Owners have filed 689 complaints on the Volkswagen Routan, covering 2009–2014. The system named most often is Electrical System (358 reports). Worst years by volume: 2009, 2010, 2011; cleanest: 2014, 2013, 2012. 14 reports describe a crash, 8 a fire. On average the car was 5.8 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Volkswagen Routan
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 689 Routan complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 358 Read
I drive 90 miles before I parked the car in my garage. After a minute of turning off the car, I noticed bright sparks and dense smoke from under the driver's seat. I was able to put down the fire after dumping a lot of water under the seat. At that time the power seats were functional but heated seat was not. I tried…
My children and I were stationary at a light when the van started sputtering. When the light turned green I accelerated. Within 5 minutes the van cut off. I have a full tank of gas. This now happens often and I never know where or when it will cut off. Most days it will not start. I have had a vw mechanic take a look…
The contacts owns a 2010 volkswagen routan. When the contact opened the driver's door, snow fell onto the power window switch. After the contact cleaned the snow off the switch, she later smelled a burning oder coming from the door. The contact attempted to use the window later in the day, but the window failed to go…
Steering 71 Read
The contact owns a 2009 volkswagen routan. The contact stated that the emergency brake warning indicator illuminated, which indicated that it was locked. The vehicle veered to the right and crashed into a parked vehicle. There were no injuries and a police report was filed. The dealer performed an unknown repair, but…
The contact owns a 2009 volkswagen routan. While driving 60 mph, the contact detected a burning odor without warning. In addition, the contact observed smoke outside and inside the vehicle. The contact stated that the instrument panel, headlights, and radio failed to work. The contact was able to pull the vehicle…
My husband was at a light and pressed the gas to go, when he noticed that he entire vehicle had turned off. Steering, brakes, and all electrical. It took him a while to realize what was happening, but then he tried turning the van off and back on, and it started right back up. He thought it a freak occurrence
Engine 57 Read
Car shuts off while driving
The contact owns a 2013 volkswagen routan. While driving unknown speeds, the vehicle shook, jerked, and misfired while the accelerator pedal was applied. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer (hawk volkswagen located at 2861 w jefferson st joliet, il 60435 815-741-1100) where it was diagnosed that the cylinder head…
Vehicle would shudder sometimes harshly under light throttle at 45-60mph and small hill or acceleration. Dealer diagnosed a left cylinder head failure and cylinder misfires. Vehicle has approximately 80,000 miles. Not included by VIN and falls just outside the manufacturing date, which resulted in a manufacturers…
Power Train 53 Read
The contact owns a 2011 volkswagen routan. While driving approximately 35 mph, all the warning indicators illuminated and white smoke and flames emerged from the engine compartment. The contact pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road and removed the three child passengers from the vehicle. The fire department…
Vehicle stationary in park. Gear slipped and car drove backwards down the hill, stopped, then slipped into drive and drove itself into lake. My dog crated in back. She drowned. Incline was slight. Gravel. Ashe county park jefferson nc. I was outside the car trying to crate my other dog when this happened
The contact owns a 2010 volkswagen routan. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced numerous failures. The rear rotors became warped numerous times and the dealer replaced the rotors four times. The transmission would cause the vehicle to lunge abruptly when the gear was shifted from reverse to drive.…
Service Brakes 34 Read
Braking is inadequate and is likely to fail as brake rotors are warped after less than a 8,000 miles. Warped rotors could affect ABS system and lead to more accidents. Vw has replaced rotors with same part number so problem repeats itself shortly after installation. Vw needs to improve their brakes for this vehicle…
Vehicle shudders violently on stopping from variety of speeds. This is felt in the brake peddle, steering column, steering wheel. Vehicle shakes front to back and side to side on braking. Vehicle still appears to brake adequately, though something is definitely wrong with the braking system, doesn't seem safe. Vehicle…
Wv 2011 routan. When the rear tires/brakes get wet either by rain or washing, and the parking brake is applied, the brakes will not release when you unlock the parking brake pedal, dealer kept the vehicle overnight and soaked rear brakes with garden hose and applied parking brakes, next morning it would not unlock,…
Air Bags 15 Read
I was in a pretty bad car accident 4/5/2019 with 6 kids in the car and none of the airbags deployed.. We were I motion when car infront of me tried to avoid the car in front of him. I saw him and I tried to avoid him so my left front hit his rear right side. None of the airbags deployed and now I have a horrible…
Unfortunately my 2011 vw routan was involved in an accident where it was struck on the passenger side by another vehicle moving at approximately 30mph. As a result of the collision the routan spun 270 degrees and rolled over. None of the multiple airbags in my vehicle deployed!
The contact owns a 2009 volkswagen routan. While driving approximately 35 mph, the contact rear ended the preceding vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. The driver was shaken up and was taken to the emergency room for medical attention. The vehicle was damaged and towed to a tow yard. A police report was filed. The…
Structure 11 Read
The passenger side door has severe corrosion on the bottom. This was not noticed until after going thru a car wash. It is rusting from the inside out. Vw offers a 5 year 100,000 corrosion warranty but my in-service date has expired and they will not work with me at all. This is a default in the design of the door and…
Driver's side sliding passenger door is stuck in locked position. Unable to open door manually or with remote. Problem showed up around 90,000 miles, no indication of a cause
The contact owns a 2010 volkswagen routan. The contact stated that the rear sliding doors would not latch and the doors would slide open while the vehicle was in motion. The rear sliding doors would also close intermittently without activation. A child was injured as a result of the rear door closing without…
Wheels 10 Read
Our van was in motion on the highway after an almost 2 hour drive on the highway. Loud noise, screeching, shake/vibration and a large bang and the van dropped. Upon stopping and inspecting we found the right front and left rear bolts had completely sheered completely off both wheels while driving on the highway. We…
The contact owns a 2010 volkswagen routan. The contact stated that while performing a routine inspection, he noticed that the valve stem was corroded. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnosis and the contact was advised that the stem would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and…
The contact owns a 2010 volkswagen routan. The contact stated that while driving 15 mph, the tire pressure warning light illuminated as the front passenger's side tire deflated. The contact had a roadside assistance service change the tire and install the spare. The tire was taken to the dealer, who stated that the…
Routan 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2013 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2011 | Air Bags | 3 | 2 | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | 4 | 3 | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | 6 | 3 |
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 | 153 |
| Average complaints per series | 4.5 |
| Worst single series | 20 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.8 years |
A model average of 4.5 hides a worst series at 20. 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
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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 Routan?
By complaint volume, 2009, 2010, 2011 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 Routan years are the cleanest?
2014, 2013, 2012 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Volkswagen Routan have?
689 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2009–2014. Of those, 14 describe a crash and 8 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.