Problems with ESP on 09 TDIs?

Hi. I've just received a phone call notifying me that my new 09 TDI has arrived. Just one problem - no ESP. My salesperson tells me that this is due to some sort of problem with the ESP, that Volkswagen has been having some sort of problems with it so they shipped the car without it. This seemed a bit strange to me, so I've been searching online for the last half hour trying to find out information about this. I can't find anything though. Has anyone heard anything about this?

I'm becoming suspicious that I'm being fed a line of BS.

We bought our 2009 Jetta Sportwagon this summer and just last week drove it down to Florida. While we were going 60 MPH on an interstate passing an 18 wheeler the ESP suddenly went berserk. The car actually jumped onto its left wheels and then to the right and then just generally thrashed and shook for several seconds. We were lucky that we didn't crash into the semi or roll into the median. We now drive with the ESP turned off. The VW dealer here in Florida found no problem and said that the VW hot line they called had never heard of it.

Hello, I live in an area where I get lots of skid control practice. ESP sounds wonderfull. ABS brakes sounded like
cranberry sauce with turkey. That said, I work for a large corporation. Our corporate fleet of about 1000 Ford/Gm trucks
have all had the ABS braking systems removed. The reliability was terrible, The downtime was high, and the fleet crash safety record has actualy improved .
Looking at other sites there are folks asking for a ESP recall. The parts are very expensive. The reliability appears
to be inadequate, and you are not the only complainant mentioning safety. I bet VW is very worried, and are quietly
discontinueing the system. If they need to recall 3 years of production , the cost will be very high. Remember why
the Pintos were recalled? Remember the SUV tire recall?
My opinion is I would send VW a double registered letter detailing exactly what occured. Ask for a remedy at their cost as this is a safety issue. Do not expect an answer, however should a class action dispute arise, your letter will be on file. You may have it fixed free. The squeeky wheel gets greased Allan

I have the ESP on my 2003 Jetta TDI and have no troubles with it what so ever. It actually works great in maintaining traction during the winter here is Canada. I can definitely notice the difference between ours with it and my wife's parents with out it.

I've had a similar problem where my rear brakes will pulse randomly every 500-1000 miles. This will move me back and forth in the lane and sometimes jerk the car fore and aft if I am going downhill. This decreases my gas mileage by 5-10mpg and I usually have to pull over if/when i start smelling the "hot" brake smell and wait for the brakes to cool.
This happened the first week I owned the car and continues-- I"m concerned it is not safe enough to drive after I went sideways in the snow (and was driving straight).

I have been back to the dealer 5x and written 2 letters to VW, but they keep telling me it is operating to design.

Below are my posts beginning Feb. 18, that may be better placed here. This may be causing the problem I am having.

2009 BURNING RUBBER ODOR Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post
Question 2009 TDI Auto 700 Miles. On at least two occasions, after driving the car, a 'burning rubber odor' was noticed at the rear wheel wells of the car. Also noticed a faint odor at the front wheel wells. The hand brake was off! Laughing The car is going to the dealer tomorrow for this problem. Has anyone else experienced this problem. It is an intermittent item and I anticipate the dealer's 'unable to duplicate' answer. I would like to know if this something other owners have experienced.

"Unable to duplicate" Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Delete this post
Dealership mechanic drove car and was unable to duplicate the 'hot burning rubber odor' and stated the car performed to VW specs.
Not surprising to me... I did drive the car some 200 miles on Saturday and had no problems.

I just noticed Kevan's Dec. 3 post about the ESP on TDI's and the resulting posts. The ESP may be applying the rear brakes on our curvy two-lane roads and the brakes are getting hot. I'll have to do some test driving at low speeds to see if it recurs.

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PALOGGER
2009 JETTA TDI

I had a similar problem with my 2009 Jetta (500 miles on the odometer). I was driving in the rain one evening and when crossing a metal deck bridge (the kind with the metal grate bridge deck/roadway) at 20 mph the car seemed to loose control. The steering became very unresponsive and the car wandered left and right pretty violently. My wife and I were afraid that the car would drive itself over the egde! I slowed the car considerably, yet it continued this behavior the entire time we were on the bridge - scary Surprised

. I am curious to know whether turning off the ESP would have resolved this issue. Hmm

movwowner wrote:

We bought our 2009 Jetta Sportwagon this summer and just last week drove it down to Florida. While we were going 60 MPH on an interstate passing an 18 wheeler the ESP suddenly went berserk. The car actually jumped onto its left wheels and then to the right and then just generally thrashed and shook for several seconds. We were lucky that we didn't crash into the semi or roll into the median. We now drive with the ESP turned off. The VW dealer here in Florida found no problem and said that the VW hot line they called had never heard of it.

It actually works great in maintaining traction during the winter here is Canada. I can definitely notice the difference between ours with it and my wife's parents with out it.thread insert helicoil

daem wrote:

Hello, I live in an area where I get lots of skid control practice. ESP sounds wonderfull. ABS brakes sounded like
cranberry sauce with turkey. That said, I work for a large corporation. Our corporate fleet of about 1000 Ford/Gm trucks
have all had the ABS braking systems removed. The reliability was terrible, The downtime was high, and the fleet crash safety record has actualy improved .
Looking at other sites there are folks asking for a ESP recall. The parts are very expensive. The reliability appears
to be inadequate, and you are not the only complainant mentioning safety. I bet VW is very worried, and are quietly
discontinueing the system. If they need to recall 3 years of production , the cost will be very high. Remember why
the Pintos were recalled? Remember the SUV tire recall?
My opinion is I would send VW a double registered letter detailing exactly what occured. Ask for a remedy at their cost as this is a safety issue. Do not expect an answer, however should a class action dispute arise, your letter will be on file. You may have it fixed free. The squeeky wheel gets greased Allan

Actually the government has mandated that all vehicles sold in the united states are to have standard ABS systems by the year 2010. ESP has been around for almost 10 years with VW and I have never heard such a complaint. I am not denying that there have been some, however I have owned 3 VW's with ESP and had no such troubles. Actually it has helped me several times in abrupt stopping situations.

VW has no plans to "discontinue" using the ESP system. Keep in mind that these vehicles are machines and are man made. Anything man made can have a flaw.

I work for a VW dealer and we have over 35 new TDI's on the lot at the moment, all of which have ESP. I am definitely thinking that the salesman is blowing smoke up your rear. I would contact another dealer.