Owners have filed 6,492 complaints on the Volkswagen Passat, covering 1990–2022. The system named most often is Air Bags (1,205 reports). Worst years by volume: 2013, 2014, 1999; cleanest: 2022, 2019, 2011. 190 reports describe a crash, 239 a fire, 5 a death. On average the car was 5.3 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Volkswagen Passat
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 6,492 Passat complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Air Bags 1,205 Read
The contact owns a 2014 volkswagen passat. While driving approximately 20 mph, another vehicle drifted into the contact's lane. As a result, the contact crashed into a cement divider. The air bags deployed and a white, powdery substance flew into the eyes of the contact and his wife, followed by metal fragments. The…
Hello my doughter had a accident car was total loss and air bags did not pop up and seat belt was not tight enough
Collision around 45 to 50 mph. Airbags frontal and side airbags didnt deployed Two vehicles invaded my lane and I ran into the second vehicle
Electrical System 437 Read
Hi , My 2014 Passat driven by a family member struck a parked truck. Luckily, nobody was hurt! The parked car was not occupied and the driver of the Passat was able to exit the vehicle unharmed. The speed was about 35 mph and the air bags deployed. This front collision resulted in a major fire that totally destroyed…
Minor front end collision causing explosion of car causing my son to burn to death
Rolled into vehicle in front. No damage to either vehicle. Car burst in to flames. Total loss
Steering 347 Read
I have a recalled takata air bag in my vehiclke. I dodged a dog in the road and hit the guard rail where it is buried in the ground. My passet traveled 15-20 feet up the gaurd rail. The car was very damaged and my air bag did not deploy. The state patrolman and the tow truck were confused why the airbag didn't deploy.…
Car owner was driving at approx. 60mph reached across the seat the car swerved she over corrected twice due to very "touchy" steering. The car then careened across four lanes of traffic, and down a 30ft embankment bouncing off several trees. Then striking one head on with enough force as to bend and push back the…
The contact owns a 2009 volkswagen passat. While driving 30 mph, the power steering failed and the vehicle stalled without warning. As a result, the vehicle was involved in a crash. There were no injuries and a police report was filed. There were no warning indicators illuminated prior to the failure. The vehicle was…
Engine 297 Read
Vehicle struck a tree and caught on fire. My brother in law was killed
In stop and go traffic and traveling at an extremely slow speed, the vehicle bumped into the rear of another vehicle. The contact ignited the vw passat into flames destroying the entire vehicle. Importantly, the other vehicle involved has zero damage as the bump was extremely light. We are aware the model year 2006 vw…
The contact owns a 2013 volkswagen passat. While driving, the contact smelled smoke inside the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 50,000
Power Train 236 Read
The contact owns a 2015 volkswagen passat. While in park with the emergency brake engaged, the vehicle rolled away in reverse and crashed into a tree. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was not filed. There were no passengers in the vehicle when the failure occurred. The vehicle was driven to the contact's…
I was driving in the right lane of I-84 shifting from 5th to 6th when the clutch pedal stayed on the floor and the car slowly came to a stop with no sudden jerking motion. The brake pedal was not involved nor did it stay on the floor as the clutch did
Mechatronics unit failure- I was on highway traveling at 74 miles per hour and car just slowed down to about 10 mile per hour with no ....I was in rush hour traffic on the nys state thruway and was also slammed in the rear end by cars/trucks traveling behind me. This is a known issued with vw and older models of my…
Engine And Engine Cooling 230 Read
Parked car and went into the store to shop and approximately 10 minutes later someone said a car was on fire and that it was a silver vw. My husband went out and found the whole front end engulfed in flames
1. Slowing to stop at red light. 15 feet behind another car that was stopped, and with my foot firmly on the brake, the engine revved to top speed and the brake did not stop the car. I bumped the stopped car, put the car in park and turned off the engine. 2. No damage to either car. Police were called and came out…
The vehicle was parked in the parking garage after being driven at lunch and within approximately 15-30 minutes of owner having turned off the vehicle the garage attendant reported smelling smoke. According to an eyewitness, there was smoldering smoke coming from under the hood and within a minute or so of discovering…
Fuel/propulsion System 219 Read
The gas pedal randomly gets stuck...reported the issue to vw...not their issue because they can't seem to duplicate the issue!!! I have only had the car for 2 months...yes it's a 2013...but it was supposed to be certified pre-owned!!! This issue occurred typically while in motion...it would just rev up on it's own,…
The contact owned a 2010 volkswagen passat. The contact stated when driving at approximately 25-30 mph the engine stalled. The contact stated that the fire emitted from under the hood and within a moment the engine was on fire. The quincy fire department was present and was able to extinguish the fire. The contact…
Recall no. 17V509 in november 2015, while driving on a city street, my car stalled. When I took it to a local dealership, they said the fuel pump was faulty and replaced it. At the end of december 2015, while driving up a steep road, all of a sudden the car lost power and began reversing, before crashing into a…
Fuel System 155 Read
I own a 2006 vw passat, and I had an accident in the parking lot, at 5 miles/hour. My passat would not stop in the parking spot, it went slowly forward, hit the light poll on the left side, then it went head on to the car parked in front of the spot I chose to park. It hit this car and it pushed the car for 8 feet…
The contact owns a 2005 volkswagen passat. While driving 60 mph, the contact noticed that the fuel indicator went from half full to empty. He pulled over to the side of the road and smelled gasoline. Within seconds, the vehicle caught fire. The contact managed to safely exit the vehicle. The manufacturer offered him a…
1. On the evening of friday october 24, 2008 my check engine light began flashing and the car started running rough. 2. On the morning of saturday october 25, 2008 I brought the car to southpoint volkswagen in baton rouge, la. They diagnosed the problem as a faulty #4 engine coil. They replaced the coil, tested the…
Passat years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Electrical System,latches/locks/linkages | 1 | — | |
| 2020 | Air Bags,forward Collision Avoidance | 1 | — | |
| 2019 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 5 | — | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 7 | 1 | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 10 | 1 | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 15 | 3 | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | 29 | 4 | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | 12 | 3 | |
| 2011 | Air Bags | 2 | 1 | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | 5 | 1 | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | 4 | 11 | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | 2 | 5 | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | 3 | 4 | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 14 | 5 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 5 | 10 | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 8 | 20 | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 10 | 74 | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 11 | 36 | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 13 | 10 | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 9 | 20 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 9 | 11 | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 6 | 4 | |
| 1997 | Electrical System | 1 | 2 | |
| 1996 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 1995 | Electrical System | 3 | 1 | |
| 1994 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | 1 | |
| 1993 | Electrical System | 1 | 8 | |
| 1992 | Electrical System | 2 | 1 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 2,019 |
| Average complaints per series | 3.2 |
| Worst single series | 31 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.3 years |
A model average of 3.2 hides a worst series at 31. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Passat?
By complaint volume, 2013, 2014, 1999 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Passat years are the cleanest?
2022, 2019, 2011 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Volkswagen Passat have?
6,492 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1990–2022. Of those, 190 describe a crash and 239 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.