Volkswagen — what breaks, engine by engine
17 models · 8,740 complaints
What Volkswagen complaints are about
Share of component mentions across every Volkswagen in the database, with the all-vehicle average below it. Shares can be compared — raw complaint counts between brands cannot, because counts track sales volume.
Transmission & drivetrain complaints run well below their all-vehicle share (0.6×).
Fuel system complaints run 1.3× their all-vehicle share across Volkswagen models.
How often Volkswagen complaints involve a fire, crash or injury
Share of this brand's complaints; the vertical mark is the all-vehicle average. Complaints are owner-reported and skew toward alarming problems — and toward vehicles under active recall attention, which can inflate a brand mid-campaign.
all vehicles — Fire 1.1% · Crash 4.4% · Injury 2.6%
Recalls where NHTSA said stop driving or park outside
The severest recall class, across all Volkswagen models we cover. Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer, whatever the car's age.
- Volkswagen Atlas — Steering (stop driving, 2021–2021) 20V712000
- Volkswagen Golf — Wheels (stop driving, 2019–2019) 19V879000
- Volkswagen Jetta — Wheels (stop driving, 2019–2019) 19V879000
- Volkswagen Atlas — Service Brakes, Hydraulic › Foundation Components › Disc › Caliper (stop driving, 2018–2018) 18V369000
- Volkswagen Beetle — Service Brakes, Hydraulic › Foundation Components › Disc › Caliper (stop driving, 2018–2018) 18V369000
- Volkswagen Golf — Service Brakes, Hydraulic › Foundation Components › Disc › Caliper (stop driving, 2018–2018) 18V369000
- Volkswagen GTI — Service Brakes, Hydraulic › Foundation Components › Disc › Caliper (stop driving, 2018–2018) 18V369000
- Volkswagen Passat — Service Brakes, Hydraulic › Foundation Components › Disc › Caliper (stop driving, 2018–2018) 18V369000