Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Door Wiring Defect in VW Jettas

A class action lawsuit has been brought over allegations that 2005 and 2006 Volkswagen Jetta vehicles are constructed with a door wiring harness defect that could lead to an electrical short circuit. This alleged defect can result in the driver being unable to use several of the vehicle’s features.

The complaint alleges that the Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., which has been named as the defendant in this case, defectively designed the door wiring harnesses to be too short. The lawsuit alleges that this problem can occur in both doors but is more common on the driver’s side and that, eventually, the wires break and the door controls malfunction. Because of this, the driver can allegedly lose access to several features, including power window and mirror controls and the gas latch and trunk releases.

The lawsuit also alleges that Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. was aware of the door wiring harness defect and that Volkswagen designed the door harnesses to be too short in order to save on manufacturing costs.

The complaint also indicates that the Jetta has been Volkswagen’s bestselling car since prior to 2002 and that more than 200,000 models were sold in the United States between 2005 and 2007.

Volkswagen’s sister company settled a similar lawsuit in Canada. That case was Jean-Pierre Richard v. Volkswagen Group Canada Inc., Case No. 500-06-556-114 (Superior Court of Canada, Province of Quebec, District of Montreal, November 5, 2012).

In this case, the national law firm, Parker Waichman LLP filed the class action lawsuit alongside several other distinguished law firms, including Holland, Groves, Schneller & Stolze, LLC; Climaco, Wilcox, Peca, Tarantino & Garofoli Co., L.P.A.; Neblett, Beard & Arsenault; Levin, Fishbein, Sedran & Berman; Geragos & Geragos; and Gori Julian & Associates, P.C.

The lawsuit was filed on June 3^rd in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois (Case No. 13-cv-00370-GPM).