2017 Volkswagen Passat STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS

Today, as my wife was driving home, she heard a "crunch" noise while making a turn. Afterwards, the Airbag light came on, and her steering wheel botton functions are not working, including her car horn. This all relates to the clockspring. This will be the third time we have had the clockspring replaced. This is extremely inconvenient, as the dealership is an hour away. The original clockspring didn't break until October 2023. The second broke and replaced in August of 2024. Now, we are scheduling to have the clockspring replaced again, 6 months later. I am unsure why the part is so unreliable. Whomever manufactures the part needs to do a FAR better job. This was our first new car, and now we regret the purchase due to this headache.

Our 2017 VW Passat had the clockspring replaced last year under warranty number [XXX] at Barnes Crossing Volkswagen in Tupelo, MS. The airbag stopped working and safety features such as adaptive cruise control were also not available. Not realizing the airbag would NOT deploy in the event of an accident, Volkswagen asked us to drive an hour to have it repaired which was considerably dangerous. As of today the clockspring they replaced once again failed with the same associated problems. I am submitting a report due to how dangerous this problem is considering they supposedly fixed the issue however it seems multiple people have reported the issue coming back. The fact the airbag could stop working at anytime due to a defective clockspring is very troublesome and make me worry in the event of an accident if the clockspring will fail thus not allowing the airbag to deploy. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Clock spring has failed 5 times within a year. The first clock spring replacement failed two weeks after the repair. I the. took it to a different dealership to be repaired. The second clock spring broke about 6 months later. The third clock spring broke two weeks after the repair. The fourth clock spring broke two months later and I am about to have it repaired within the next week. Due to the faulty clock spring, the driver side air bag will not deploy in the event of an accident and I have no use of the horn - both of which are necessary when living in South Florida. There are only two dealerships within reasonable driving distance to have the repair done (while the part is under warranty). It takes at least a week, if not more, to get an appointment at the dealership to ensure they have the part at the time of the repair. During which time, I have no choice but to drive the vehicle without the use of the air bag. Even though I can tell when the clock spring is likely about to break, I cannot take it to the dealership for repair until it has actually broken. This is not only extremely inconvenient, but hazardous as I’d be without safety mechanisms in the event of an accident. This should not be a reoccurring issue with the vehicle. The dealership has gone as far as contacting VW support to ensure the correct part is replaced and repaired properly, yet it continues to happen. It is unrelated to my driving or the way the part has been repaired. It is simply faulty parts being supplied.

The Air Bag light, temperature warning, radio and information panel going wacky. The Clockspring is making clicking noises in the steering wheel.

ON 1/12/21 WHILE TURNING INTO A FAST FOOD RESTAURANT I HEARD CLICKING IN THE STEERING COLUMN AND THEN THE AIR BAG LIGHT CAME ON AND ERROR CODES ACROSS THE DIGITAL SCREEN AND A CLOCK EMBLEM SIGNAL CAME ON. PULLED OVER AND LOOKED AT MY MANUAL. DROVE ON HOME AND DID RESEARCH AND FOUND THAT THE CLOCK SPRING IS A MAJOR ISSUE WITH VWS. I WENT BACK OUT TO TEST THE STEERING COLUMN AND SURE ENOUGH THE HORN AND ALL CONTROLS ON THE COLUMN DID NOT WORK. CALLED THE LOCAL VW DEALER THE NEXT DAY. THEY SAID THERE WAS A RECALL ON THIS 2017 PASSAT SEL MODEL. THEY REPLACED 6 DAYS LATER.

AIRBAG LIGHT ON FOR DRIVER SIDE AIRBAG, HORN WILL NOT WORK, CRINKLE SOUND WHEN TURNING STEERING WHEEL. NO POWER TO STEERING WHEEL CONTROLS

WHEN TURNING THE WHEEL WHILE DRIVING, I HEARD A CLICKING SOUND FROM THE STEERING WHEEL. THEN THE AIRBAG LIGHT TURNED ON. NOW MY HORN DOES NOT WORK OR ANY OF THE CONTROLS ON THE STEERING WHEEL. I KNOW THIS IS THE CLOCK SPRING MALFUNCTION, WITH THE TAKATA AIRBAG MALFUNCTION THAT HAPPENED WITH THE 2015 PASSATS.