Table 1 shows one common seat belt related problems of the 2015 Volkswagen Passat.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Seat Belt problems |
I purchased this car from what I believed was a private individual for my 15 year old daughter as her first car. This individual knew the purpose of this sale and was accutely aware that a new driver would be the primary driver. Before allowing her to drive this car, I had a detailed safety and condition inspection completed by a local import repair specialist. They found that there had been a deployment of the air bags resulting in the clock spring and front seat belt retractors being unusable. In addition, the air bag warning light had been removed from the instrument cluster and the bulb was removed, disguising the fact that there was an issue with the air bags. Further inspection showed overspray on one headlight lens from the repairs, the ac condenser was bent upwards, none of the splash shields under the front were intact or completely missing, body panels do not line up, and there is an issue with the front brakes. It is the opinion of the inspector and the business owner that this car had been reconditioned for a quick sale, intentionally hiding the fact the air bags had been deployed and the air bag system was rendered unusable. The carfax shows minor damage to the rear and left rear, nothing about front end. The title reflects this car was at adesa in jacksonville FL (a car reconditioner) and sold to nes enterprises of jacksonville, then sold to performance motor group, who sold it to me, all between 9/22/2022 and 10/31/2023. The individual I was dealing with was not involved in this sale.
Airbag warning light remains illuminated and warning chime constantly rings. This is at approximately 53,000 miles. When vehicle turned on light came on and has remained on.
Seatlbelt warning light and indicator sound off (alarm or beeping sound with light) without cause. It's the same sounds as though you're not wearing a seatbelt. Happens while driving intermittently.
Volkwagen passenger seat registers a passenger occupying the seat when a cell phone is placed on the middle part of the seat. Vw regional manager and authorized dealer state car is not showing fault codes, and therefore cannot be repaired. This creates a number of concerns. First, is the seat belt sensor so sensitive that it is sensing the small weight of the phone? (5. 04 ounces (143 grams)) or is the nfc or cellular modem of the phone interfering with the sensor? in either case, this potentially could cause an airbag to deploy when the seat is unoccupied, or worse, not deploy when it should.