Volkswagen Exterior Lighting: Headlights

Volkswagen is recalling about 340,000 vehicles over a problem with the exterior lighting. Noncompliance can inhibit proper headlamp aim adjustment for roadway illumination, improperly aimed headlamps could cause reduced road visibility, increasing the risk of a crash.

Campaign
07V442000
Manufacturer
VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INC
Reported
24 September 2007
Vehicles
340,000
Built between
Oct 2004 – Sep 2007
Models
4
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
NHTSA compliance test
Owners notified
31 October 2007
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between October 2004 and September 2007. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2006-2008 Volkswagen GTIBuilt October 2005 to September 2007
  • 2005-2008 Volkswagen JettaBuilt October 2004 to September 2007
  • 2006-2008 Volkswagen R32Built October 2005 to September 2007
  • 2006-2008 Volkswagen RabbitBuilt October 2005 to September 2007

What the defect is

Certain vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 108, "lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment." some vehicles may not have had a required cap installed which disables the headlight horizontal aim and some vehicles may contain a cap that disables the vertical aiming screw.

What could happen

Noncompliance can inhibit proper headlamp aim adjustment for roadway illumination, improperly aimed headlamps could cause reduced road visibility, increasing the risk of a crash.

What gets fixed

DEALERS WILL INSPECT FOR THE PRESENCE OF A CAP IN THE SOCKET OF THE LOW BEAM HORIZONTAL AIMING SCREW AND INSTALL ONE IF MISSING, AND INSPECT FOR THE PRESENCE OF A CAP IN THE SOCKET OF THE VERTICAL AIMING SCREW AND IF PRESENT, THE CAP WILL BE REMOVED. THE RECALL WILL BEGIN ON OCTOBER 31, 2007.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtOctober 2004 to September 2007
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA24 September 2007
  3. Owners notified31 October 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 24 September 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
Q8
Recalling manufacturer
VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INC
Safety standard
FMVSS 108
Recall initiated by
OVSC

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. Q8.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