2000 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA — Complaint #244802
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about EQUIPMENT:MECHANICAL:WRECKER AND WHEEL LIFT DEVICES filed October 4, 2000
NHTSA complaint #244802 (ODI reference 732599) concerns a 2000 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA and was filed on October 4, 2000. The owner reports the failure occurred on September 19, 2000. The report was geocoded to New York based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as equipment:mechanical:wrecker and wheel lift devices, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same VOLKSWAGEN JETTA cohort independently describe similar equipment:mechanical:wrecker and wheel lift devices failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2000 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
CAR WAS BEING TOWED ON A FLAT BED TOW TRUCK. THE VEHICLE WAS SECURED BY 2 FRONT HOOKS/STRAP WHICH WERE ATTACHED TO A WINCH. THE REAR WAS SECURED BY A STRAP ATTACHED TO THE REAR TOW LOOP ON MY VEHICLE. AS THE TOW TRUCK WAS MOVING AT ABOUT 10 MPH, THE TOW LOOP BROKE (IN ABOUT 3 SPOTS)( THE LOOP IS ROLLED STEEL, NOT THE SOLID FORGED PEICE UTILIZED ON OTHER VEHICLES). THE RESULTING CRACK/BREAKAGE RESULTED IN THE VEHICLE ROLLING FORWARD, DROPPING THE 2 OTHER HOOKS AND NEARLY ROLLING BACK OFF OF THE TOW TRUCK. THIS ALL HAPPENED AT LESS THAN 15 MPH. IMAGINE IF IT HAD BEEN AT 60 MPH!!!!!. IF THIS HAPPENED TO MY CAR, IT WILL HAPPEN TO OTHERS. THE LOOP IS TOO WEAK TO SERVE ITS FUNCTION OF BEING ABLE TO SECURE THE VEHICLE.*AK
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 244802 |
| ODI Number | 732599 |
| Date Filed | October 4, 2000 |
| Failure Date | September 19, 2000 |
| VIN | 3VWSC29M3YM |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.