Is Volkswagon going to recall their radios?

Asked by Sherryn Mar 24, 2015 at 09:28 AM about the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta SE with Conv and Sunroof

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

My 2011 VW Jetta car radio just died out of the blue, had fuses checked and no problem.  Radio dealer said this is the third VW Jetta that has had this problem where the radio just died that he has seen the last month.  Same make and model as my car.  I think there needs to be a recall since I have to pay almost $700 for a new one.

36 Answers

90

I am concerned about getting another one in which they haven't fixed the problem. I was advised -- by the dealer - try to work through VWoA. When I called VWoA, the person on the phone said he hadn't heard of any campaigns... when I asked him about the PROBLEM, he again hadn't heard of any campaigns... VW of America has to know - they got a batch of bum radios. They read this column. They read tdiclub. They review their problem calls. Problem is, TDI owners keep their cars for 10 years. They may figure - hey, is he gonna junk the car over this? No. When it's new- car-time, will he come to us? "Well, we can say "uh, well, we'll take that under advisement when adjusting the price"..." --- no incentive for them to handle it now. Probably better to ignore it.

8 people found this helpful.
130

Same thing happened to me on my 2011 jetta and VW has not heard of any problems...they are full of it!

13 people found this helpful.
70

My radio also died out of nowhere in June of 2014. Checked fuses they were fine. I think the fuse internally on the radio itself went bad. Had to pay a $100 deductible to get the unit replaced. Sounds like a bunch of these OEM installed radios have defective parts or were not sufficiently engineered.

7 people found this helpful.
90

My radio on my 2011 Jettas just died for no reason at all. Went to dearership and they charged $60.00 just to look at it. They came back and said internal problem and was not covered under warranty. To replace it would cost $600+ ..having no choice had to replace because Bluetooth runs thru radio. Any recourses that anyone knows of. Please help. $600 is a lot of money and with what VW is going thru now I'm losing my faith in them

9 people found this helpful.
20

I have a 2009 Jetta Sportwagen TDI. First the AM reception died, roughly a year later the Satellite reception died. Now the FM reception is getting weaker. I'm not taking action until I hear definitively whether VW is buying back my generation of TDIs. Perhaps SiriusXM will pressure VW to address their radio reliability issues due to lost subscriptions.

2 people found this helpful.
40

Radio on my 2011 GTI just died. 600$ is a lot of money. Just had the intake manifold problem fixed last month, dealership charged me 330$ to clean the carbon buid-up. Now, it is the stereo... Huge disappointment!!!

4 people found this helpful.
86,075

Manufacturers install just so-so electronics when it comes to factory radios. Get yourself a great after market Alpine system with a separate amplifier. It will likely be the last time you'll ever have to deal with this. Alpine systems work great and while they can be expensive, they have certain price points for every budget. I've had several systems in various cars and Alpine is a solid choice. You will NOT be disappointed by its performance.

3 people found this helpful.
50

DEAD RADIO _ 2011 VW GTI vw dealer replaced my radio 1 - year ago :) One year later, 13 07 2016 same problem, another dead radio!!! THIS is SSUCKS :/ !!!

5 people found this helpful.
86,075

Pshemo80,. Just go ahead and purchase an Alpine, unless you are saying that the dealership replaced your radio for FREE?? Did they do this?? I highly doubt it.

1 people found this helpful.
50

Same problem with my 2010 Jetta Sportwagen, last week radio just quit working. Completely dead. Fuses check good. I am pissed. Still paying for Sirius radio and can't use that OR the Bluetooth! Plus I have CD's that are stuck inside!

5 people found this helpful.
60

My 2011 wv jetta's radio just died. And after reading all above comments I am mad that WV would not do anything about it. We also have a 2010 VW Tiguan and has been a pain! The car was 30 grand and we've spent like 15 more fixing problems on it. One major problem was that the electric steering system just died 3 yrs after having it, right after the warranty expired and we didn't buy an extended warranty. and that was a very expensive thing to fix!it should have never happen after only 3 yrs of having it. Seems to me that WV cars are a pice of crap. We will never own another WV ever again and I'm telling anyone I know about how crappy WV cars are!

6 people found this helpful.
86,075

Again, people, please realize that most car manufacturers are going to put a middle of the road sound system in your vehicle as standard equipment. After it fails and they eventually do, go out and get an aftermarket solution like an Alpine or Bose system. There are many really great systems out there and your local stereo shop can assist you. And, get it professionally installed, these are NOT easy installations, wires need to be carefully threaded through panels, underneath the carpeting, properly insulated, and terminated with exacting detail. Unless you are in the business of mobile electronics, and most people are definitely NOT, I absolutely suggest that you avoid fooling around with this. As for your other problems with the VW..... What did you expect, it's a VW, a German car, and they're not known for quality control. I have owned two VWs, a 1970 VW Beetle and 1978 VW Rabbit. I really thought that the water cooled Rabbit would be better than my 1970 VW, but, sadly I was wrong. I kept the Rabbit for 11 years and almost reached 200,000 miles, but, went through a clutch, engine rebuild and many other things. I will NEVER again purchase a VW or any other German car, and I don't recommend them to anyone. If you want a more trouble free car, get an Asian car like a Toyota, Honda or Subaru. By the way it doesn't matter how much you spent on the car, there's plenty of Mercedes-Benz cars with all kinds of problems.

1 people found this helpful.
20

2010 VW Jetta, radio died. Looking at 795 to replace. Not happy

2 people found this helpful.
20

2010 VW Jetta, radio died on the way to work. Looking at $898.00 to replace. VW north America could not care.

2 people found this helpful.
50

2010 jetta tdi sportwagon.. Radio is dead, not even the time.. And after diving about 15 min it comes back on, but week signal on fm and satalite.. Must remamber to remove cds when it comes back on. No use in fixing, waiting for final decisions for the TDI recal.

1 people found this helpful.
40

2011 Jetta sportwagen. Same deal. VW told me I would need to bring it into a VW place to get it diagnosed, which costs at least 100 bucks. Thinking I'm just going to sell it as is. Just bought the car six months ago. It really sucks, I won't buy another VW.

3 people found this helpful.
50

Same here. 2011 Jetta, radio is dead. A class action lawsuit would be nice

5 people found this helpful.
150

2011 VM Jetta radio just died. Dealer who probably was aware of this issue charged $145 to tell us what i have since found out is a known issue with the Jetta 2010s and 2011s. Then said over $900 to install a new one. I then researched and found many, many, many other customer complaints with the same issue - radio just dies. So... NO WAY would i let this dealer replace with another one the radios that could have the same problem (and i have heard stories about that too). So, i went somewhere else who was much cheaper and more radio features. Radio looks and sounds great. NOW HOW ABOUT A CLASS ACTION? WHO'S IN? 'WHERE DO WE START?

15 people found this helpful.
50

if anyone has cd's stuck in it, here is my trick to get it started again temporary. you need to run the fan on the vents on max for at least 30 min. Not on AC ! just fresh air, not too hot either. If its a mega hot day, it wont work. Then after 30 min or so, for some miraculous reason, the radio turns on.. but no fm. So, power off the radio, and wait 5 min, then turn it on again. the radio will work for the rest of the ride, but will turn off when you turn off the car. get your CD's out, and don't put them in ever again. :-) - return car for refund (if it's a TDI)

2 people found this helpful.
50

@markw1952 you are NOT helpful. not all car radios are broken after 3 years.. yes most of them are not top of the line, but it should mean having to change the radio. Last year I had a chry seabring convertible 1999, and the factory radio worked just excellently.

2 people found this helpful.
20

I have a 2010 Jetta and the radio just stopped working. I had another radio put in my car. The radio cost 65 dollars, by the time it was done, I had spent over 400 dollars. Adapters and satellite radio hook up. I really liked the original radio, but 900 dollars, no way.

20

Same thing happened to my 2011 VW Jetta, but it was covered on my "CPO Warranty" and they replaced it at VW Dealer at no cost. My headlights, daytime running lights, and license plate lights burn out every couple of months. Today I took my 2011 Jetta to the dealer because the car horn stopped working. These electrical issues are abundant with the 2011 Jetta and there needs to be a class action lawsuit for it! Go to http://www.vw.com/contact/ and go to the live chat and they will open a case to track the issues and maybe if enough people do so they will start fixing the problem before they get sued

2 people found this helpful.
20

btw they charged me $149 to diagnose the electrical issue for the horn and came back and said "it died for no apparent reason" and have to take it back on Wednesday to pay another $108 to have a new horn installed

40

I would love some type of class action suit to happen. Either I get the problem fixed, which is an expense I shouldn't have, or I sell the car eventually as is and lose money, which is an expense I shouldn't have.

1 people found this helpful.

I had the same exact thing happen. Radio is 2011 vw jetta went out; was replaced in July 2016 under my warranty. Went out again August of 2017 and now the dealership won't do anything because it's not under warranty anymore. Beyond frustrated!!!

20

Another one. 2011 Jetta radio dead. Drained the battery, replaced it. Drained the new one until removing the radio. Not happy with vw.

2 people found this helpful.
10

I bought a 2010 VW Jetta 2.0 turbo pzev in may from someone, not a dealer. car has been great until yesterday. Same as all the above, Stereo went black when i was just idleing and no power goes to it now. Obviously theres no warranty because of its age as well as not a dealer purchase. Weighing my options- either spend the mentioned $600-$700 on a replacement stock stereo, or spend the same or even less on an aftermarket stereo. on one hand, the stock stereo is made to interface with all the bluetooth and aux port using all the same gadgets overhead , or i can get a ilbeit better stereo, probably with Nav. and all the bells and whistles, for a few hundred less, BUT wont interface with existing buttons and overhead gadgets. hmmm. all in all, seems like VW has had so much bad publicity the last few years, that one would think they would want to keep their existing die hard VW fans. this is my 2nd VW Jetta. last one was 2007 jetta 2.5. i would love to keep buying more in the future- but they should at least acknowledge there is a real issue. and either offer a discounted replacement, not refurbished. or credit back or something. a recal would be nice, but recall are for safety standards, not entertainment unfortunatly. still- really dissappointed in less then a year my stereo went out. though- in the life of the car- sounds like it had a long life with this particular stereo unit.

1 people found this helpful.
20

I have a Jetta Wolfsburg Edition, 2010, radio died. A friend, Mercedes/BMW mechanic, said changing my OEM battery could be the problem. Mercedes/BMW has to reenter a secret code; is this true of VW??

2 people found this helpful.
86,075

Give it up... just go get a new replacement radio... Kenwood and Alpine make really great electronics.... you'll be way ahead.. forget VW....

2011 Jetta. My radio just died out of the blue about 7 months ago. I just spent over $100 to be told that it was dead, dead, dead. I wish I'd have read this thread before!!! Class action would be great. Shady company, esp. i lieu of the fact that they totally committed fraud with their emissions systems.

20

Yup. Me too. 2011 Jetta. Radio died this week. Driving down the road and suddenly it just died. Totally dead. Fuses are fine. just ordered a JVC radio from Crutchfield and I will install it next week. I also read if you don't disconnect the dead radio, or pull the fuse out for the radio, your battery will probably die a month later. They call it a parasitic drain. Hoping to avoid this,

2 people found this helpful.
10

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/failure File a complaint: Note: Inform them this is the only way to get SAFETY and Diagnostic information on the CAR. This is a huge potential safety risk for many drivers on the road today. They will only do a recall if it's a Safety issue and with out diagnostic capabilities - this could be a huge issue!! My dealer has so many customers complaining - they are selling cheap looking radios in their part dept for 599.00 installed - see attached picture.

1 people found this helpful.
10

My 2010 VW Jetta radio system made a loud popping noise and just stopped working 4 years ago. VW didn't give a crap. I just drove around for 4 years without a radio. I'm not spending that kind of money to replace it. I'll just never buy a VW of any model ever again. That name has become a joke.

1 people found this helpful.

Happened to my 2011 Jetta just after the car fell out of warranty. Unfortunately the dealer is programmed/trained to tell you that it is out of warranty, they haven't heard of the issue, it is not uncommon for radios to go out after 4-5 years and lastly that you can purchase from the dealer a refurbished radio for $700 (Don't). For whatever reason VW chose to install an inferior radio in their 2010/2011 Jettas. Best bet is the suggestion a few posts above. File an official complaint with the US DOT. State that your radio screen also discloses safety and diagnostic information about the car and no longer does so. This is definitely a potential Highway safety hazard.

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