general problems of the 1999 Volkswagen Passat

In an effort to make this as short as possible, I bought 4 new continental contiproco tires in June 2009 for a 99 vw Passat. After driving less than 7k miles, while traveling in the middle lane of a major highway about 65 mph the right rear tire separated into 3 pieces. I did not hit anything that I know of and pulled off the road immediately. It was similar to a truck retread tire that separates and you see on the road all the time. Continental will replace the tire but quite honestly I don?t trust their products at this time. If this occurred on a front tire, I would have rolled over.

Tire shreaded, 5 to 15 minutes after pulling over, tires caught on fire and did 3700 dolars worth of damage.

The manufacturer's recommended tire pressure is not posted in the owner's manual or on the vehicle, as required by fmvss 110.

I own a vehicle that is subject to recall program 02v026000, which I learned about from consumer reports magazine. I have not received a recall notice from volkagen , so I called the Volkswagen customer service line (800-822-8987). I was told this is not an actual recall. Their spokesman said they are just informing consumers not to drive on a flat tire as possible damage could occur. He said there would be no fuel leak or other danger. Is this an actual recall, should I take immediate action, and should vw pay for the corrective action?.