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Volkswagen · NHTSA safety record

2012 Volkswagen Routan

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

63

Complaints

1

Crashes

0

Fires

2

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2012 Volkswagen Routan have filed 63 safety complaints with NHTSA between May 2013 and July 2024. The most complained-about system is the electrical system, named in 39 of them (62%). The typical failure was reported at 76,000 miles, the median across the 45 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 1 recall covering this vehicle.

Recalls (1)

SUSPENSION:REAR

12V147000 · April 5, 2012

The defect
VOLKSWAGEN IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2012 ROUTAN VEHICLES, MANUFACTURED FROM NOVEMBER 15, 2011, THROUGH NOVEMBER 21, 2011. SOME VEHICLES MAY BE EQUIPPED WITH RIGHT REAR HUB AND BEARING ASSEMBLIES THAT WERE NOT FULLY MACHINED.
The risk
THIS COULD RESULT IN A DECREASE IN DURABILITY, WHICH MAY LEAD TO WHEEL SEPARATION, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
The remedy
VOLKSWAGEN WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE RIGHT REAR HUB AND BEARING ASSEMBLY, FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON APRIL 20, 2012. OWNERS MAY CONTACT VOLKSWAGEN AT 1-800-822-8987.

VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INC · up to 15 vehicles across all model years covered

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 63.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 39 62%
ENGINE 21 33%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 8 13%
STEERING 8 13%
POWER TRAIN 7 11%
SERVICE BRAKES 7 11%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 7 11%
AIR BAGS 6 10%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 5%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 2 3%
SEATS 2 3%
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 2%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2018 at 12.

2013 2018 2024
2013 to 2024

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

AIR BAGS

1 injured · crash · towed

I WAS IN A PRETTY BAD CAR ACCIDENT 4/5/2019 WITH 6 KIDS IN THE CAR AND NONE OF THE AIRBAGS DEPLOYED.. WE WERE I MOTION WHEN CAR INFRONT OF ME TRIED TO AVOID THE CAR IN FRONT OF HIM. I SAW HIM AND I TRIED TO AVOID HIM SO MY LEFT FRONT HIT HIS REAR RIGHT SIDE. NONE OF THE AIRBAGS DEPLOYED AND NOW I HAVE A HORRIBLE CONCUSSION IN THE HOSPITAL!

NHTSA complaint 11196628. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

1 injured

Driver steering wheel airbag deployed while parking van at work. Nothing was hit just went off causing burns and wrist pain and swelling. Wife stated that the front windshield wipers started turning on randomly while driving to work and then airbag blew while parking.

NHTSA complaint 11600204. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
My vehicle is shutting off while driving. It randomly shuts off and I see there are other recalls associated with this issue for a different year but same vehicle/model. I am being quoted well over $2,000 in repairs. This vehicle only has 130,000 miles on it.

NHTSA complaint 11578885. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES
At first it starts off the vehicle will just shut off while you are driving which is very dangerous I have read many people complaining about this it needs to be recalled then the brakes go and then the transmission seal I have done all the maintenance up keep on my vehicle there is no reason for the vehicle did you shut off the way it keeps shutting off and dying for no reason the battery keeps dying by the next morning when nothing is left on in the vehicle it has caused me a great deal of grief and it is very scary when you have children in the car and your vehicle just shuts off on the freeway when everything is electric guess what no breaks

NHTSA complaint 11560584. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
NHTSA Recall 14v396 is probably the best correction to this issue. My van has shut off mid-driving while my children are in the car with me. It is so dangerous in the road. I can't move the steering wheel. Mechanics can't seem to diagnose the problem because the van doesn't give any computer codes when it would shut down. There are similar complaints and I wonder how Volkswagen knows of this issue and has failed to inform the owners of these vehicles. Chrysler had a similar issue and did a recall. I hope Volkswagen would acknowledge this issue.

NHTSA complaint 11528397. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Several times in the last month the car has stopped running without warning. It just shuts off. This has happened in our subdivision travelling at 20mph and most recently on the highway travelling 65mph. The power steering, brakes, everything go dead when the car just turns off and this could cause a serious accident.

NHTSA complaint 11487850. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Car is stalling out while driving with no warning. Doesn't matter the rate of speed I'm going it just cuts out. Can't turn steering wheel. No codes pop up. No mechanics can pinpoint issue. I have seen quite a few thousand people complaining of the same issue and reported it to vw as well as nhtsa and NO ONE will do a recall. Chrysler did a recall for this same issue but NOT vw. This is a safety issue for not only the owner but other drivers on the road. If I get into an accident or cause one I WILL BE suing nhtsa as well as vw for no recall being done. I have printed out over 100 pages of complaints from others for evidence of complaints. I have already entered the class action lawsuit with

NHTSA complaint 11446236, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Volkswagen Routan

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2011 175 0
2010 240 2

Other 2012 Volkswagen models

Every Volkswagen on this site — 152 vehicles, 256 recall campaigns and 2 open investigation s.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

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