AIR BAGS
crash · towed
I was driving 50 mph and hit a very large deer. The airbag did not deploy and there was no warning
NHTSA complaint 11625391. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
Volkswagen · NHTSA safety record
2023 Volkswagen Jetta
Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.
42
Complaints
1
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0
Deaths
Owners of the 2023 Volkswagen Jetta have filed 42 safety complaints with NHTSA between April 2023 and July 2026. The most complained-about system is the engine, named in 11 of them (26%). The typical failure was reported at 11,000 miles, the median across the 4 complaints that gave an odometer reading.
No recall campaign was matched to this year, make and model. That is not the same as a clean vehicle: recalls are issued against production ranges, and the only reliable check is your own VIN.
What owners report
Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 42.
ENGINE 11 26%
SERVICE BRAKES 10 24%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 10 24%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 9 21%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 5 12%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 7%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 2 5%
LANE DEPARTURE 2 5%
POWER TRAIN 2 5%
AIR BAGS 1 2%
BACK OVER PREVENTION 1 2%
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 1 2%
When the complaints arrived
By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2024 at 18.
In owners' own words
Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.
ENGINE
towed · 2,000 miles
The contact owns a 2023 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH in traffic, the vehicle lost motive power and shut off. The contact was able to steer into a parking space. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the cam magnet needed to be replaced. The mechanic informed the contact that an expert would be contacted for assistance with repairing the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000.
NHTSA complaint 11566542. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
ENGINE
Car was started on afternoon of XXX and the Low Coolant alert sound and dashboard light came on. Opened hood and car was completely out of coolant. Took to Royal Automotive, Vestavia Hills, AL on Wednesday XXX to be fixed. Dealer assessment was “PERFORMED COOLING SYSTEM LEAK TEST. THE VEHICLE PASSED TEST. CHECK FOR VISUAL LEAKS. FOUND NO LEAKS, BUT FOUND SEEPAGE AT THE HEAD GASKET. VOLKSWAGEN SAID THIS WAS NORMAL PER 00-26-01 - DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FLUID LEAKAGE AND SEEPAGE. TOP OFF COOLING SYSTEM.” The car was purchased new by me in October 2022 and my warranty expires in October 2022. It has just over 17,100 miles on it. Further, Volkswagen published a Technical Service Bulletin 15-23-01 -
NHTSA complaint 11751628, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I bought car back in June or July 2024. Since then Ive had issues with vehicle. Bad breaks, bad wheel bearings that were replaced & car just never drove smooth. Since buying car & driving it around for months I have felt a jerk/pull when in drive mode from 0mi when stepping on gas. The Engine has completely shutt off at random at a light when in drive mode & Ive had to put in parking & restart engine while making a right hand turn & while pulling into a parking lot. I notified dealer & taken in but told nothing was found & they didnt seem to see the safety issue at hand or care. It has done this a few times since Ive had it. Very scary, thankfully no accident YET! The lane assist warning
NHTSA complaint 11745939, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
SERVICE BRAKES
At only 24,000 miles, the rear brakes are already showing significant wear. When checked by the dealer, they were 2mm, while the front brakes were 12mm. The service representatives at the dealership have said this is a known problem with this model year, and they have already seen several cars with the same issue of brakes wearing out way too quickly. If a driver wasn't getting regular inspections, they would assume that their brakes would still be in great condition with this mileage, and it could pose a large safety risk.
NHTSA complaint 11737730. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The SOS Module failed three times and was replaced three times under warranty. The failure mode is a battery that cannot be ordered due to manufacturer issues. The failed module limits crash reporting. I have attached the three work orders for this vehicle.
NHTSA complaint 11736502. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Adaptive Cruise control stops working suddenly with message "Travel Assist currently not available". Warning goes after restart or have to go and cancel assist completely and start again and then it works for few minutes and appears again. The problem sometimes doesn’t show up for days but sometimes shows many times within hours. Happens usually on long drives. Once it occurs, it happens multiple times if I try to reset within the drive. It gets disabled sometimes on high-speed free ways and adaptive braking suddenly goes away in middle of on ongoing braking or sometimes car suddenly starts slowing down on high speed. Happening for 18 months now. Previous dealership said we could not
NHTSA complaint 11735957, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
ENGINE
About 6 months after I bought my car the check engine light came on, took to vw still under Warranty. And they said it was just a harness on sale about 4 months later, it came back on and they kept my car for a week. And when I got my car back about 2 to 3 weeks later, it came back on again, and they cound't figure it out and said its something wrong with the emmission and now it's back on so I don't know what's wrong with it, I took it to a different shop and they said they couldn't read the codes and I have to take it to Volkswagen dealership. Car is new and fail emmission.
NHTSA complaint 11734976. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
Compare
Other years of the Volkswagen Jetta
| Model year | Complaints | Recalls | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 23 | 2 | — |
| 2024 | 39 | 0 | — |
| 2022 | 42 | 1 | — |
| 2021 | 66 | 4 | 2 |
| 2020 | 51 | 6 | — |
| 2019 | 545 | 11 | — |
| 2018 | 31 | 2 | — |
| 2017 | 159 | 6 | 1 |
| 2016 | 160 | 4 | — |
| 2015 | 193 | 7 | — |
| 2014 | 386 | 4 | — |
| 2013 | 516 | 4 | — |
| 2012 | 499 | 5 | — |
| 2011 | 606 | 7 | — |
| 2010 | 852 | 4 | — |
Other 2023 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
- Complaints: NHTSA's ODI complaint file , published August 20, 2026. One complaint is one ODI number, which is how NHTSA counts them.
- Recalls: NHTSA's recall campaign API , most recent campaign filed August 12, 2026.
- Investigations: NHTSA's ODI investigation file , published 2026-08-19.
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.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes
Independent developer and analyst