2018 Volkswagen Passat problems
NHTSA has received 66 complaints about the 2018 Volkswagen Passat, and 20% of them involve brakes. After that come engine (17%) and electrical system (15%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 66 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 20% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 8 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 5 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 43,000 miles 26 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 | 6 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 4 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 11 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 3 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 0 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 0 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 2 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 26 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 43,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 8 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire; 5 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2018 ranks 22nd most-complained-about out of 31 model years of the Volkswagen Passat with enough data (45 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 4 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.
My father was heading home when he stopped the hill down from his house. Upon trying to accelerate he noticed the vehicle did not want to go. The engine had stalled/hesitated. He pressed the gas a few times and nothing happened, the RPM ha d was the only thing moving. Then, all of a sudden, the vehicle sped off and he lost control of the vehicle because this happened at the beginning of a curve and he couldn't regain control of the vehicle and slammed into a telephone pole which broke his neck and back.
I am at the burger king drive thru jan 23, 2021, there are a few cars ahead of me. I sit at driver thru with foot on the brake about 3 to 5 minutes, when the car in front of me moves closer to pick up his food, I let off of the brake and drift forward as I get closer to car in front of me , I press the brake and the pedal goes all the way to the floor. I press harder and my car bangs directly into the back of a 2015 camara that has been garaged kept and has only 3,000 miles on it.
While going through a curve, if attempt to slow down, my brakes seem to make some type of scraping sound and I can feel the scrape or vibration of the problem through the pedal.
I purchased my car as a certified pre-owned vehicle. Within four days, I noticed that the front brakes get excessively hot during normal stopping. I have replaced the brake pads & rotors, and the condition still exists.