2013 Volkswagen Passat problems
NHTSA has received 1,029 complaints about the 2013 Volkswagen Passat, and 37% of them involve air bags. After that come engine (11%) and electrical system (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 1,029 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 37% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 43 and 9
- Injuries and deaths
- 34 and 5
- Typical mileage
- 50,000 miles 586 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 | 124 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 96 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 131 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 83 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 72 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 37 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 29 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 8 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 2 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 2 |
| 200k+ miles | 2 |
What the data shows
Among the 586 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 50,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 57,000 miles (125 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 43 complaints mention a crash; 9 complaints mention a fire; 34 injuries reported; 5 deaths reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2013 ranks 1st most-complained-about out of 31 model years of the Volkswagen Passat with enough data (682 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 9 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.
Takata inflators I got into a vehicle collision with another vehicle and suffered a concussion due to my airbags failing to deploy in my vehicle.
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.
Driver's side door frozen shut in winter and upon opening handle/lock became inoperable resulting in failure of door to remain closed/locked during operation - door would swing open on turns presenting a safety hazard. Research suggests that this is a known problem.
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.