2008 Volkswagen Rabbit problems
NHTSA has received 35 complaints about the 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit, and 17% of them involve air bags. After that come electrical system (14%) and drivetrain & axles (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 35 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 17% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 4 and 8
- Injuries and deaths
- 2 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 70,000 miles 34 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 | 10 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 2 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 2 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 5 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 3 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 1 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 8 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 3 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 34 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 70,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 4 complaints mention a crash; 8 complaints mention a fire; 2 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 95% of model years in our database.
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.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 volkswagen rabbit. The contact struck another vehicle head-on, which severely damaged the front end of her vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy and the contact and occupants were injured. A police report was filed. The repair would cost more than $12,000. The speed was unknown. The failure mileage was 14,000.
I own a 2008 volkswagen rabbit, 2 door model. This vehicle has an auxiliary power plug (12v cigarette lighter type) inside the trunk. In order to operate the power plug, the ignition switch must be in the "on" position (with the car engine off). I reversed into a parking lot opening the hatch and proceeded to use the auxiliary power plug in the trunk with the hatch open (reverse lights are in the hatch).
I had the heated seats on at the lowest setting of 1. I was driving on the main road by my house and the side of the driver's seat started getting really hot and I smelled smoke. I had to pull over as I was worried the seat was on fire. I turned off the seat heater, got out and checked the seat. There was a hole burned into the seat and into the jacket I was wearing.
Standard automatic rabbit 2.5 coupe... Stalls often during take off after warm up. Not completely, but powering down from 1500 normal idling RPM to about 5-700 as if it is going to quit. If I back off on acceleration, it recovers slowly. Very dangerous when turning in front of oncoming traffic. Drivers behind me can't tell I am stopping because my foot is not on the brake. But when it will not go forward I jam on the brake to keep from getting t-boned by oncoming traffic!
While driving in second gear, the vehicle abruptly stopped leaving dual skid marks on pavement. The engine was restarted but vehicle would not move forward or reverse. When towed, a pool of transmission fluid was found under car, mechanic reports new transmission is needed but exact cause currently unknown. Vehicle is 5 months and 14,300 miles over warranty and volkswagen dealer will not cover any costs since out of warranty and is 5 speed.