This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2007 Volkswagen Passat. While driving the vehicle would suddenly shut off. The message "steering lock module failure" had displayed. The vehicle was towed. The vehicle was unsafe to drive due random stalling. The contact stated that while driving the vehicle would suddenly shut off and on several occasions the vehicle could not be started. During the failures the message "steering lock module failure" had displayed. The vehicle was towed the local dealer serra of traverse city(1747 S garfield traverse city mi.) who diagnose steering lock module faulty. The module was replaced but the failures continued. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The failure mileage was 137,000. The VIN was invalid.
There is an electric steering column defect which makes the car stop all of a sudden in the middle of the drive. After that, the car would not start even after trying for at least a minute. This is dangerous as the car just stops while you are driving.
I have had my cv boots replaced in 2013 on the left side and then again on January 2016. I had my vehicle looked at on 9/15/17 and was told that the same boot has a tear in it and needs replacing.
I have been experiencing a steering column lock defect warning on my dash and the car often will not start without repeated attempts. This appears to be a common and very expensive defect with Passats and the VW Passat blogs are full of complaints about this defect. I contacted VW and they were no help. The rep offered her sympathy but nothing as far as VW taking responsibility for the problem. It appears that this defect can result in steering wheels locking while driving, engines cutting off without warning, and the car not starting leaving drivers stranded. I will be delivering the vehicle to the local VW Agency for repair and request that the NHTSA require VW to reimburse all Passat owners with this problem for all related expenses to correct this very dangerous defect.
- Irvine, CA, USA
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I put the key in ignition and the car does not start. Take key out and put back in and then it starts and says "steering column defective". I've read from other 2007 Passat owners that they've encountered this problem too. They have stated that eventually the car starts shutting off randomly without notice.
Car either will not start or shuts off. Display states "steering column lock defect". the steering column locks up, the engine shuts down, and high pitched alarms sound. Car was taken to dealer and repaired under service bulletin 4815, at no charge. This happened in 2011. This week, in 2014 the same exact steering column lock defect reoccurred. Despite this being a known defect among vws, and this being a failure of the previous "fix" VW refuses to do a warranty repair because it is "outside of the 12 month 12,000 mile" warranty on repairs. This is in my mind, a safety issue as the entire steering column locks and the engine shuts down. If this were to occur when the vehicle is being driven, people would be injured or killed.
Sudden failure of steering wheel. Display shows "steering wheel lock". this could be serious issue if it happened during driving. Unable to start the car or to get the car in neutral gear. Had to tow the car to the VW service where it was diagnosed with steering control module failure.
When I insert my key in cold weather my car will display " steering wheel lock" and my car cuts off and beeps locks key in ignition, releases key after a bit and lets me re try and starts, other times it may take several attempts but has started. I took car to dealer they saw nothing wrong with it but quoted a high price to replace part and mentioned that its a common occurrence! I believe this should be looked into seriously before anyone gets hurt by steering locking!! and it should be recalled!
Problem: Heads up display in car says "steering column lock defective." Car starts up, then stalls and the engine cuts off. This warning is displayed, along with three loud beeps. After this message is displayed, the car will not start up with repeated attempts at inserting the key. Tries to start, stalls, tries to start, stalls, etc. Sometimes it will start on the second attempt, sometimes I have to wait until the 30th+ attempt. Make the car very sporadic in its driving use with whether it will even turn on or not! nothing seems to help this problem. Turning the steer wheel during start, depressing the brake, having the parking brake on, etc. It should be noted however that sometimes this problem does not occur at all. I will insert the key and it will start like normal. But then sometimes I will get the error along with multiple failed attempts at starting the engine. Planning on taking this car to dealer soon and hope that warranty will cover it.
In below freezing weather, I was trying to leave my child's daycare. When the key is inserted properly into the ignition, the car beeps and presents a warning "steering column lock defective!" it would not start for 45 minutes - just kept turning over and immediately dieing (lost spark, presumably, as part of the immobilization system). Took it to the dealership and they immediately recognized the problem and joking sarcastically implying that this happens all the time - the stalling at startup is a direct result of the steering column lock problem. The entire steering column has to be replaced along with a new control module (around $200 in parts) along with 4 hours of labor (quoted around $375 for me). This problem is widely reported on Passat message boards with initial costs being as high as $1,900 until VW of America recently discovered a more cost effective way to fix the issue. Also, VW of ireland has acknowledged this as a software defect (see irish times article from 11/4/2009 entitled "staring problems with a VW Passat"). there are reports that VW of Canada are repairing this for free on out of warrantied vehicles as well. How many have to fail in America before it's a recall" wouldn't a computer fault keeping a car from starting be a safety issue? what happens if the module fails while driving - either the car determining the key isn't correct would stop the engine, or if the steering column does lock while driving at highway speeds"
2007 VW Passat "steering column defected". my key "fob" to the ignition gets stuck inside the ignition slot. Car will not start. Sometimes it will start but then immediately die. I have to very slowly push the fob back and forth to finally get the car to start eventually. Problem is, there are thousands other 2006-2007 VW Passats and jettas that have this issue. It is unsafe. The VW dealer is charging on average $1,400 to replace the defective parts.
We own a 2007 Volkswagen Passat. On June the 15th, 2010, we started getting an alarm indicator saying that "the steering column was locked" and the car would not start. We took it to our local VW dealership, where we were told that it is a national problem, and the parts to fix it are on "national backorder" with no idea when they will be available. I am concerned that this problem will either leave my wife stranded someplace unsafe, or, the problem will occur while she is driving and affect her ability to steer the vehicle. I would like to know if your Agency has received other complaints, and are you able to assist in expediting repairs? [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
I have a 2007 Volkswagen Passat and the steering column lock is now defective and the car wont start the car only has 53000 miles and it has only been out of warranty three thousand miles and this is a very costly repair about two thousand quoted by the dealer. Dealer also said that they could not fix the problem and that they had seen a few cars with this same problem.
When under 5mph the car will stall or it will not start. It sometimes runs me late for an event due to it will not start. I'm not sure why it does it I've not noticed the pattern yet. The lcd screen will read defective steering column. I've called VW and they will not replace after warranty expires and they want nearly 3K to replace the product of the entire steering column and immobilizer.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Lincoln, MI, USA