2017 Volkswagen Passat 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
while in cruise control and going up a incline or a hill The EPC light will come on and the car will start lugging down very badly and have no power, they've said vehicle has done this for a year now and we have not been able to get any kind of acknowledgment of it from another dealership or the actual company I've said make and model of vehicle Volkswagen Passat
The main CPU component failed in my car and grounded out the second cylinder causing a fire to happen, This happened on my way from the store while I was in traffic and almost caused me to get into an accident. Luckily no one was hurt but now my car is not functional. I took it to a mechanic to see what the cause was and that's what they said it was the computer that failed and that I would need to take it to a dealership in order to have them fix it. When they asked me when I started noticing the symptom I said it started happening a couple months ago there was a random misfire check engine light that came on. And then this happened. I'm desperate please help me.
DASHBOARD TIRE LIGHT REPEATEDLY DISPLAYING AND TIRES INFATED CORRECTLY. ABS AND AIR BAG LIGHT ON .. NOTE ALL CHARGING PORTS DO NOT WORK. STOP DRIVING LIGHT ON. THESE WARNING START IMMEDIATELY WHEN ENGINE STARTED. LAST TIME AROUND 2021 ABS OR SIMILAR WORDS LIGHT REQUIRED FRONT END WORK REGARDING SUSPENSION I BELIEVE.
WHILE DRIVING ON A RURAL ROAD AT ABOUT 50 MPH A LOUD POP WAS HEARD AND THEN THE SUNROOF SHATTERED WITH GLASS FALLING INTO THE FRONT SEAT OF THE CAR. THE SUNROOF COVER WAS OPENED AT THE TIME.
PARK DISTANCE CONTROL WITH NO VEHICLES CLOSE WILL AUTOMATICALLY OPERATE, THIS THEN LEADS TO THE AUTOMATIC BRAKING SYSTEM WANTING TO STOP THE CAR. THIS BOTHERS ME AT 70MPH WITH NO CARS WITHIN 500 FEET. *TR
MULTIPLE DASHBOARD LIGHTS INDICATING ERRORS IN THE VEHICLE
I WAS DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY ON 10/8/2019 AND AT APPROXIMATELY 3:05PM I HEARD A LOUD GLASS EXPLOSION ABOVE ME. ONCE I ARRIVED AT MY DESTINATION, I OBSERVED THAT MY SUNROOF HAD SHATTERED. THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OF ANYTHING HITTING THE SUN ROOF.
REAR BACKUP CAMERA IS USELESS WHEN IT'S RAINING, CAN'T SEE ANYTHING DUE TO THE WATER THAT COLLECTS ON THE REAR CAMERA. CAR IS NOT IN MOTION, IN A PARKING LOT
BLINDSPOT MONITORING SYSTEM ON LEFT SIDE OF CAR INTERMITTENT, CAPTURED INCIDENT ON VIDEO. WENT TO DEALER THREE TIMES FOR REPAIR, PROBLEM STILL PERSISTS. DEALER FALSIFIED REPAIR DOCUMENTATION ON ALL VISITS AND ADMITTED THE CAR WAS NOT TEST DRIVEN AS STATED ON THE INVOICE OF THE FIRST TWO VISITS. SENT DEMAND LETTER REQUESTING PERMANENT REPAIR TO VOLKSWAGEN, IT WAS RECEIVED ON 2JAN, RECEIVED NO REPLY. VOLKSWAGEN CORPORATE WILL NOT RETURN PHONE CALLS OR EMAILS. CAR IS UNSAFE TO DRIVE AND AFTER THIS SYSTEM ALMOST CAUSED A HIGH SPEED ACCIDENT ON 6JAN I REFUSE TO DRIVE IT. I HAVE ALL OF MY DOCUMENTATION AND COMMUNICATION WITH VOLKSWAGEN CORPORATE, IT IS WAY TOO MUCH TO ATTACH TO THIS COMPLAINT. THE DEALER, GULF COAST AUTO GROUP, FALSIFIED DOCUMENTS AND MADE NO EFFORT TO FIX A SAFETY RELATED SYSTEM AND VOLKSWAGEN CORPORATE HAS SENT ME PAPERWORK OFFERING TO BUY THE CAR BACK BUT WILL NOT RESPOND AFTER SENDING ME THE BUYBACK PAPERWORK. THIS 'BUYBACK' OF THE CAR IS AN ATTEMPT BY VOLKSWAGEN CORPORATE TO HIDE THE FACT THAT THEIR DEALER CONTINUALLY JEOPARDIZED MY SAFETY. AND AFTER SENDING THE BUYBACK PAPERWORK THEY WILL NOT RESPOND TO EMAILS AND PHONE CALLS. I HAVE BEEN WITHOUT MY CAR SINCE 6JAN, AND IT WILL NOT BE DRIVEN BY ME EVER AGAIN. I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF SOMEONE WOULD CONTACT ME REGARDING THIS MATTER SO I CAN SEND ALL OF MY DETAILED DOCUMENTATION FOR YOUR REVIEW.
AC TAKES 5-20 MINUTES TO BLOW COLD AIR. MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS TO DEALER AND SERVICE DO NOT RESULT IN ANY ATTEMPT TO FIX PROBLEM BECAUSE BY THE TIME WE ARRIVE AT THE DEALER, THE PROBLEM HAS CORRECTED ITSELF. THIS OCCURS FIRST THING IN THE DAY. AFTER IT STARTS BLOWING COLD AIR, IT WORKS FINE THE REST OF THE DAY. THIS IS THE 3RD VW PASSAT WE'VE DRIVEN THAT HAS THIS PROBLEM. VW WILL NOT ACKNOWLEDGE PROBLEM.
I OWN A 2017 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT SEL PREMIUM. ONE OF MY PRIMARY CONCERNS IS THAT THE AUTONOMOUS EMERGENCY BRAKING SYSTEM DOES NOT FUNCTION ACCORDING TO PAGE 271 OF THE OWNER'S MANUAL, OR AS PROMOTED BY THEIR DEALERS, AND IN TV COMMERCIALS. I TOOK MY PASSAT TO TWO DEALERS, BOTH SUPPOSEDLY CHECKED IT AND SAID IT TESTED 100% A WEEK LATER, THE CAR DID NOT SLOW AT ALL WHEN I WAS CLOSE TO A VEHICLE IN FRONT OF ME GOING 65 MILES AND HOUR AND IT SLAMMED ON ITS BRAKES. IF I HAD NOT BEEN PAYING ATTENTION, A SERIOUS ACCIDENT WOULD HAVE OCCURRED. I WROTE A LETTER REGARDING MY CONCERNS TO MR. HINRICH WOEBCKEN, CEO OF VW OF AMERICA. THE RESPONSE FROM VW WAS THAT MY SYSTEM WORKS FINE ACCORDING TO THEIR DEALERS, AND THEY WILL DO NOTHING FURTHER FOR ME! AFTER THAT, I DID SOME RESEARCH AND DISCOVERED THE RESULTS OF FRONT COLLISION PREVENTION TESTING THAT WAS DONE BY THE INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY. THEIR TESTS ON 2017 CARS INCLUDED THOSE OF OVER 20 MANUFACTURERS. THERE ARE 3 DIFFERENT PARTS TO THE TEST: FORWARD COLLISION WARNING (ON THE PASSAT THIS IS A TWO CAR SYMBOL IN THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER) LOW SPEED AUTO BRAKE (THIS IS FOR SPEED UNDER 12 MPH) HIGH-SPEED AUTO BRAKE (THIS IS FOR SPEEDS OVER 25 MPH) THE RESULTS OF THESE TESTS SHOWS THAT ALL COMPARABLE MANUFACTURER'S SEDANS EITHER SCORED 2 OR 3 POINTS ON THE HIGH-SPEED AUTO BRAKE TEST. HOWEVER THE VW PASSAT SCORED "0" POINTS, AND WAS UNABLE BRAKE THE CAR OR REDUCE THE CAR SPEED AT ALL! THE 2017 VW TOUAREG ALSO FAILED THE HIGH- SPEED AUTO BRAKE PORTION OF THE TEST. I FEEL THAT VW NEEDS TO INFORM OWNERS, AND STOP ADVERTISING THAT THEIR CARS HAVE A FUNCTIONING HIGH-SPEED AUTO BRAKING, AS THEY DO NOT! THEY SHOULD QUICKLY COME UP WITH A FIX, AND RECALL ALL 2016 TO 2018 PASSATS, AND OTHER MODELS THAT HAVE THIS FAULTY SYSTEM! DRIVERS HAVE A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY FOR A SYSTEM THAT DOES NOT WORK!
Trend Over Time
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Common problems reported
Quick Summary
The 2017 Volkswagen Passat has 11 UNKNOWN OR OTHER complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.