NHTSA vehicle safety data

2012 Volkswagen Eos Recalls & Complaints

The 2012 Volkswagen Eos has 4 NHTSA recall campaigns and 94 owner complaints on file as of November 3, 2026. Recall repairs are usually free at an authorized Volkswagen dealer.

NHTSA recall and complaint data for the 2012 Volkswagen Eos. Recall data is refreshed daily from NHTSA.

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2012 Volkswagen Eos owner complaints

Owners have filed 94 complaints with NHTSA about the 2012 Volkswagen Eos, describing incidents dated July 27, 2012 to March 14, 2026.

Most-cited components

Air Bags 64 complaints
Engine 13 complaints
Electrical System 6 complaints
Unknown or Other 6 complaints
Fuel/Propulsion System 5 complaints
Power Train 5 complaints

Of the 94 complaints on file, 1 reports a crash and 2 a fire; across all 94 complaints, owners report 2 injuries (owner-reported, not verified by NHTSA).

Newest complaints

ODI #11725901 · Filed March 20, 2026
My airbag light came on my 2012 EOS and Vw dealer said it was a Clock Spring part issue causing it part number (5K0-953-569-AL) I mentioned this is a safety issue as it also disabled my horn on steering wheel and was pretty sure VW had a recall/bulletin or campaign on this issue. Appears for some…
ODI #11645817 · Filed March 2, 2025
In an accident I was struck by another vehicle that swerved into my lane at a very high rate of speed. His vehicle struck my car on the drivers side front quater panel just after the head light and continued past the drivers door. Air bags failed to deploy causing injuries to my head and body. In a…
ODI #11640042 · Filed February 1, 2025
While driving, turned seat heater on, it overheated enough to burn the seat and my coat. No noticeable fire.

Read all 94 complaints

NHTSA defect investigations

NHTSA's investigations file lists the 2012 Volkswagen Eos in 3 investigations. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.

Engineering Analysis EA18-003: Air Bag Clockspring Failure
Open since April 18, 2018
Recall Query RQ17-009: Air Bag Clockspring Failure
Closed May 4, 2018
Preliminary Evaluation PE15-010: Air Bag Clockspring Failure
Closed September 28, 2015
- Recall 15V-483

Open and recently closed NHTSA defect investigations

Modifications to Vehicles Made them Noncompliant

NHTSA #18V329000 · Unknown or Other · NHTSA notice

Reported May 16, 2018 · Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Potentially affected: 252 vehicles

Repair completion: 78.09% (latest rate the manufacturer reported to NHTSA; dataset updated November 3, 2026)

Volkswagen campaign 01C5/01C6 · Owners notified November 29, 2018 · Vehicles built February 16, 2011 – April 2, 2015 (per NHTSA)

Defect description

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2012-2016 Eos, 2012 Passat, 2012-2016 CC, 2015-2016 e-Golf, 2011-2015 Touareg, 2012-2015 and 2017 Tiguan, and 2011-2016 Golf and 2011-2013 GTI vehicles. Modifications made while the vehicles were in an internal evaluation period may cause the affected vehicles to not comply with all of the applicable regulatory requirements.

Safety consequence

If the vehicles do not meet all regulatory requirements, there could be an increased risk of a crash, fire, or injury.

Manufacturer remedy

Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will repair the vehicles to make them fully compliant or Volkswagen will repurchase them if necessary, free of charge. The recall began November 29, 2018. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298.

Notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Driver's Frontal Air Bag Inflator May Rupture

NHTSA #18V148000 · Air Bags — Frontal — Driver Side — Inflator Module · NHTSA notice

Reported March 6, 2018 · Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Potentially affected: 363,713 vehicles

Repair completion: 68.39% (latest rate the manufacturer reported to NHTSA; dataset updated November 3, 2026)

Volkswagen campaign 69Q9 · Owners notified March 16, 2018 · Vehicles built December 2, 2010 – May 31, 2014 (per NHTSA) · Recall influenced by NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation

Recall group: Takata airbag inflators

Defect description

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2009-2014 Volkswagen CC, 2010-2014 Golf, 2010-2014 Eos, 2007-2010 Passat Sedan and Wagon, and 2012-2014 Passat vehicles. Upon deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to explode.

Safety consequence

In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could explode with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.

Manufacturer remedy

Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflator with an alternative inflator, free of charge. The recall began March 16, 2018. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69Q9. Note: This recall partially supersedes recall 16V-078.

Notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Driver's Frontal Air Bag Inflator May Rupture

NHTSA #16V078000 · Air Bags — Frontal — Driver Side — Inflator Module · NHTSA notice

Reported February 10, 2016 · Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Potentially affected: 659,493 vehicles

Repair completion: 58.54% (latest rate the manufacturer reported to NHTSA; dataset updated November 3, 2026)

Owners notified March 10, 2017 · Recall influenced by NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation

Recall group: Takata airbag inflators

Defect description

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2010-2014 Golf, 2007-2010 Passat sedans and wagon, 2012-2014 Passat sedan and Eos, 2009-2014 CC, 2009-2012 Audi Q5, 2010-2012 S5 Cabriolet and 2010-2012 Audi A5 Cabriolet vehicles. Upon deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture.

Safety consequence

In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.

Manufacturer remedy

Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflators, free of charge. Volkswagen issued an interim notification to owners on April 12, 2016, and will send a second notification when parts are available. Volkswagen will notify owners again once parts are available. Volkswagen owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Audi owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834.

Notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Air Bag Clock Spring may Fail

NHTSA #15V483000 · Air Bags — Frontal · NHTSA notice

Reported August 4, 2015 · Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Potentially affected: 415,825 vehicles

Repair completion: 76.45% (latest rate the manufacturer reported to NHTSA; dataset updated November 3, 2026)

Volkswagen campaign 69L2 · Owners notified January 15, 2016 · Vehicles built December 2, 2010 – February 18, 2013 (per NHTSA) · Recall influenced by NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation

Defect description

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2010-2014 Volkswagen CC, and Passat, 2010-2013 Eos, 2011-2014 Golf, GTI, Jetta, and Tiguan, and 2012-2014 Jetta Sportwagen vehicles. In the affected vehicles, debris may contaminate the air bag clock spring, a spiral wound, flat cable that keeps the air bag powered while the steering wheel is being turned. This contamination may tear the cable and result in a loss of electrical connection to the driver's frontal air bag.

Safety consequence

A loss of electrical connection to the driver's frontal air bag will prevent the air bag from deploying in the event of a vehicle crash, increasing the risk of injury.

Manufacturer remedy

Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will install a protective cover over the steering wheel clock spring if the air bag light is off. If the airbag light is on and the steering wheel clock spring requires replacement, dealers will install a new steering wheel clock spring. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on January 15, 2016. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-822-8987.

Notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

2012 Volkswagen EOS C FWD

—

out of 5

Overall Safety Rating

Not Rated

Frontal Crash

Not Rated

Driver: Not Rated, Passenger: Not Rated

Side Crash

Not Rated

Driver: Not Rated, Passenger: Not Rated

Side Pole

Not Rated

Rollover

Not Rated

Safety Technology

Electronic Stability Control

3 investigations

94 owner complaints have been filed with NHTSA for the 2012 Volkswagen Eos.

Steering; Air Bags; Unknown or Other

ODI #11725901

Incident: March 14, 2026 · Filed: March 20, 2026

My airbag light came on my 2012 EOS and Vw dealer said it was a Clock Spring part issue causing it part number (5K0-953-569-AL) I mentioned this is a safety issue as it also disabled my horn on steering wheel and was pretty sure VW had a recall/bulletin or campaign on this issue. Appears for some odd reason VW didn’t have my vin [XXX] listed or flagged which I believe is a clear mistake. I am escalating this situation with VW and now here as my vehicle is having this same problem and needs listed as well. I strongly feel vw should replace the defective part 5K0-953-569-AL as part of an unidentified vin or vehicle they seem to pick and choose and that isn’t right. VOLKSWAGEN RECALL # 69L2 NHTSA CAMPAIGN # 15V483000 I am not driving it right now as not safe and feel Vw needs to step up and do what is right as exempting vehicles by vin or whatever is not taking proper responsibility for the defects known. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Electrical System; Air Bags; Unknown or Other

ODI #11645817

Crash 1 injury

Incident: February 21, 2025 · Filed: March 2, 2025

In an accident I was struck by another vehicle that swerved into my lane at a very high rate of speed. His vehicle struck my car on the drivers side front quater panel just after the head light and continued past the drivers door. Air bags failed to deploy causing injuries to my head and body. In a separate accident, head on collision the airbags failed in the front and side causing bodily injuries. The failure of the air bags to deploy was supposed to fixed in Nov 2022 at the VW dealership with the clock spring recall . I did have that replaced so why did mine fail not once but twice after the clock spring was replaced?

Seats

ODI #11640042

Fire

Incident: January 30, 2025 · Filed: February 1, 2025

While driving, turned seat heater on, it overheated enough to burn the seat and my coat. No noticeable fire.

Seats

ODI #11636020

Incident: January 14, 2025 · Filed: January 15, 2025

Due to the cold weather I turned on the driver heated seat. I suddenly started feeling it extremely hot, I was wearing a quilted sweater. When I arrived at my work a coworker noticed that my sweater was burned from the back, it had a hole. Then I saw that the seat was burnt due to the extreme heat, the seat melted, it had three small holes and one bigger. I am just concerned that my car could’ve burned while I was driving, due to the malfunction of the heated seats.

Power Train

ODI #11591236

Incident: May 28, 2024 · Filed: May 29, 2024

My car goes into a false neutral and shifts out of gear while driving. The "PRNDS" indicator on dash had a blinking "D" alternating with a wrench. I have to come to a complete stop turn the car off and right back on and it goes away for about 5-10 minutes only to reoccur. This started happening when weather became hot, and only occurs after driving for an hour or more. Only when hot outside. I performed transmission fluid service with no resolve. There was no debris in the old fluid to indicate mechanical issues. I also get error code P2711- "unexpected mechanical failure". This has almost caused me to wreck several times putting my life and others at risk until I turn car off and immediatly restart engine which allows normal operation for a few minutes. It doesn't operate normally until car cools down. My engine is not overheating. My transmission fluid, and coolant services are current. NHTSA safety recall 09V333000 addressed this exact same issue on 20 August 2009 but it only covers model years 2009 and 2010. This is still a well known problem for the VW DSG transmission experienced by many others. VW said that they couldn't help me even though it's the same issue because my car is a 2012, and it only covers 2009-2010? I am a Disabled Veteran with a heart condition and can't afford to be on the side of the road in the heat without severe health issues.

Suspension

ODI #11483144

Incident: September 3, 2022 · Filed: September 6, 2022

The vehicle has 37444 miles on it and the front driver side coil spring was laying broken off partially by the front wheel well when I went to move vehicles around (The vehicle was sitting, not driving when the coil broke, which really is curious). I reported the issue to VW customer care tonight (9/6/22) and they said that it was outside of warranty-Essentially nothing they could do. The complaint number is 05384519, and the rep I spoke with is named Tara. This is not something that should happen with a front coil spring (maybe sagging at 100k+) and seems indicative of bad heat treat. There are other complaints filed with NHTSA regarding this same issue on VWs of the same era. If this had happened while driving, it could’ve caused a catastrophic failure and a pretty significant accident if the tire was hit.

Structure

ODI #11449887

Incident: February 1, 2022 · Filed: February 2, 2022

While my wife was exiting off of I-75 approaching the traffic light to turn left, the sun roof exploded into pieces. Large and small pieces of glass were scattered throughout the car. The approximate speed was 40 MPH. Luckily she was not hurt or got any glass in her eyes. My name is [XXX] (Husband) and cell phone # is [XXX]. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

Engine

ODI #11447593

Fire

Incident: January 14, 2022 · Filed: January 15, 2022

The motor abruptly shut off while driving. Within 20 seconds the inside of the car filled with smoke and shortly thereafter there were visible flames seen through the front grill. Fire spread and fully engulfed the car. Flames extended 20 feet. Fire dept and police responded. The vehicle was a total loss.

Electrical System; Exterior Lighting; Engine

ODI #11429778

Incident: August 1, 2021 · Filed: August 19, 2021

00927 - Terminal 30 (Right) 011 - Open Circuit 01516 - Terminal 30; Left 011 - Open Circuit - Intermittent I believe this is a major fire hazard and also will leave you stranded. Based on the codes and physical condition of the issue apparently many other people have had the same problem. http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/00927_-_Terminal_30_(Right) The noticeable thing is the A/C turns off and once the car is turned off you will not be able to lock the doors or turn the car back on.

Suspension

ODI #11417393

Incident: May 15, 2021 · Filed: May 17, 2021

Broken front coil spring. It is available for inspection Broken spring can dislodge potentially causing a tire rupture and steering issue Also occurred on my other previously owned 2012 VW Eos where both front coil springs broke within 6 mo. of each other. That vehicle had around 60K miles. No No

Other Volkswagen Eos model years

Check your 2012 Volkswagen Eos VIN

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