Volkswagen has announced it is recalling more than a million cars in North America and China to sort out a potential problem with rear suspension parts.
VW announced the recall of 581,090 China-made Sagitars, a Jetta variant, as well as Beetles because of a problem with the trailing arms on the torsion beam rear suspension. The carmaker also recalled 442,265 cars in the United States and 126,000 in Canada, including 2011-2013 VW Jettas and 2012-2013 VW Beetles.
In the United States, the recall covers 400,602 model year 2011-2013 Volkswagen Jetta and 41,663 model year 2012-2013 Volkswagen Beetle and Beetle Convertible vehicles.
VW of America said that in isolated cases, “it is possible that a rear or a side-rear collision could lead to damage of the rear suspension trailing arms.” If the damage is not detected and repaired, it can later cause the trailing arm to fracture suddenly, resulting in a loss of vehicle stability. This could potentially lead to a crash.
The automaker said dealers will inspect the rear suspension of vehicles that have been involved in rear or side-rear collisions to determine whether the trailing arms have been damaged.
On cars that do not have damaged trailing arms, dealers will fit a sheetmetal inlay on the rear trailing arms. This will emit a distinctive sound if the car is later involved in a rear-end collision, signaling the owner to take the car for inspection.
These repairs will be performed free of charge to the customer. VW said no accidents or injuries related to this issue have been reported.
PHOTOS
