Volkswagen
Volkswagen has 43 model lines on NHTSA's register (model years 1965–2026), with 379 recall campaigns and 23,914 consumer complaints.
Campaigns were most numerous in 2022 (24). The component complaints name most often is electrical system (139.6 per 1,000 component mentions). The Jetta line has the most complaints, 8,185 over 45 model years.
A further 13 equipment, tire or child-seat campaigns name Volkswagen and are listed on monthly pages. Comparisons here are between Volkswagen model lines; complaint counts across makes depend on fleet size and reporting rates and are not compared.
Complaints are consumer reports and have not been verified by NHTSA.
Model lines
Ordered by total complaints. "Per model year" divides complaints by the number of model years on the register, a comparison within Volkswagen only.
| Model line | Model years | Campaigns | Complaints | Per model year | Most-reported component |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jetta | 45 | 79 | 8,185 | 181.9 | Electrical System |
| Passat | 34 | 54 | 6,785 | 199.6 | Air Bags |
| Beetle | 29 | 32 | 2,283 | 78.7 | Power Train |
| Golf | 37 | 54 | 1,033 | 27.9 | Electrical System |
| GTI | 41 | 34 | 959 | 23.4 | Power Train |
| CC | 10 | 12 | 882 | 88.2 | Air Bags |
| Tiguan | 17 | 39 | 759 | 44.6 | Engine |
| Routan | 7 | 8 | 629 | 89.9 | Electrical System |
| Touareg | 14 | 12 | 502 | 35.9 | Fuel/Propulsion System |
| EOS | 10 | 7 | 342 | 34.2 | Air Bags |
| Eurovan | 10 | 6 | 215 | 21.5 | Engine and Engine Cooling |
| New Beetle | 8 | 5 | 191 | 23.9 | Electrical System |
| Cabrio | 12 | 5 | 186 | 15.5 | Electrical System |
| Corrado | 7 | 6 | 148 | 21.1 | Visibility |
| Atlas | 9 | 48 | 147 | 16.3 | Electrical System |
| Rabbit | 15 | 20 | 142 | 9.5 | Service Brakes |
| R32 | 4 | 3 | 125 | 31.3 | Power Train |
| Fox | 7 | 5 | 81 | 11.6 | Engine and Engine Cooling |
| Jetta Hybrid | 4 | 3 | 59 | 14.8 | Power Train |
| Vanagon | 11 | 15 | 50 | 4.5 | Fuel System, Gasoline |
| Passat Wagon | 9 | 3 | 49 | 5.4 | Fuel/Propulsion System |
| Cabriolet | 7 | 6 | 44 | 6.3 | Fuel System, Gasoline |
| E-Golf | 4 | 8 | 31 | 7.8 | Electrical System |
| Golf Alltrack | 2 | 4 | 24 | 12.0 | Unknown or Other |
| Golf Sportwagen | 5 | 9 | 20 | 4.0 | Air Bags |
| Scirocco | 12 | 16 | 16 | 1.3 | Fuel System, Gasoline |
| Golf R | 10 | 16 | 11 | 1.1 | Engine |
| Beetle Convertible | 11 | 6 | 7 | 0.6 | Fuel/Propulsion System |
| Quantum | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1.0 | Power Train |
| Camper | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0.3 | Engine and Engine Cooling |
| Dasher | 9 | 5 | 2 | 0.2 | Fuel System, Gasoline |
| Type III | 4 | 7 | 1 | 0.3 | Fuel System, Gasoline |
| Atlas Cross Sport | 7 | 30 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| ID.4 | 6 | 26 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| Type I | 7 | 16 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| Type II | 8 | 13 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| Karman Ghia | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| Taos | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| Touareg Hybrid | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| Arteon | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| Syncro | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| Thing | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| ID. Buzz | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 |
Campaigns by year
Complaints by year
Components most reported
Per 1,000 component mentions across all Volkswagen complaints.
Questions and answers
How many recalls has Volkswagen had?
379 NHTSA recall campaigns name Volkswagen vehicles (model years 1965–2026). Units potentially affected across those campaigns total about 22,025,618, a figure that includes other makes where a campaign is shared (Takata air bag inflators, for example). Campaigns naming several model lines count once.
Which Volkswagen model line has the most complaints?
Jetta: 8,185 complaints over 45 model years (181.9 per model year). Larger-selling lines draw more complaints; the per-model-year column controls for the number of years, not for sales.
What components are reported most for Volkswagen?
electrical system (139.6 per 1,000 mentions), air bags (107.9 per 1,000 mentions), power train (99.5 per 1,000 mentions). Complaints are consumer reports and have not been verified by NHTSA.
Where does this data come from?
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation flat files, public domain, dated 29 Sep 2026 (recalls) and 15 May 2019 (complaints).
Provenance
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation flat files, public domain, dated 29 Sep 2026 and 15 May 2019. Make names are as NHTSA records them. Comparisons are within this make; see the methodology for why makes are not ranked against each other.