2017 Volkswagen Jetta UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
AT AROUND 5AM ON FEBRUAURY 7, 2025 I WAS AWOKE BY MY ROOMMATE SCREAMING MY CAR WAS ON FIRE. WHEN I WENT OUTSIDE I SEEN MY NEIGHBOR AND ROOMMATE ATTEMPTING TO PUT OUT A FIRE IN THE ENGINE OF MY CAR. MY CAR HAD BEEN PARKED FOR AT LEAST 5 HOURS AND WAS NOT RUNNING. MY NEIGHBOR STATED THAT HE LOOKED OUT HIS WINDOW AND SAW FLAMES AND RAN ACROSS THE STREET WHERE HE STARTED TO EXTINGUISH THE FIRE WITH MY WATER HOSE UNTIL FIRE AND POLICE ASSISTANCE ARRIVED. THERE WAS NO ONE IN THE CAR, OR AROUND THE CAR, THE FIRE SPONTANEOUSLY STARTED. I HAD NO PRIOR WARNINGS THAT WOULD BE CAUSE FOR CONCERN OF AN ENGINE FIRE. THE CAR BURNT TO TOTAL DESTRUCTION. IT IS LOCATED AT MY ADDRESS. IT IS AVAILABLE FOR INSPECTION ON REQUEST. I AM FINANCING THE CAR FROM SHAWS AUTO SINCE 08/23/2024. SHAWS AUTO HAS BEEN NOTIFIED OF THE INCIDENT. THE FIREMEN STATED THAT IT WAS CAUSED BY A MANUFACTURER DEFECT. I AM UPLOADING PICTURES OF MY CAR. I AM STILL ACQUIRING OFFICIAL INCIDENT REPORTS. ATTEMPTED TO UPLOAD PHOTOS OF VEHICLE POST FIRE BUT TO NO AVAIL. THIS INCIDENT HAS TAKEN A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF MENTAL, PHYSICAL, AND SPIRITUAL ENERGY IN ORDER FOR ME TO STAY INTACT. THIS IS MY FIRST OPPORTUNITY AT BUYING A NEWER CAR THAT I WAS UNDER THE EXPECTATION THAT I WOULDNT BE UNDER CONSTANT WORRY THAT SOMETHING WAS GOING TO GO WRONG WITH MY CAR COSTING ME MONEY I DONT HAVE. I NEWER CAR SHOULDVE BROUGHT ME AT LEAST A FEW YEARS USE BEFORE CONCERN FOR ANY KIND OF WEAR AND TEAR ISSUES ARISE. THIS ENGINE FIRE WAS NOT MY FAULT OR CAUSE THEREFORE I SHOULD BE COMPENSATED WITH A CAR OF WHICH ICAN RELY ON. I WAS NEVER NOTIFIED OF ANY RECALLS ON MY CAR AND WAS NOT AWARE OF ANY UNTIL AFTER THE FIRE. HAD I KNOWN THERE WAS AN URGENT RECALL I WOULD HAVE CORRECTED IT.
Horn no longer working, can't signal an impending accident to other drivers. That along with infotainment touch screen, kind of hard to use hands free when I cant select yes on the touchscreen
My check engine line came on; code P05A0. A scan showed that it is my active radiator shutter assembly that is causing the error. My car only has 26K miles, and it seems strange that it would be having an issue. When I took my car to the dealership, the service rep told me it is a very common issue. It is also going to cost around $900 to repair. My car is perfectly drivable (the service rep confirmed it), but I won't be able to pass emissions in AZ with my check engine light being on. The shutters remain open at all times. I can hear it open and close and reopen sometimes when I start my car or while I'm driving, but it will always remain open. My dealership is so backed up that I'd have to leave my car for several days before they could even get to it. I do not have the time or money to do the work, so I didn't leave it for it to be repaired. I have found others on VW forums that have gotten the same error message at about the same mileage I am at. Your organization released a technical bulletin for this issue for 15-16 Jettas, and I appreciate it if you could look to see if the issue continued through the 17 models.
Car won't start. I have had to call AAA every other day because my car is not starting. It won't start unless I drive it every day. One month after buying the car I was having trouble with it starting. Purchased a new battery,in2020.Drivetime should be investigated for taking advantage of a senior citizen.having had cars in the past I have never had anything like this VW Jetta.It was not because of the weather either.
PURCHASED NEW 2017 VW JETTA FROM THE DEALER. ALWAYS KEEP UP WITH THE SERVICE. ALARM HORN HAS BEEN INTERMITTENTLY WORKING AND FINALLY WENT OUT AT 43000 MILES. AFTER READING MANY MESSAGE BOARDS SEEMS LIKE AN ONGOING ISSUE ON MANY NEW MODELS WITH LOW MILES.
PROBLEMS WITH FRONT ASSIST. I WAS TOLD THIS FEATURE WAS ON MY VEHICLE AND VERIFIED THAT IT WAS AT THE TIME OF SALE. UNFORTUNATELY IT DOES NOT EVER DETECT A VEHICLE IN FRONT OF ME. I COULD BE IDLING AND HIT A BRICK WALL OR GOING 65MPH DOWN I95 AND A VEHICLE SUDDENLY STOPS IN FRONT OF ME EITHER EVENT NOTHING HAPPENS. THIS SYSTEM DOES NOT WORK AS DESCRIBED AND THERE ARE NO WARNING LIGHTS ON MY DASHBOARD AND THE FRONT ASSIST SYSTEM IS ENABLED EVERY TIME I START THE VEHICLE. THE FACT THAT THIS SYSTEM DOESN'T WORK AT ALL IS VERY DISAPPOINTING AS IT WAS A MAJOR SELLING POINT OF THE CAR
PURCHASED VEHICLE NEW. AFTER APPROXIMATELY 15,000 MILES, VEHICLE BEGAN TO PULL TO RIGHT UPON ACCECLERATION. (TURBO ENGINE.) TOOK TO ALL 3 DEALERSHIPS IN THE LAS VEGAS/HENDERSON AREA MULTIPLE TIMES. PUT FOUR NEW MICHELEN TIRES ON IN NOVEMBER, 2018. THE PULL REMAINED CONSISTANT AND IS GETTING WORSE. DEALERSHIPS DIAGNOSED PROBLEM AND DOCUMENTED AS "TORQUE STEER; A DESIGN CHARACTERIST OF TRANSVERSE MOUNTED ENGINE AND TRANS AXLE." AFTER CONDUCTING MY OWN RESEARCH, I DETERMINED "TORQUE STEER" IS A SAFETY PROBLEM. FROM THE WORDS OF A CERTIFIED MECHANIC, "TORQUE STEER IS DUE TO THE MALFUNCTION OF ONE OR MORE SPRINGS LOCATED IN THE TRANS AXEL AND MAY LEAD TO A SEVER SAFETY PROBLEM AS IT GETS WORSE." AT ONE DEALERSHIP, WHILE WAITING FOR MY CAR, I DROVE, WITH THE MECHANIC, A LIKE KIND 2016 JETTA. IT PULLED TO THE RIGHT ALL THE TIME. I WAS TOLD BY ONE OF MY BUSSINESS CLIENTS HER 2014 TURBO JETTA PULLED TO THE RIGHT ALL THE TIME. IN NOVEMBER OF 2018, I RETAINED A "LEMON LAW" ATTORNEY. THE ATTORNEY WOULD NOT TAKE THE CASE UNTIL THEIR FIRM CONCLUDED THERE WAS SUFFICIANT DOCUMENTATION TO SUPPORT THE PROBLEM. THEY TOOK THE CASE AND THE OUTCOME IS STILL PENDING. AFTER 6+ MONTHS, I HAVE NOW CONCLUDED MY CAR IS NOT A "LEMON" AND BELIEVE ALL LIKE KIND JETTA'S WILL EXPERIENCE THE SAME PROBLEM AND THE NHTSA SHOULD CONDUCT AN INVESTIGATION TO DETERMINE IF THESE VEHICLES SHOULD BE RECALLED. MY VEHICLE PULLS UPON ACCELERATION ON ANY CITY STREET, FREEWAY OR HIGHWAY 100%.
I HAVE IDENTIFIED A MATTER RELATED TO THE REAR VIEW CAM WHICH MERITS ATTENTION. I CONTACTED VW DIRECTLY AS WELL AS MY LOCAL DEALERSHIP AND NEITHER FELT THAT FURTHER ACTION WAS WARRANTED. SINCE THIS IS CLEARLY A SAFETY ISSUE IT SEEMED THAT THE NEXT STEP WOULD BE CONTACTING THIS AGENCY. BECAUSE OF A GLITCH IN THE REAR CAM SOFTWARE I NARROWLY AVOIDED TWO SEPARATE INCIDENTS; IN ONE THERE WAS A CLOSE CALL WITH A VEHICLE PASSING BEHIND ME AND IN ANOTHER A NEIGHBORHOOD CHILD WAS RIDING A BICYCLE DIRECTLY BEHIND THE VEHICLE. AT ISSUE IS THE FACT THAT THE REAR VIEW CAM DISPLAY WILL STOP TRANSMITTING IMAGES IF YOU BRAKE WHILE BACKING UP, TURN ON THE RADIO AND THEN RESUME BACKING UP. TO RECREATE THE PROBLEM FOLLOW THESE STEPS: 1.START VEHICLE 2.SHIFT INTO REVERSE ' REAR VIEW CAM IMAGE SEEN IN DISPLAY VIEW 3.APPLY BRAKE UNTIL VEHICLE AT A FULL STOP 4.TURN ON RADIO 5.RADIO STATIONS APPEAR IN THE DISPLAY VIEW 6.TAKE FOOT OFF BRAKE AND CONTINUE BACKING UP 7.RADIO STATION CONTINUES IN THE DISPLAY VIEW AND NOT THE IMAGE BEHIND THE VEHICLE HERE IS A VIDEO DEMONSTRATING THE GLITCH: HTTPS://DRIVE.GOOGLE.COM/FILE/D/13GAC4I5GKWNOFK6Z8J8Y77JGUDXHQRBI/VIEW?USP=SHARING SINCE THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED AND WANT TO INVESTIGATE ' AND FIND A REMEDY FOR - THIS APPARENT SOFTWARE GLITCH.
GASES DEL VEHCULO ENTRAN A TRAVS DEL AIRE ACONDICIONADO.EL VEHCULO EST EN FUNCIONAMIENTO AL EMITIR ESTOS GASES TOXICOS.IN MOTION.
GASES TXICOS EMANAN DEL AIRE ACONDICIONADO HACIA ADENTRO DEL VEHCULO.EL VEHCULO EST EN MOVIMIENTO EN CARRETERAS Y HIGHWAY.
Trend Over Time
Complaints by year
Other Issues
Common problems reported
Quick Summary
The 2017 Volkswagen Jetta has 10 UNKNOWN OR OTHER complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.