2017 Volkswagen Passat
This year drew an ordinary 109 complaints for a Volkswagen Passat — the model's median is 152. What they were about is the unusual part: 28.4% of them mention braking, against 9.9% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 2 of the Volkswagen Passat, which began in 2012. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 109 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 152 |
| Involving a crash | 9 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 7 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 25 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- braking — 28.4% of this year's complaints, against 9.9% across the other years of this generation (2.9×). Owners wrote it as: braking, engaged, braking system, automatic.
- parked — 17.4% of this year's complaints, against 5.3% across the other years of this generation (3.3×). Owners wrote it as: parked, sensors, vehicle parked, mechanic diagnosed.
- cruise — 13.8% of this year's complaints, against 4% across the other years of this generation (3.4×). Owners wrote it as: cruise, cruise control, car start, said vehicle.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE BRAKE ASSISTANCE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE BRAKING SYSTEM ENGAGED INDEPENDENTLY AND CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO COME TO A COMPLETE STOP. THERE WERE NO OBJECTS IN FRONT OF THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT VEER TO THE SHOULDER OF THE…
WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH WITH NO OTHER VEHICLES CLOSE TO THE CONTACT'S VEHICLE, THE AUTONOMOUS BRAKING SYSTEM ENGAGED AND THE VEHICLE BRAKED SUDDENLY. THE [VIN] WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE DEALER WAS NO…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 20V561000 UNKNOWN OR OTHER
- 21V321000 UNKNOWN OR OTHER
- 18V536000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 19V679000 UNKNOWN OR OTHER
- 19V389000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 17V075000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 24V834000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Volkswagen Passat was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2017 Volkswagen Passat? What happened to yours?
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