was 4,000 miles out of warranty, i was on my own! this is not only a design flaw, but is proving to be hazardous as it is causing the vehicle to stall during highway driving. *tr

Symptom #1) car will not start or if it does start it will immediately stall and steering column will lock. after moving the steering wheel back and forth repeatedly, reopening the door several times and attempting to start the push ignition 5-10 times it will eventually start and run. symptom #2) major safety issue! car will lose all power without warning at highway speeds. this defect causes the engine to stall immediately, the loss of power steering and the loss of all power controls at speeds at least up to 70 mph. there is no warning from the car itself. there is no stuttering or noise. suddenly the car is just dead and rolling along at extreme speeds. the fix is to shift the car into neutral and attempt to restart by removing and reinserting the key until it starts again. the dashboard will light up "steering column defect" and prompt a warning light for the steering column as if it were locked from a car alarm prompt. occasionally, i have been unable to restart the car while in motion and have had to pull off to the side of the road. this is done without the aid of power steering and can be very dangerous in traffic and at high speeds as there is no way of "knowing" when the defect will occur. this defect is occurring daily. i took the car into the dealer for diagnosis. was told it was a defect in the steering column requiring a complete replacement. estimated cost to myself was $1,000-2,000. car is now out of warranty (58,000 miles). i believe this defect is not a result of any habit of myself as the driver but rather a defect in the workmanship of the vehicle and the dealer should be subject to a recall. a search on google about this issue revealed thousands of other drivers with the exact same problem (stall at highway speeds, loss of power steering, difficulty starting and restarting, possible stranding of the driver). i urge a recall to move forward immediately! *tr

2006 volkswagen passat. car will not start and the steering column locks up. then at times the car will not shut off and key gets stuck in the ignition. this happens at least once a day. *tr

The 2006 -2009 vw passat is having massive problems with the ( defective steering column lock ). there is a problem with the anti theft module at the base of the steering column. this is happening to passat owners all over the country and there should be a recall. i am giving you ammunition to get the recall done. *tr

My 2006 vw passat 2.0t sedan refuses to start giving a "defective steering column defect" error. the first error was on the 18th of may, 2010. it happens at least 3-5 times per week. after repeated attempts to start it finally starts. 3-15 attempts starts the car. dealer has quoted me $1800 to repair, car is out of warranty is their response. after searching the internet, apparently it's a known issue and vw hasn't done much about it. *tr

When trying to start 2006 passat 2.0t, i get error messages about steering column lock being defective or there are no dash lights and car won't turn over. problem is getting worse. located online forum with 6 pages of complaints like mine. see the following website: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?3656214-steering-column-lock-for-2006-passat/page1. *tr

Steering wheel column lock error on computer of 2006 vw passat. car stalls anytime this light warning comes on. it has come on while driving causing it to stall at high speeds making it hard to steer to the right shoulder safely. this issue has caused two incidents while in highway traffic and was a near miss accident each time. it occurs on a daily basis now and was intermittent at first. i was told that the fix is to replace the entire steering column which is about $2k. to get the car started again, you have to move the steering column back and forth and after about 4-10 attempts to start, the car will start. there is no warning, it just stalls when this issue arises. it has stalled at a rail road crossing which has a stopping point before you cross. very unsafe situation, i work for the united states air force as a safety investigator and if this existed in our air force we would have an immediate recall. this matter needs to be pushed forward and investigated. after researching this issue i have noticed multiple forums stating the same issues and same complaints. *tr