10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
8 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
9 / 0
Average Mileage:
23,983 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2012 Volkswagen Passat seat belts / air bags problems

seat belts / air bags problem

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2012 Volkswagen Passat Owner Comments (Page 1 of 14)

problem #271

Mar 192024

Passat

  • 145,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2012 Volkswagen Passat. The contact that the air bag warning light was illuminated, and the vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the clock spring was replaced under NHTSA Campaign Number:?15V483000?(Air Bags) in 2022; however, the failure recurred. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated while driving. Additionally, the steering wheel made an abnormal click sound, and the horn was inoperable. The dealer was notified of the failure and charged a diagnostic testing fee. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 145,000.

- Barling, AR, USA

problem #270

Dec 082022

Passat

  • miles
My airbag light is on. Had a test done and it also indicated airbag problem. My car was supposedly repaired of this defect some time ago, but here we are. Also when entering my VIN for any recall; it lists defective light. Previous work done by Audi/VW of Jackson, Ms. On 12/9/22 the airbag indicator light and service light is on.

- Lawrence, MS, USA

problem #269

Mar 012022

Passat

  • miles
Clock spring was replaced then went out again. Daughter now has a car with no air bag, no horn and none of the electrical working on staring wheel. We are told it will take 6 months for the part, but reading online seeing people waiting over 10 months now for the part. Dealer has no solution and says VW needs to take care of it.

- Bentonville, AR, USA

problem #268

Sep 072022

Passat

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My car has had previous airbag recalls and on 09/07/22 the airbag error is now populating on my dash and is tripping up other lights on dash. I believe the same airbag issue is reoccurring again and needs immediate attention to ensure drivers lives are safe and protected.

- Atlanta , GA, USA

problem #267

Sep 022022

Passat

  • miles
Error airbag message

- Tallapoosa , GA, USA

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problem #266

Aug 312022

Passat

  • miles
Clock spring fail airbag light is on horn is not working dangerous to drive car likethis

- Delano, CA, USA

problem #265

Jul 152022

Passat

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

-I was parking my car in 95 degrees a hot day and an error air bag light came on on my 2012 Passat my car has never involved in a car accident I bring my car to the mechanic and it said passenger occupant detection system control module. -This is very risky to others because if the air bags fail I could have an accident I have 2 small child I don-??t want my air bags deploy. This is the first time it happen to me before. 2 year ago the dealer replace a harness but the car under warranty am very scare that the air bags can deploy and have an accident.

- Norwalk , CT, USA

problem #264

Jul 082022

Passat

  • miles
Car needs new clock spring. When parking vehicle and turning, hear a crack sound and airbag light came on, horn wouldn't work and none of the buttons on steering wheel work. Part is backordered and has been for a very long time. Don't know what to do as this is my son's car (age 19) and it's unsafe to drive. Also, don't want to pay a dealer $165 to run diagnostics when we are certain of the problem and know the part is not available ( was told there are over 8000 people ahead of me waiting for the part). It is unlikely we could sell the car with this problem. VW needs to do something (buy back the cars?).

- Orleans, MA, USA

problem #263

Apr 072022

Passat

  • miles
Back in August of 2015, there has been a repair/recall for the clock spring for Volkswagen Passats. I have had it fixed and it has a warranty on it until 2027. The part has failed 4 times with the most recent failure occurring at the beginning of April. The Volkswagen dealership has had the car since 4/7/2022 and I have been driving a rental that the dealership has been paying for. I received a call earlier today from the dealership telling me that they were having to release the car back to me by EOD 6/10 because the ETA for them receiving the part is unknown. This is incredibly unsafe that Volkswagen is having the dealerships release the cars back when the issue still has not been fixed. I understand that it-??s not cost effective for them to keep covering the cost of rentals, but they should not be releasing unsafe vehicles back to their owners. I spoke to the general manager of the Volkswagen location my vehicle is currently at and the only really solution I was given is to have them evaluate the condition of the car to give me a trade-in value to buy a new vehicle, which I can-??t afford right now. I understand that the manufacturer has issues but this seems like a huge liability and that Volkswagen does not seem to care about the safety of those who drive their vehicles.

- La Mesa, CA, USA

problem #262

Oct 202021

Passat

  • 100,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V483000 (Air Bags) and the recall repair was completed. The contact stated the air bag warning light illuminated after the recall. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer who confirmed that the previous repair had failed and the clockspring needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired a second time. The dealer was notified of the failure and confirmed that the VIN was no longer under recall. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.

- Athol, MA, USA

problem #261

May 072022

Passat

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I heard a loud crack while turning my steering wheel and now I have an "Airbag Error" message and the controls on my steering wheel do not work. Is this related to the Airbag recall" Is it the Steering Wheel Clock Spring"

- Peachtree City, GA, USA

problem #260

Oct 152021

Passat 6-cyl

  • miles
Although this site has my car listed with ZERO unfixed recalls, that is not true. I received a recall notice for the clockspring on this vehicle, called my local dealership and was told it was no big deal, just to have it fixed when I brought my car in for 80k mile servicing. At that time, the clockspring had not yet broken and my car only had 50k miles on it. Late last October, my clockspring broke and I took it to the dealership. They ordered the part but said it was on backorder and it is STILL on indefinite backorder. I have now been driving more than 6 months with NO airbags, NO horn and NO hands free steering wheel controls. The dealership will not give me a loaner until my vehicle is made safe to drive. I have reached out to VW headquarters, the consumer product safety commission and the NTSB. I am on an online chat site where it is apparent there are thousands of us who cant pass state safety inspections and have had to park our vehicles or are driving them out of necessity, like myself. I am a widow who works full time and cant just buy another vehicle so easily. I believe VW should either buy our vehicles from us or give us loaners until they can be made safe to drive. People will have accidents and VW will wish they had done something. It should not get to that point! My local dealership told me the VW clockspring is made in Ukraine - so obviously this is not getting resolved by VW anytime soon. Please help! Thank you for your time. The failure of these parts leaves the vehicle with no airbags, horn or hands free controls on the steering wheel. Consumer stated there are thousands of us out here with unsafe and disabled vehicles and we can get no response at all from VW. Dealership stated the part is on indefinite backorder and consumer has already been without airbags, horn, etc for more than 6 months now. Consumer believes VW should authorize loaner vehicles until ours can be made safe to drive or purchase the vehicles to get them off the road. Right now, consumer can-??t sell them, c

- Tulsa, OK, USA

problem #259

Aug 272021

Passat

  • miles
The Air Bag warning light turned on and i called the VW Queensboro dealership in Queens NYC. They told me they have the clock spring part to repair the open recall on my car. However, when i came in on August 31 2021 they inspected the car for 4 hours and then told me they don't have the part on hand. I returned to the VW Queensboro dealership on September 2nd 2021 to replace the clock spring. Within 6 weeks of the clock spring replacement, the airbag sensor turned on again. I scheduled an appointment at the VW Queensboro dealership on October 26 2021, and they replaced the clock spring again. In middle of March 2022 the air bag sensor turned on again, and i have an appointment at the VW Queensboro dealership on March 21 2022. In preparation for this appointment, the dealership told me that they do not have the clock spring in stock (appointment was scheduled over a week before the appointment itself) and they refuse to order the replacement clock spring until they do an inspection. This will lead to a 5th appointment to repair the clock spring, as well as forcing me to drive without an air bag for at least 2 weeks.

- Glendale, NY, USA

problem #258

Feb 022022

Passat

  • miles
The clock spring has went out on my 2012 VW Passat, but VW does not have them in stock, nor do they know when they'll have them in stock. This means that the drivers air bag will not work in the event of an accident. They are not doing a recall, but are doing an "extended warranty". They are knowingly putting unsafe vehicles out on the road.

- Ashland, NE, USA

problem #257

Jan 292022

Passat

  • miles
On the 29th of January, upon turning on my car and turning my steering wheel, I heard a "clicking" noise, and immediately on the dash my airbag light displayed along with a message saying, "Error: Airbag". After driving, I realized that my horn no longer worked and the controls on my steering wheel were inoperable. When I arrived at my destination, I began looking up the issue and things that could cause the airbag light to display, along with causing the other issues I was experiencing. The first thing that popped up described a recall that was initiated in 2015 for the clockspring piece failing, which causes the airbag light to display, the horn to not work, as well as the controls on the steering wheel to not work. I looked up the CarFax on my specific vehicle and found that this clockspring piece was replaced on my car back in 2016 (before I owned it), so on the following Monday, I called my local Volkswagen dealership where the guy confirmed that this had been a recall that was previously fixed on my car and offered me an appointment for the 24th of February to confirm that this was the issue going on with my car. As I was unsatisfied with waiting this long, I called other local Volkswagen dealerships to see if they could get me in sooner. The York Volkswagen dealership got me in on the 4th of February, ran diagnostics, and confirmed that this was the issue with the car, the clockspring needed to be replaced, again. However, it was relayed to me that this piece is part of a nationwide backorder and that they could not give me a time frame of when they would be able to replace this piece for me, all they could do was tell me that the part had been ordered for me and they would call me when the part arrived. Upon asking what I was supposed to do in the meantime, as far as driving with this extreme safety issue or do as my inspection is coming up and will not pass inspection with the airbag light on or the horn not working, no one was able to give me any guidance.

- Mount Joy, PA, USA

problem #256

Jan 252022

Passat

  • miles
The clock spring that's located within the steering wheel with the airbag is defective. I just got it fixed in Nov 2021 and its broken again, and it now Jan 2022. Only 2 months it survived. Each time the dealership fixes the problem, its like they put a band aid on the issue and give it back. Its not fair that VM has these known issues with the airbag/ clock spring and the consumer has to PAY to fix the mechanical problem that was not caused by the owner.

- South Plainfield, NJ, USA

problem #255

Nov 012021

Passat

  • miles
My 2012 Passat was supposedly repaired under a recall action for the clock spring. However, same symptoms began to occur later in time and now it is apparent that the issue has not been solved and needs to be re-accomplished.

- Dalzell, SC, USA

problem #254

Nov 302021

Passat

  • miles
The airbag light came on, so I suspected the clock spring had gone bad. I looked up the information on the internet and it showed a recall for my model and year. after calling the dealer, they said i should have been notified, but now my car had too many miles for them to complete the repair as covered by the -??recall-??. My car has 140k miles and the "recall" has a limit of 120k. I decided to go ahead and purchase the part on my own to complete the repair, as this is my wife's car and her driving with no airbag isn't safe. Unfortunately, there are no replacement parts available, which begs the question... how many of these things are faulty? Apparently quite a few. I called VW customer service and noticed that their website touts how dedicated they are to customer safety and satisfaction. Top priority they say. This was disproven in short order. the customer service person, a nice young lady to begin with informed me that although all Passats use the same clock spring, my vehicles VIN doesn-??t' fall under the actual recall, my vehicle was given an extended warranty up to 120k miles. It doesn-??t' make sense to me, so i explained to her how i felt that was ridiculous and unfair, considering they know the part is faulty, however the pressing issue is my wife is driving a vehicle with no airbag and i cannot get a new part to replace it, to which she said VW is unable (i surmise unwilling), to help. If the part is so faulty that not a single dealer that i can find has one available to sell to me, how can the recall not include all vehicles with that part? I take great care of all my vehicles, which is likely why the part lasted longer than most. I just need a part to make my vehicle safe again. Any help getting VW to increase proproduction would be appreciated and with a faulty part, potentially discount the absurdly high price for those of us unfairly left out of the recall.

- Gainesville, GA, USA

problem #253

Oct 292021

Passat

  • miles
While driving at unknown speed airbag error light illuminated and horn and steering radio controls became inoperative. Diagnosed as clock spring broken which was replaced under previous recall. Estimated repair costs now estimated at $600 and not covered under warranty.

- Sheboygan, WI, USA

problem #252

May 182021

Passat

  • miles
I purchased my Passat in Pasadena California. I now reside in Nevada. The closest dealer to me is Lithia Volkswagen of Reno 1050 E Plumb Ln #110, Reno, NV 89502. This is an hours drive for me. I have called and explained to this deal that I need my airbag recall fixed. Each attempt, I am advised that they will have to check on the parts and get back to me. They never do. How can I take car of my dangerous recall" I also have questions as to the logistics. Do I make a day of this" Would I be required to leave the car for long etc.

- Gardnerville, NV, USA

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