Volkswagen Recall 870,000 Volkswagen has recalled 870,000 cars including Passats, Audi A4s, A8s, and A6s. Below are 2 reports of the same event one from Detroit News USA, the other from The Sentinel a Staffordshire Newspaper in England. One report says that there will be a loss of steering the other that the wheel could fall off. This website has been telling you for over 2 years that the Wheels fall off Volkswagen cars. Thursday, April 29, 2004 Global Auto Report Detroit News staff, wire and Bloomberg News reports 870,000 Passat, Audi models recalled WOLFSBURG, Germany — Volkswagen AG is recalling 870,000 Passat and Audi models to check for damage to axles. Passat models built between 1996 and 1999, Audi A4 and A8 cars built between 1994 and 1999 and Audi A6 cars built between 1997 and 1999 are affected by the recall. Customers can take the vehicles to get checked free of charge, VW said. About half the vehicles are in Germany. Damage to the rubber protecting part of the front axle can lead to abrasion and in some cases loss of steering, the company said. This picture should have been sufficient for Volkswagen to recall vehicles, if they don't know what it shows then they should not be manufacturing cars, if they do they should hang their head in shame, no I am not the problem just the messenger, you have gone part of the way now fix the problem. Volkswagen seem to have concluded that the rubber boot is the problem, well the shaft I examined had a sound boot with no sign of damage, indeed this rubber boot has been part of the annual vehicle inspection in Britain for years. If Volkswagen have identified another problem ie. excessive wear due to contamination of the constant velocity joint causing shaft failure then, this is another reason not to affix the wheel directly to the shaft. I consider that the real problem is fatigue failure through stress concentration points within the splines of the shafts themselves. The loss of a wheel will happen according to the side-load placed on a wheel with a defective shaft and just as likely to happen at 70.mph after a manoeuvre on a motorway as 25.mph fully laden on a roundabout, in either event the natural reaction of a driver is to brake, the car will instantly rotate out of control and your fate is in the lap of the Gods. If you own a pre 1994, Volkswagen are not telling you anything and many models of both Volkswagen and Audi are still on the road pre this date, I will help them you are the most at risk. What about other models in the Volkswagen range or for that matter Skoda and Seat models? Volkswagen have used the policy one size fits all for years, I am afraid the chickens just came home!