Coscienzios

Model years to avoid

Volkswagen Passat

What it says about you

Opinion

Large, sober, and quietly good, which is the most German possible set of virtues.

Not measured, not from the data, and offered in fun. Everything below this is not.

18 model years on record, 3,867 complaints filed.

The years to look at closely: 2014 (takata recall), 2013 (takata recall), 2012 (takata recall), 2006 (bolt). Everything else drew a normal number of complaints for this model.

What owners report, and when

Faults that dominated the complaints of more than one model year. Not the same question as which year to avoid — a car can have an ordinary number of complaints every year and have most of them be about the same thing.

  • takata 2012, 2013, 2014 peak 31.3% of that year's complaints
  • tdi 2005, 2013 peak 36.5% of that year's complaints
  • braking 2017, 2018 peak 28.4% of that year's complaints
  • bags 2012, 2013 peak 23.4% of that year's complaints
  • parked 2009, 2017 peak 17.4% of that year's complaints

Every year

  1. 2022 0 recalls 11 complaints
  2. 2021 1 recall 0 complaints
  3. 2020 3 recalls 15 complaints
  4. 2019 1 recall 12 complaints
  5. 2018 4 recalls 45 complaints
  6. 2017 7 recalls 109 complaints
  7. 2016 5 recalls 106 complaints
  8. 2015 7 recalls 244 complaints
  9. 2014 takata recall 593 complaints
  10. 2013 takata recall 748 complaints
  11. 2012 takata recall 483 complaints
  12. 2011 0 recalls 15 complaints
  13. 2010 4 recalls 163 complaints
  14. 2009 4 recalls 152 complaints
  15. 2008 4 recalls 174 complaints
  16. 2007 7 recalls 273 complaints
  17. 2006 bolt 576 complaints
  18. 2005 4 recalls 148 complaints

What does a Volkswagen Passat say about you?

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Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints — compared against itself rather than against other cars, so popularity and age do not decide the answer.