Volkswagen is warning certain VW and Audi owners to immediately park their vehicles because of the possibility of losing the brakes.
The recall includes more than 10,200 vehicles that should not be driven until they are repaired.
- 2018 Volkswagen Atlas
- 2018 Volkswagen Passat
- 2018 Volkswagen Beetle
- 2018 Volkswagen Beetle Convertible
- 2018 Volkswagen Golf
- 2018 Volkswagen Golf SportWagen
- 2018 Volkswagen Golf GTI
- 2018 Audi Q5
- 2018 Audi SQ5
The automaker says it starting finding vehicles with soft brake pedals at the Chattanooga plant in an area used to store vehicles that were ready to be shipped. VW immediately stopped all shipments and discovered identical brake pedal problems at ports outside the U.S.
Engineers looked into the matter and the supplier informed Volkswagen about possible problems with the brake caliper pistons. The supplier, the Kelsey-Hayes Company, said it looked like the pistons were all manufactured during one certain period where an insufficient amount of coating was used on the pistons.
Volkswagen is warning every affected customer to park the vehicle and call 800-411-6688 to make arrangements for the vehicle to be towed to a VW dealer. The automaker says it will provide a free loaner car if the customer needs it.
The recall is expected to begin by the end of July 2018.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says VW dealers will inspect the brake systems and if needed, bleed the front brakes of Atlas models and the rear brakes of the other VW models. Audi dealers will bleed the rear brakes.
However, VW says the "final remedy is under evaluation" but the "remedy component is coated sufficiently and produced outside the suspected time period."
Concerned customers should call Volkswagen at 800-893-5298 or Audi customer service at 800-253-2834.
CarComplaints.com has complaints about the vehicles named in the brake caliper piston recall.