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July 31st, 2013 
A Volkswagen Golf driver is the subject of a coronial inquiry in Victoria.
Source: Supplied
THE Victorian Coroner has delayed the report on the death of a Volkswagen Golf driver which sparked widespread public scrutiny of the German car maker’s reliability issues and helped prompt a recall of 25,000 cars across Australia.
The findings on the January 2011 crash – in which 32-year-old Melissa Ryan died after her car was struck from behind by a truck on a Melbourne freeway during the afternoon peak hour -were due to be released today.
But the Victorian Coroner’s office has confirmed the report has been adjourned.
News Corp Australia understands the family has asked for new evidence to be considered but it is unclear what that new evidence contains.
A spokesman for Volkswagen Australia said the company had not yet been approached to provide any more technical information about the vehicle involved in the fatal crash or on the issues affecting other vehicles in its model range.
The victim was driving a petrol-powered 2008 Volkswagen Golf GTI with a manual transmission.
However, the safety recalls and “dealer service campaigns” to rectify Volkswagen faults affected diesel-powered cars and automated “DSG” gearboxes after customers complained of “sudden deceleration” or the car going into “limp home mode”.
Reports at the time of the fatal crash said the car appeared to slow suddenly to 20km/h while it was travelling in the fast lane. The truck driver reported not seeing brake lights.
In June Volkswagen said preliminary inquiries found there was no mechanical fault linked to the fatal crash, which was “completely unrelated” to the car maker’s reliability issues.
The incident nevertheless sparked widespread feedback from disgruntled Volkswagen customers who complained of numerous faults with their cars.
Several groups of owners have said they plan to mount a legal class action against the car maker but, to date, none have proceeded.
This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling
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