Volkswagen Passat Complaints

30 consumer complaints on file.

#11757658August 18, 2026
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Fuel smell in cabin lingering, strong fuel odor around passenger rear side, fuel cap area as well
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11746104June 24, 2026
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, LANE DEPARTURE: BLIND SPOT DETECTION, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
I believe the cars FRONT END BRAKE ASSIST FAILED, resulting in a preventable accident. VW will not release data, and I have never had an accident in 32 years. There have been multiple class action lawsuits but VW refuses to announce a recall. Now, my car that is a 2022, with 50k miles on it, has major front end damage, and deployed airbags for an accident that could have been avoided. They have already been sued in 2024.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11745509June 21, 2026
ENGINE
My car consumes an over abundant amount of oil about 1 quart every 1000 to 1500 miles. There is a civil lawsuit right now about the piston rings having low tension and my car has every symptom of this. This could lead to turbo issues, and several thousands of dollars in repair costs. I’ve already had to replace my oil pan, timing cover, and pcv and the car only has 80,000 miles on it.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11742775June 8, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
I am requesting that Volkswagen open a formal case regarding a fire involving my 2021 Volkswagen Passat. On May 6, 2026, at approximately 9:30 PM, after driving about seven miles, I came to a complete stop and the vehicle began smoking before catching fire. The vehicle has been declared a total loss and is currently being stored at a salvage yard pending investigation. I am requesting that Volkswagen investigate the cause of the fire and advise whether an inspection of the vehicle will be conducted.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11722806March 8, 2026
SERVICE BRAKES
I am reporting what appears to be a serious, chronic safety issue with this vehicle (not just this particular car, but all M/Y 2020~2022 (and possibly 2012~2019 as well if they use the same brake components). Since new, my car has had chronic brake problems and these ongoing issues keep arising, pointing to defective brake caliper design. They have not caused an accident (for me anyway), but should be investigated because they have the potential to do so. I'll list dates, mileage and details here because they are numerous: 05/22/2023 - 40,805 - Heard brake (dragging) noise. Found one pad in rear driver side completely worn with no perceptible wear on other rear pads or on front pads. Dealer diagnosed seized caliper on driver side and repaired under warranty. 02/05/2024 - 59,631 - During dealer inspection, dealer noticed passenger side rear caliper seized. Replaced caliper under warranty but I had to pay $220 labor. 11/23/2024 - 83,100 (approx.) - During another recent brake issue, dealer diagnosed a bad ABS module. Part was ordered and replaced on this day. 03/07/2026 - 115,275 - Heard early signs of brake wear so checked pads. Front pads still have zero wear on them (115,000+ miles and still has factory original pads -- no front brake actuation?). Rears are completely worn down. While checking, found guide pins on both front calipers seized as well as one guide pin on rear passenger side caliper. This vehicle has been stopping on only the rear brakes since new, and has chronic problems with seized calipers. I'm sure that it's not something limited to just my particular vehicle. I believe this brake caliper design is defective and all models using these calipers should be investigated for a potential recall situation.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11701230November 24, 2025
AIR BAGS
I was parking my car and then I heard a loud crack. Then I noticed my car's airbag malfunction warning notice came up on the dashboard along with other failures. I can see on the edges of the horn panel on the left that its slightly detached, so it seem the airbag has somewhat inflated. I haven't taken it to the dealer yet, but will later after work. I didn't notice any issues prior to this happening
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11692184October 8, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Driving home from work around 1:00 am at night with street lights and no other cars in the vicinity the auto brake engaged, causing an abrupt stop. Once the auto brake ceased I was able to complete my trip. There was a light coating of water in a spot on the road but nothing else and no reason for this to occur.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11682324August 22, 2025
EQUIPMENT:ELECTRICAL:INFOTAINMENT, EQUIPMENT
See attached document for complaint.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11680260August 12, 2025
ENGINE
Manufacturers defect. Known excessive oil consumption of the 2.0 Turbo 4 cylinder engine.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11678501August 5, 2025
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated that while stopped at a red traffic light, the engine stalled. The low oil pressure and the battery warning lights were illuminated. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a local independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the piston ring and engine had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 37,995.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11648017March 13, 2025
AIR BAGS, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, STEERING
Known issue in previous VW models. Broken clock spring in steering wheel from normal <100k miles no connection for all steering wheel electronics (airbags, radio controls, etc)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11627446November 26, 2024
STRUCTURE:BODY
There is a headlight chrome accent piece right above the left headlight that one day just blew off the vehicle when driving down the highway. Oddly enough, I live in a small town of Mason City, IA and I saw another VW Passat (same year) missing the same exact piece so I know this is a vehicle defect. You also can not just replace this one part, it costs over $1,000 to replace the full headlight assemble. I hope others report this defect as this is very dangerous when you have chrome pieces flying off your vehicle when it is not even windy and the vehicle has never had any other damage.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11624685November 12, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES
In May of 2023, I reported that the driver side rear brake caliper appeared to be sticking as one pad at that corner was completely worn down and making contact with the rotor, while the other pad at that same corner had no visible wear. Dealer replaced the rear left rotor under warranty (40,805 miles). Warranty also covered both rear rotors and rear pads due to rotor damage. In February of 2024, dealer inspection noticed the exact same issue on rear right brake caliper and replaced it under the extended warranty (59,631 miles). Although rear right rotor was damaged again, the extended warranty did NOT cover rear rotors or pads and I had to cover the cost out of pocket. In November of 2024 with approximately 80,000 miles, I performed a full brake inspection and noticed that even at this mileage, there was NO visible wear to the factory installed front brake pads (which at this mileage was odd and concerning), and while inspecting the rear pads I noticed that there was no visible wear to the rear left pads, but the rear right pads were worn down almost to the rotor. This uneven wear was shown to the dealer and after a day of "diagnosis", the dealer tech found no issues. They claimed fluid was flowing freely and the brake pistons were not sticking (pointing to the ABS module applying significantly more braking force to the rear right corner, in my opinion). I pressed the issue and after another day of diagnosis, they claimed the ABS module was defective and submitted the claim to the extended warranty. Claim was approved and part is no order, but I do not trust the braking system on this car with brake pads wearing unevenly down to the rotors every 20,000 miles and no perceivable braking force taking place on the front brakes. I, again will have to cover the costs to replace the rear pads and rotors due to continued related and warrantied part failures. I also raised the issue to VW Customer CARE, who created a case and is investigating with the dealer.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11604412July 25, 2024
AIR BAGS, EXTERIOR LIGHTING, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The forward collision was not working on my car when someone pulled down in front of me and I hit the wall so I wouldn’t hit them.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11602398July 15, 2024
POWER TRAIN
While driving car began to jerk and had odd smell. Stopped at a Midas to have car looked at and all of the transmission fluid leaked out. Techs at Midas state the gasket that hold the fluid in came out and caused all the fluid to leak out. Had no issues while driving previous to this, this just happened randomly in the middle of our drive. We did jot hit or run over anything and the road we were traveling on was in good paved condition.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11569898February 5, 2024
TIRES:SIDEWALL
I own a 2021 Volkswagen Passat R-Line that has GITI 235/40R19 Comfort tires, I have had bubbles on two of the tires that blew out going down the interstate. I now have a third tire with the same issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11566743January 21, 2024
STEERING, ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I keep adding oil and the dealership says there’s nothing wrong. For electric problems the speakers have static noise and the screen goes black and turns on hours later. I took in my recently they said there wasn’t any problems with the car but I literally deal with it everyday. I told them my car shakes when I brake on high speed they said they checked car but found no issues I personally do not feel safe driving my car at all.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11549058October 9, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I have encountered severe and unresolved issues with the vehicle, and despite multiple visits to Serramonte VW dealership, the problems persist. I leased this car from VW Serramonte on 8/29/2021, and their contact information is as follows: Serramonte Volkswagen 711 Serramonte Blvd. Colma, CA 94014 (650) 756- 9000 www.serramontevw.com To provide context, the vehicle began experiencing unresolved electrical problems at just 7,000 miles. Despite repeated attempts for repairs at the dealership, these issues persist. Additionally, at only 9,000 miles, abnormal wear on the rear brake pads and rotors was discovered, requiring replacement. The dealership acknowledged the unusual nature of this problem, stating that it typically occurs after 30,000 miles in a typical car. The combination of these issues in a new vehicle with such low mileage is concerning and raises questions about the vehicle's quality and safety standards.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11546562September 26, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES
Brakes are on this care are failing well in advance of typical cars. My car's rear brakes are measuring at a 2 with just over 20,000 miles on the vehicle. When we asked the dealership about this, they said the Passat is just "hard on rear brakes." We had a previous Passat and did not experience this issue. This is unsafe and unreasonable to expect these brakes wearing out at less than half of what is expected. Ironically, my husband's Taos - of the same model year - is doing the same.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11542363September 3, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES
Rear brakes needed to be replaced at less than 20k miles The dealer comped it since we lease 2 different 2021 VW Passats and they both needed their rear wheels replaced at sub 20k miles
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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