2015 Volkswagen Passat problems
NHTSA has received 389 complaints about the 2015 Volkswagen Passat, and 23% of them involve air bags. After that come engine (14%) and electrical system (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 389 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 23% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 19 and 4
- Injuries and deaths
- 16 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 47,000 miles 215 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 | 63 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 20 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 64 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 34 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 15 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 9 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 7 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 3 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 215 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 47,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 53,000 miles (44 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 19 complaints mention a crash; 4 complaints mention a fire; 16 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2015 ranks 11th most-complained-about out of 31 model years of the Volkswagen Passat with enough data (250 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 7 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.
In a multi-vehicle rear end collision, the airbags in the vehicle did not deploy. My vehicle was totaled and I sustained medical injuries.
Tl* the contact owns a 2015 volkswagen passat. While driving at a low speed, the driver side air bag deployed inadvertently. As a result, the vehicle spun and the contact crashed into a tree. The contact was unconscious at the scene and was unable to identify the injuries sustained. The contact required medical attention. The contact was unsure if a police report was filed. The vehicle was taken to an auto body repair center. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Vehicle cluster illumination lights stopped working, not fuse or relay related. Main electrical harness malfunction. Major electrical diagnosis.
Backup camera does not come on until you have already backed into the street. You put the car in reverse, back up, and about the time you go to put the transmission in drive, the backup camera comes on. Volkswagen has been telling me for over a year that there is no update for this problem. I bought the sel model specificly for the backup camera and the GPS unit.
Steering wheel started making a clicking sound and controls and horn on the steering wheel no longer function. The air bag light came on immediately. Car started havint this issue when first started and backing out of a parking space.