Reliability & cost of ownership
Volkswagen Passat Reliability & Common Problems
How reliable is the Volkswagen Passat? Compare every model year side by side — NHTSA recalls, owner complaints, and crash-test stars — then open the year you're shopping for a full reliability and repair-cost forecast.
Volkswagen Passat problems by model year
126 recall entries and 7628 owner complaints on file across 28 model years, sourced from the federal NHTSA database.
Most-complained-about components
Owner complaints filed with NHTSA against the Volkswagen Passat, grouped by the component each complaint names — the fastest read on where this model gives trouble.
- air bags1653 complaints
- electrical system1170 complaints
- service brakes929 complaints
- engine and engine cooling852 complaints
- engine642 complaints
- hydraulic612 complaints
- steering562 complaints
- fuel system506 complaints