2013 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen problems
NHTSA has received 47 complaints about the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen, and 23% of them involve fuel system. After that come air bags (13%) and engine (13%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 47 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Fuel system 23% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 1 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 0 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 82,000 miles 24 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 0 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 4 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 8 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 3 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 2 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 4 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 2 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Among the 24 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 82,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 1 complaint mentions a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 87% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2013 ranks 4th most-complained-about out of 6 model years of the Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen with enough data (8 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
On a cold morning, I started my car by turning the key in the ignition, then locked the doors manually from the exterior with another key, in order to allow the car to warm up and defrost before the commute to work. When I returned 10 minutes later, the car was emitting gray smoke from the hood, and upon opening the driver's door, I discovered that the entire cabin of the vehicle was filled with gray smoke as well.
Airbags failed to deploy during severe front impact crash. Car is supposed to be picked up from body shop by my insurance company tomorrow Thursday 4/13/2023. Don't know if it would be available for inspection after that day. Driver safety was at risk without airbag deployment. Problem was confirmed by auto body shop which is a "service First" body shop for my insurance carrier. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure.
Front sunroof glass (the portion that moves when the glass is opened) spontaneously shattered. This occurred while driving at ~70MPH on a smooth highway in minimal traffic; clear weather, roughly 60 degrees f. I did not pass under any overpasses immediately preceding this event. I normally leave the sun shade back and did not notice any cracks. As I was driving, I heard a very loud noise and immediately glass started falling on me and throughout the cabin.
Engine won't turn off. Car is in park, I try turning the engine off to exit the vehicle, key comes out but the engine is still running.
Heard strange noise while driving in town. Found passenger rear coil spring was broken. Upon further review the shop also found that the drivers side front spring was broken. Minimal corrosion was present on the coils and the car only has ~50,000 miles.