VW Jetta reliability blues

Hi there! I am new to this site, but a friend told me everyone is super nice and could help me out so I figured I would give it a shot. If I am in the wrong area, please point me in the right directions. I have a 2001 VW Jetta (2.0 L 4 cylinder GL) and overall I really love the car since it is fun to drive and with the seats down in the back there is tons of room to haul stuff. My complaint is that the reliability sucks! I have had the usual issues (MAF, brake switch, O2 sensors, just waiting for the windows to go) but in addition to that I had a completely new tranny put in at 6,000 miles (covered fully under warranty, so that part was good). About 2 months ago I had the right front axel fall off! The bolts that hold it to the tranny (CV area) "sheared" off (I asked for the old parts, but they were not to be found). There was 61,000 miles on it when it happened (thank God I was not on the freeway as it coasted to a quick halt) and the bolts that hold it together are NOT covered under the transmission warranty (10 years/100,000 miles); so long story short it cost me 1,100 clams to get it fixed. I have been going round and round with VW and still nothing yet. Last I heard it was still under investigation.
My question is there a best way to go about this? I have all my interactions/phone calls documented, but it has been 2 months now and still no resolution. I believe that it should be covered under warranty since it is a critical component, nevermind a potential safety issue. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your time. Happy Holidays!
Mike

Those bolts are one time only streatch bolts and they aren't kidding. I had a wheel bearing replaced on my Beetle and after, the steering wheel was off center. I decided to goof with the adjustment myself since I knew the cause. Well, I loosened the bolts (which the shop reused) and re-adjusted things then tightend them. It was scary how little torque broke the head right off of one of them. I stopped right there and went and bought new bolts. My guess,,, they reused those bolts.

Thanks for the great info. I really appreciate it!
Mike

I would say with almost sure certainty that replacing the original transmission under warranty caused this to happen. Proving it may be an entirely different matter. The VW mechanic either did not tighten the CV joint cap screws tight enough, causing one or more to back out, causing the rest to shear off, or he tightened one or more too tight, fatiguing them, leading to the same occurance. There are six on each CV joint to tighten and its difficult to tighten them because of the angles involved. I know. That's why, unless you know how tight to tighten critical fasteners, you need to use a torque wrench.

--Nate

If the failed part was touched during dealer work, I think you have a good case that they are responsible. I would pursue this, especially since having an axle come off sounds like a pretty severe safety issue.

Check the RO parts list from the time the transmission was replaced. R&R of the transaxle will require both half-shafts to be removed, obviously, and unless the new bolts appear on the parts list, they weren't renewed as required. Of course, even if they did put them on the list, that is not a guarantee of correct installation, nor that the dealership didn't color-coat the RO, that is, they put the parts on for the warranty charge (got paid for them) but didn't actually use new bolts.

I would bet money that the old bolts were re-used. One time use stretch bolts are one time use simply because the second stretching breaks them.

Awesome! Thanks everyone for the help! Due to the Holidays I do have any updates and all the great insight. I really do appreciate it. I will start pestering again this coming Tues to VW and the previous shop where the tranny was replaced. I talked to them (shop) about the bolts and they said that it still does not explain the reason the tranny was replaced at about 6,000 then at about 60,000 later it fails. I expressed concern initially that maybe they were not set to the correct torque value, so I had the car back in and they checked the torque reading on BOTH sides and said it was fine (since they did NOT check the other side at all when the right front axle was replaced). Either way, the shop was the last ones to touch it.

Thanks again for all of the help.

Any thoughts that this might happen on the LEFT side now also? It does make me concerned though. Dropping an axle on a freeway would suck big time!

Happy New Year!
Mike