1990 Volkswagen Passat problems
NHTSA has received 50 complaints about the 1990 Volkswagen Passat, and 18% of them involve engine. After that come wipers, windshield & visibility (16%) and seat belts (14%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 50 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 18% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 0 and 5
- Injuries and deaths
- 1 and 0
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%.
What the data shows
Safety-related details: 5 complaints mention a fire; 1 injury reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1990 ranks 28th most-complained-about out of 31 model years of the Volkswagen Passat with enough data (8 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 safety recall campaigns.
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.
Heat controlled for driver's side seat began heating w/switch off. The following morning the driver's seat became progressively hot immediately. Once pulled over to check, compartment filled w/smoke and driver's coat was on fire. Please describe.
Many electrical problems: power windows, ignition switch, passenger side passive seat belt, automatic transmission intermittently will not shift into 4th gear (turn key of and on to reset transmission). Finally, the engine compartment caught fire appears to be electrical causing wide-ranging damage to hood and other engine components.
Recall 96v115000: the vehicle did not have any heat, the vehicle was checked and the dealer found a faulty heating core. The manufacturer was aware of the problem and indicated that there was a recall on the heater core, but the consumer's vehicle was not included due to VIN.