Volkswagen is recalling 4,000 2008 Passats and 2009 Tiguans for an "engine surging" issue. The problem is an engine control module that may not control engine idle when the air conditioning is turned on. In rare cases, the ECM can trigger an unexpected jump in engine RPM, which could obviously lead to an accident. NHTSA has informed VW that since the recall is a safety concern, dealers cannot sell the vehicles until the problem has been fixed. Owners of potentially affected vehicles are being told not to operate the air conditioning until a VW dealer has serviced the ECM, which is less than terrific news considering it's June and temperatures are around 90 degrees in many parts of the country. While it's disheartening that the brand new Tiguan is already getting its first recall, at least the problem was discovered early and there's a fix readily available.
