Vehicle Data Hub

2013 Volkswagen Passat air bags problems

382 complaints about air bags have been filed for the 2013 Volkswagen Passat, which is 37% of all its NHTSA complaints. It is the most reported problem area for this model year.

At a glance

Complaints
382 37% of this year's complaints
Typical mileage
57,000 miles 125 complaints with mileage
Crashes and fires
21 and 0
Injuries and deaths
18 and 0

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

When air bags problems show up

Air bags complaints by mileage, 2013 Volkswagen Passat Complaints by odometer reading in 20,000-mile steps. The median is about 57,000 miles. 0k to 20k miles: 18 complaints 20k to 40k miles: 19 complaints 40k to 60k miles: 30 complaints 60k to 80k miles: 20 complaints 80k to 100k miles: 17 complaints 100k to 120k miles: 10 complaints 120k to 140k miles: 7 complaints 140k to 160k miles: 2 complaints 160k to 180k miles: 0 complaints 180k to 200k miles: 1 complaints 200k+ miles: 1 complaints 040k80k120k160k200k miles Typical: 57,000 miles
Based on 125 complaints that include mileage. 54% were reported before 60,000 miles. The amber marker shows the median: half of these complaints happened before that mileage.
View the numbers
MileageComplaints
0k to 20k miles18
20k to 40k miles19
40k to 60k miles30
60k to 80k miles20
80k to 100k miles17
100k to 120k miles10
120k to 140k miles7
140k to 160k miles2
160k to 180k miles0
180k to 200k miles1
200k+ miles1

What the data shows

Of the 125 air bags complaints that report mileage, the median is about 57,000 miles, and 54% were reported before 60,000 miles.

These complaints mention 21 crashes, 18 injuries.

What owners wrote

My name is [xxx]. My wife and son was involved in a head-on collision back last year on may 02, 2014. Wife was sitting still at a light waiting for light to turn green in order to turn left when a car heading from opposite direction ran a red light slammed into another vehicle and then slammed head on into my wife's car which was sitting still at approximately 55 MPH and then air bags in the car did not deploy.

Reported at 15,000 miles, May 2014 CrashInjury

The contact owns a 2013 Volkswagen Passat. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V834000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The air bag warning light was illuminated. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 75,000.

Reported at 75,000 miles, June 2025

Other problems reported for the 2013 Volkswagen Passat

Air bags problems in other years

Air bags problems across all Volkswagen models