general problems of the 2012 Volkswagen Passat - part 1

We would have been in a life threating situation (very cold) if we would have not walked down highway to get internet service to look up the issue. What happened. We drove up from phoenix to the mountains in arizona. When starting the car after a stop (to look at a heard of elk in a pasture) the car would not start. It would briefly start for a second then die. The dash lit up with many errors. We were stranded with no cell phone service with night approaching. We walked down the road and got cell service again and called family. Found out from online video while waiting for family to arrive you could disconnect the battery and reconnect to get the car started. We did this and it worked but engine light still was on. Car would not start again next morning and dash lit up. We would have been in a really bad situation (very cold) if we would have not walked down highway to get internet service to look up the issue. More internet research shows thousands of people have this problem.

Volkswagen Passat 2012 Passat key won't go into ignition - trying to fit my key into ignition will not go in and or turn https://www. Cargurus. Com/cars/discussion-t55350_ds761427 www. Cargurus. Com removing the plastic steering wheel shroud, (t25 x3) then remove vw ignition switch, black plastic piece under spring pressure needs to come out, this piece is the piece that pushes the white plastic piece infront of the key. When this is removed, re-assemble. This same problem plagued my wife’s car, and me as I was dispatched to rescue her. There is a chance replacing all of this with new might fix the issue but removing the un-needed part accomplishes the same end goal, reliability for no cost, and no spray into ignition. Https://m. Youtube. . Read more...

Any time it rains and the car goes through a deeper than surface level puddle/wet area where the nose of the car has to dip down (think by railroad tracks, high water retention areas with lack of drainage, etc) as soon as the car dips down into the water, the steering wheel will lock up and I am unable to turn. It's severely dangerous as there is no give at all to the wheel as it is solidly locked and if you happen to be taking a curve or changing lanes etc, you will not be able to turn the car. My husband and myself have narrowly escaped severe car accidents as this is random and there is nothing you can do except try to force the wheel to turn. When I say the wheel is locked, it's a good 15-20 seconds of desperation trying to turn the wheel before it finally unlocks and I am able to correct the direction of the car. Living in FL with high rainfall chances, including sporadic downpours that unfortunately leave situations like this to occur often, it is a severe safety risk for myself and for other drivers. I have been lucky so far that when this has occurred I have been able to eventually correct the steering, however there have been several severe near misses that are completely out of my control. Please help find a solution, as there doesn't seem to be a fix for this anywhere that I've looked. I do not want to spend money I don't have taking it from dealership to dealership for them to be just as stumped as we are. I have two young kids and not only do I not feel safe letting them in the car, I seriously dread any time it rains because of this issue. I'm not talking about driving through deep bodies of water, but normal rainy weather situations on everyday roads that are otherwise uneventful. Unfortunately I am in an area where water seems to gather quite a bit on the everyday roads I need for work and this situation is truly unavoidable. I put one date below as when it occurred, but it has happened several times in the last week alone due to heavy rains.

The electrical system failed. It has been to numerous mechanics many refusing to do the work. The car cuts off while driving randomly. When ignition is turned off and then turned back on car starts again. No light on dash alternator ecu fuel pump fuses all replaced in effort to try to find the issue with no avail. Car cuts off in mid traffic and then stalls . This is life threatening and should be addressed . No mechanic wants to work on this particular year and model car. Car has been inspected by Volkswagen dealer. No warning lights sounds or dashboard notifications.

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?).

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?.

Lost power reconnect batter n steering locked.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I was driving this particular day through a busyfour way stoplight intersection around time school was dismissing so 3:30ish pm. And I lost all power to my vehicle with just the battery light flashing once. I barely made it out of the I intersection and to the shoulder of the road as there was no power steering and I had to pump my breaks to stop. I called the local police and let them know it would be towed tomorrow morning. The tow bill was 100 dollars and I had replaced the battery thinking it was the problem. The brand new battery drained in two minutes tops after install alternator was tested and fuses were in working order all except for one that went to my12 volt charging port which was replaced as well as serpentine belt was replaced with alternator test. The battery still drains instantly and when speaking with volkswagon suntrup in sunset hills st. Louis which is the nearest Volkswagen dealership about 30 minute drive my car still is under a dealership warranty for the national emissions recall that was just fixed after I purchased the vehicle. The dealership refuses to come get/ fix/ diagnose or rectify vehicle although admitting to knowing this year has parasitic draws instally killing a brand new battery even while driving was/is a very dangerous situation for me and my family. This car has been sitting in my drive way now for 6 months while nothing is being by vw and I am without safe or working transportation for my family. Ive also been told by vw. That they cant find some parasitic draws and are confused as me!.

Tl the contact owns a 2012 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated while driving 76 mph, the check engine warning light and exhaust fluid warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the failure persisted for over a year. An error code stated vehicle shut-off at 200 miles was on the instrument panel however, the vehicle did not shut-off. The contact took the vehicle to overturf Volkswagen kia (1016 west columbia drive, kennewick, wa 99336, (509-586-3185) however, the mechanic was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The dealer replaced the knock sensor and catalytic converter however, the failure persisted. The manufacture was notified of the failure but provided no additional assistance. The failure mileage was 76,000.

Door lock actuator breaks without the operator realizing it, resulting in a threat to the safety of the operator and security of the vehicle. The only way to diagnose the issue is using vw code scanners, otherwise, there are no obvious traits to an unsuspecting owner that the door locks are inoperative. Vw dealer near by estimates the repair at $400 and regularly keeps the part in stock due to this issue.

When I was driving on the fwy my airbag light came on and my door lock are keep going off as if im hiting the lock button.

Steering wheel had a slight tug and a noise. Lost all functions on steering wheel. Was on a country rd. Took it to a vw mechanic in quincy PA on sept 4 2020. They said the clock spring broke and there was a recall on it. I looked it up and recall number 15v483000 came up. It was already fixed evidently. I guess I should not have it done now it is costing 800 dollars.

My 2012 vw Passat will randomly turn off while parked & while waiting at stop lights without any warning. Usually this happens while the vehicle is stationary, but once it has happened when I started to move when the stop light turned to green.

My vehicle will not turn off once started. The steering wheel lock and the ignition become stuck and I can no longer turn my car off. Since my car can't turn off, it will be on for hours on end until the gas runs out or until I get someone to cut the battery to make the car stop running. I had to leave my car in a parking lot because I was affraid to take it anywhere and not be able to turn my car off for hours on end. I feel I am not able to use my vehicle. The vehicle has less than 100,000 miles and is not even 10 years old. I feel the vehicle is unsafe to use.

Clock spring malfunction. We had the clock spring cover installed due to recall, but the clock spring is now inoperative which causes loss of drivers airbag functionality and steering wheel electronic controls. The vehicle was being driven when the airbag light came on and the electronic controls failed to work.

The epc light keeps flashing and everytime the car is taken to the vw dealership the replace part but the problem remains. When this happens the car looses power and it stals. Sometimes it would shut off without warning and that could be very dangerous.

Airbag warning light comes on dash when driving. It appears to only come on while driving on the highway at over 50 mph. I have had current takata recall warranty work completed already. Volkswagen said this is a separate issue and would not cover under recall warranty. Specifically, they said the air bags will not deploy while this warning light is on if involved in an accident.

Got a recall on clock spring in 2016 had it repaired. Went out and light is now on. Told I have to replace the whole clock spring for over $500. I was told it happens, but I just saw that there is an investigation. Dealer told me that I am responsible.

Had a clockspring failure in 2012 Passat, causing air bag warning light, and failure of all steering wheel controls. Have noted recall for this item for cars produced just prior to mine based on VIN sequence. Vw apparently did not correct the issue in production because I have had the exact issue covered in the recall, yet my car is not covered. Cost was over $600 for repair. The recall should be expanded based on these failures and what I have seen on repeat failures after the recall was done on many cars. It should be obvious that their initial fix is not a true fix for the issue.

I was part of a recall to replace the clock spring on the steering wheel. I did not have a problem before, now about three month after we had it done the steering wheel electronics do not work and the airbag light is on. Also about the same time as the previous problems started I noticed the air is not blowing as much on the passenger side. It is also blowing cold when we are calling for heat.

Clock spring failure again after recall was done.

Clock spring broke again on 2012 Passat, vw refuses to fix stating it was out of the spare part warranty when the first recall was completed. Air bag light is on, steering wheel controls do not work, and front driver airbag probably won't go if I am in a crash. Vw is putting my life at risk because they do not want to foot the bill for a bad part in their vehicles.

Twice the clock spring has broken and had to be replaced. My vehicle was not identified under the 2015 clock spring recall. I bought the vehicle new, first replacement at approx 60,000 miles in December 2014, second replacement at 119,000 miles today. The vehicle is less than 6 years old. 5 times (including clock spring repair) I have taken the vehicle in for repair due to warning light indicators.

Defective door latch assembly that caused the locks to initiate every time the vehicle passed 10 mph. Caused the driver door to no longer lock, and disengaged the alarm even when other doors locked.

Door lock actuators fail to lock car doors. Have had to replace 3 door lock actuators on a 2012 vw Passat over approximately 4 years. There is no option to lock the door with a key or manually from within car. The door does not lock when using key fob or lock switch. The car alarm does not go off when door is opened after the car has been locked with fob. When driving the car, after every stop, the doors try to lock again when car moves. Safety issue that door is not locked when driving and also safety issue cannot lock car to keep people and property safe from someone outside. .

Key gets stuck in ignition when turning off the engine.

Electronic locks are constantly trying to re-lock when vehicle reaches about 10 mph. For example, if bringing vehicle to a stop at a street light or stop sign, then proceeding forward, the locks will try to re-lock again once vehicle reaches about 10 mph. If you are in stop and go traffic, this can go on literally hundreds of times during a single commute.

First the glow plugs were bad. Within the same year I had an issue with diesel particulates and now the adblue heating element!!! all issues occurred while the car was in motion, literally felt my life was in jeopardy. However after having to come out the pocket with now thousands of dollars I feel like the company is raping me!!!.

If the vehicle is parked and I am trying to leave and lock it up by using either the drivers side door switch or the remote, it will not lock the driver side door, but they will both lock the other three doors. Upon starting the vehicle and moving only a few yards, the door locks engage as normal for the passenger side door and both rear side doors. But not the driver side door. When driving down the road and slowing down to 5 - 10 mph (stop & go traffic), all three other door locks opened on their own and relocked again as I speeded up. The driver side door still remained unlocked. I feel this can be an extreme safety hazard in case of an accident if all the doors don't remain lock while the vehicle is moving.

I was parking my car in a space at a local shopping center, as I was about 18-24 inches from the median separating the cars in the row across from me, my car started revving up, jumped the median sideswiped a car that was parked one space over, I was lucky there was not a car opposite me, in that row and was headed towards a the next row of cars. I swiftly the brakes did not stop the car, so I had to quickly jerk the wheel to the left, it stopped 90 degree angle and cut off. I have since been informed that just repaired a Chrysler car that did something similar. That car and mine have a drive - by - wire design. Chrysler has recalled their cars to reprogram them. I contacted my vw dealer and of course they have not heard about this problem before. I am just I only hit a car and not a person walking in the parking lot! why is that someone has to die before these car companies will recall a vehicle?.

My 13 Passat se 2. 5 started having an issue with the rear passenger door lock about three weeks ago. The normal operation of the locks is that when the vehicle hits 10mph the door will automatically lock. After this has happened and I come to a stop light or slow down below 10mph and then speed up again, the rear passenger lock tries to lock itself again.