Recall Register

2003 Volkswagen Jetta: recalls and complaints

NHTSA lists 2 recall campaigns for the 2003 Volkswagen Jetta. The newest campaign is 18V406000. NHTSA received the report on 13 Jun 2018. The NHTSA record gives the component Air Bags / Frontal / Driver Side / Inflator Module. NHTSA has 350 complaints on file for this model year. 4 NHTSA investigations name this model year.

The NHTSA recall file shows no do-not-drive advisory and no park-outside advisory on these campaigns.

This page cannot show if a recall applies to one vehicle. The NHTSA VIN lookup shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle.

Remedy of the newest campaign, 18V406000, in the NHTSA record

Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began May 2, 2019. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69X3.

Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.

NHTSA publishes these words. Source: NHTSA Datasets and APIs, section Complaints, read on . Complaint file through . Recall file through .

Since the last update

No tracked figure of this page changed in a data update. What the log tracks

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Recall campaigns

2 campaigns, newest first. 1,004,564 units in total.

  1. 18V406000Received . 2,564 units.

    Air Bags / Frontal / Driver Side / Inflator Module

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2003 Volkswagen Passat sedan, Jetta, Jetta wagon, Golf, EuroVan, EuroVan Camper Van and EuroVan Chassis vehicles. Upon deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to explode.
    Consequence, in the NHTSA record
    In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could explode with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began May 2, 2019. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69X3.

    Report filed by Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.. Manufacturer campaign number 69X3. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

  2. 07V063000Received . 1,002,000 units.

    Exterior Lighting / Brake Lights / Switch

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    On certain passenger, wagon, and convertible vehicles equipped with or without cruise control, a brake light switch may malfunction if it was installed incorrectly.
    Consequence, in the NHTSA record
    The brake lights could become inoperative, or remain on. Failure to provide the proper signal when braking could lead to a crash without warning.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Dealers will install the newly designed brake light switch free of charge. The recall began on april 27, 2007, and will be conducted in several staggered mailings through september 21, 2007. Vehicles within the make, model, and model year of this population may be involved in either this recall or 06v-183, but not both. The remedy is the same for each recall. Volkswagen dealers will apply the remedy based on the VIN number of the vehicle. Owners may contact vw at 1-800-822-8987.

    Report filed by VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INC. Manufacturer campaign number N4. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

The campaign number opens the NHTSA record. Each quotation is the text of the NHTSA recall file.

Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.

Units: The number of vehicles or products that a recall can include. The manufacturer or the firm reports the number to the agency.

Complaints by component

350 complaints, 413 component mentions.

A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. The figure per 1,000 component mentions shows how many of each 1,000 mentions name the component.

  • 2003 Volkswagen Jetta
  • All 2003 vehicles
2003 Volkswagen Jetta: complaints by component, per 1,000 component mentions
Component2003 JettaAll 2003 vehiclesJetta, all yearsMentions
Seats188.91744.678
Air Bags176.845.885.773
Electrical System133.2122.3123.955
Power Train106.5136.512944
Engine and Engine Cooling94.4108.813139
Exterior Lighting60.533.75125
Visibility4656.894.919
Service Brakes, Hydraulic41.283.27217
Structure24.251.636.710
Equipment24.23231.310

The table shows the 10 components with the most mentions, of 22.

Complaints that report a crash
23
Complaints that report a fire
52
Injuries in the complaints
70
Deaths in the complaints
1
Date of the newest complaint
21 Oct 2010

These figures are the entries of the persons who sent the complaints.

Complaint: A report about a possible safety problem that a person sends to NHTSA. This site shows the number of complaints and not their text.

Complaints about the 2003 Volkswagen Jetta, by the year NHTSA received them. The largest year is 2004, with 84 complaints.

Investigations

NHTSA investigations that name the 2003 Volkswagen Jetta
NumberTypeSubjectComponentOpenedClosedCampaign
DP05004Defect petitionENGINE STALLINGElectrical System / Ignition / Module11 Aug 20058 Dec 2005
PE04081Preliminary evaluationINADVERTENT SIDE-AIRBAG DEPLOYMENTAir Bags / Side/Window16 Dec 20041 Apr 2005
EA04010Engineering analysisDRIVER SIDE FRONT SEAT OVERHEATSSeats / Front Assembly / Seat Heater/Cooler30 Mar 200421 Oct 2004
PE03052Preliminary evaluationDRIVER SEAT OVERHEATS/BURNSSeats / Front Assembly / Seat Heater/Cooler19 Nov 200330 Mar 2004

Investigation: A study of a possible safety defect by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. An investigation with no closing date in the NHTSA file is open.

Other model years

The number under each year is the number of recall campaigns.

Official channels

Cite this page

Recall Register. 2003 Volkswagen Jetta: recalls and complaints. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/volkswagen/jetta/2003/. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, recall, complaint and investigation files. Data through .

Sources

Source
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Licence
US government work, public domain
Recall file through
29 Sep 2026
Complaint file through
29 Mar 2018
First complaint in the file
1 Jan 1995
Manufacturer in the recall file
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

The NHTSA record is the authority. A complaint count is the number of different complaint numbers for the make, the model and the model year. How the register is made. Report an error.

Questions

How many units are in the recall campaigns for the 2003 Volkswagen Jetta?
1,004,564 units in 2 campaigns. A campaign can name other models and model years, and its units include them.
How many recall campaigns does the Volkswagen Jetta have for all model years?
NHTSA lists 79 recall campaigns for the Volkswagen Jetta, model years 1980 to 2026. 2 of them name the 2003 model year.
Which component do the complaints about the 2003 Volkswagen Jetta name most often?
Seats: 78 of 413 component mentions, or 188.9 per 1,000. For all 2003 vehicles the figure is 17 per 1,000.
Is an NHTSA investigation of the 2003 Volkswagen Jetta open?
No. Each of the 4 investigations that name this model year has a closing date in the NHTSA file.