Brake Sensor problems of the 2006 Volkswagen Jetta

This letter is to express my dissatisfaction with rear brake performance on my 2007 Jetta. The summary is extremely rapid rear pad wear, while then front, which have the wear sensor, remain unscathed. This is a known issue and the dealer admits its part of a ?safe braking? design that tries to make the car squat rather than dive. The problem is, this is an unconventional method of brake application (rear biased when physics has the fronts normally doing more work), combined with a conventional brake design that has smaller parts and no wear sensors in the rear. The result of this ?safety feature? is that I can expect to wear out rear pads faster than front, in as little as 9-10k miles. The problem is a reasonably minded person would not come to this conclusion, and the lack of a rear pad wear warning system creates a potential safety issue. The user manual does not warn that rear pads may wear faster, and in fact indicates they should be inspected each 10 k, or when the front wear sensor illuminates. Both of these cases may be too late, leading at best to expensive repairs when the rotors are damaged, or worse, to unpredictable braking in an emergency. If I have my car inspected at 10k, and the rears are still serviceable, I do not believe they would make it to 20k. The dealer admits its a common complaint, and that there is nothing than can be done. I feel this is a design defect and that pressure should be applied for a real fix. . Read more...

Wife stated that when she hit brakes it was hard to stop car ,did not slow, rear ended a SUV at about 30 mph which pushed front end up to windshield above bumper, pushed engine into firewall. She incurred major seat belt bruising with no air bag deployment. After inspection the insurance company found that two sensors had been distorted along with cracked engine mounts and bent cradle. They totaled the car due in part to no air bag deployment,t and felt that the car would be unsafe after repairs. After contacting Volkswagen, they said that air bag deployment should not have happened. But what if my wife had jumped into the car and forgot to put the seat belt on she would have gone through the windshield. I feel that this is a major safety defect since most accidents would over ride the bumper due to low bumper height. Volkswagen does not seem to think this is a problem from the pictures I sent them and our talk on the phone.