Volkswagen Exterior Lighting: Switch

Volkswagen is recalling about 1,002,000 vehicles over a problem with the exterior lighting. The brake lights could become inoperative, or remain on.

Campaign
07V063000
Manufacturer
VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INC
Reported
20 February 2007
Vehicles
1,002,000
Built between
Feb 2000 – Nov 2006
Models
6
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
27 April 2007
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between February 2000 and November 2006. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2001-2007 Volkswagen BeetleBuilt June 2002 to November 2006
  • 1999-2006 Volkswagen GolfBuilt February 2000 to July 2005
  • 1999-2006 Volkswagen GTIBuilt February 2000 to July 2005
  • 2001-2005 Volkswagen JettaBuilt October 2000 to November 2004
  • 2003-2005 Volkswagen PassatBuilt April 2002 to April 2005
  • 2004 Volkswagen R32Built October 2003 to May 2004

What the defect is

On certain passenger, wagon, and convertible vehicles equipped with or without cruise control, a brake light switch may malfunction if it was installed incorrectly.

What could happen

The brake lights could become inoperative, or remain on. Failure to provide the proper signal when braking could lead to a crash without warning.

What gets fixed

DEALERS WILL INSTALL THE NEWLY DESIGNED BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON APRIL 27, 2007, AND WILL BE CONDUCTED IN SEVERAL STAGGERED MAILINGS THROUGH SEPTEMBER 21, 2007. VEHICLES WITHIN THE MAKE, MODEL, AND MODEL YEAR OF THIS POPULATION MAY BE INVOLVED IN EITHER THIS RECALL OR 06V-183, BUT NOT BOTH. THE REMEDY IS THE SAME FOR EACH RECALL. VOLKSWAGEN DEALERS WILL APPLY THE REMEDY BASED ON THE VIN NUMBER OF THE VEHICLE.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtFebruary 2000 to November 2006
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA20 February 2007
  3. Owners notified27 April 2007

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 20 February 2007.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Manufacturer contact

Owners may contact vw at 1-800-822-8987.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
N4
Recalling manufacturer
VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INC
Recall initiated by
MFR

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Volkswagen recall no. N4.CUSTOMERS may contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty: 1-800-424-9153); or go to http://www.safercar.gov.

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand