general problems of the 2016 Volkswagen Passat

Air bag error light is on and steering wheel controls/horn are inoperable. Cause is most likely a clock spring failure as has been reported in numerous vw vehicle models including the 2016 vw Passat but the current recall 69l2 doesn’t appear to cover our vehicle. With recall problems on numerous other vehicles, it is hard to believe this isn’t caused by the same issue. Repair cost is estimated at $900 for an item that should be covered by vw.

I own a 2016 vw Passat that I'm thinking of painting yellow and I don't like yellow. I was driving going about 75 mph on freeway in idaho and a truck from the slow lane started merging over into my lane I went to hit horn and it didn't work. I hit my brakes and I mean hard because he obviously didn't see me and he merged over into my lane but had I not braked as hard and when I did it would of been a collision. That's how I discovered my horn didn't work. I'm not a person who pulls up to someones house and taps the horn nor do I use it if someone is sitting at an intersection after the light turns green as if to say, "come on, pay attention, the light's green, now go" I don't like to do that because it makes everyone look and can cause confusion. I use it to prevent an accident! my clock spring went out on me a year ago. I'm told that's why horn doesn't work. Its also why my airbag light is on and my cruise doesn't work (which may not be a safety issue but I have found myself driving much over speed limit without trying to) and none of my driver assist features work. All controls connected to steering wheel don't work. I'm assuming since the light is on neither does the airbag and I know the horn doesn't. I see there have been recalls on this but looks like they drew the line at 2014. Checking into it further a lot of their cars, newer than 2014, like mine a 2016 have had same issue. I also see that the ones that were taken in for recall and replaced, broke again. I read that that led to an investigation. I don't see any more info. I learned that clock springs are supposed to last the lifetime of the car, so shouldn't there be a recall on the newer cars too, like mine 2016? I'm not impressed with vw, this is my 2nd one and will be my last. I now have to get a new water pump at 70k. I really would like to see a recall on clock springs and would like to know what the conclusion to the investigation was. Thanks, [xxx] [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foi.

I believe my clockspring has malfuncioned and though it has had multiple recalls my car is not listed for recall. My horn is no longer working, as well as all the buttons in my steering wheel including cruise control and my airbag light is on. This is all directly correlated to a clockspring malfunction and I believe my vehicle should be recalled for saftey reasons.

Steering column makes noises when turning. Airbag light is on and the none of the steering wheel controls for the radio, phone etc are functioning properly. This is my college age daughter’s car and I fear the airbag won’t deploy in the event she was in a collision.

On turning my car on my airbag light came on and non of the buttons worked on my steering wheel. Later that afternoon as someone all most backed up into my car I tried to hit my horn but it did not work. After finally returning home I ran the code stating the airbag resistance was too high. This puts a huge safety to myself and anyone who can be in my car because I have no horn and my airbag is malfunctioning.

Steering wheel clock spring failure which faults steering wheel controls, air bag and horn. Key safety features failed!.

Driver airbag warning came on. Lost use of all controls on steering wheel. Probable clockspring failure.

I started my vehicle and the airbag light was on. Also the adaptive cruise control warning light was on and none of my steering wheel controls work. Not even the horn works. This is a huge safety issue that Volkswagen is aware of based on a past recall. There are no open recalls for my vehicle for this problem but there should be! I cannot even drive my car now because it’s not safe with no working horn or airbag! I researched online what the problem could be and several Volkswagen owners have the exact same issue. Apparently it’s the clock spring? I am not aware of Volkswagen offering to fix this major issue for their customers.

The clockspring has broken 3 times since purchasing the car brand new in 2016. An extended warranty was given. However, due to all the driving I do the warranty did not cover my car as I was already past the miles once the extended warranty came out.

On October 3rd, 2021 the minder to change oil service came on and a wrench in the display. As the mechanic had set the incorrect timing interval between services, I went into the menu to attempt to reset the service minder but never got that far as the airbag light came on and all buttons on the steering wheel stopped responding. My husband in the passenger seat instructed me to restart the car and this did not reset any warnings but also showed the acc: error, in the display alternating with the airbag: error. The dealership wants $ 165 just to plug in the diagnostic reader and won't apply it to a repair and says this car has no open recalls which I am aware of. However, there was an airbag recall including the 2015 year build Passat, but the dealership wants payment to diagnose. When the car is stirred to make a 90 degree left hand turn I can hear a coil in the steering wheel cracking at times. Frequently, the airbag light for the passenger scale stays on but may go out if someone goes to sit in the passenger seat. All seat belts are unlocked at the top, and the receivers for the buckles look fine and nothing is stuck in them. I have not yet lifted the seats to inspect the harnesses but I doubt I will be able to fix anything as I cannot reset the codes anyhow. Not being able to change the information on the instrument panel from useless error messages is distracting. Tell vw to read an airbag fault light for free! this is a safety concern for every passenger and should not be taken advantage of to make a service department money. How can I find out if this model was added to the air bag recalls or is in the process of being added? Honda has a lifetime warranty service for free on all safety restraints. I am surprised that vw does not make safety their highest priority. I'm not certain the forward collision warning is affected but the lanes blink orange showing me the acc is not responsive and it's close enough in function to mention just in case it may not work.

I started my car and it showed up with “airbag error” I then turned off my car and started it again and something along the lines of “front lane assist error” showed up, there was also a clicking noise from my steering wheel anytime I would turn the wheel, the car also was “breakchecking” me (aggressively breaking when barely any pressure applied) when I was trying to drive home and the digital speedometer is no longer showing up on my dash board. I was only able to get a picture of the “airbag error” message.

I was driving my car on surface streets and when making turns I started to hear clicking noises. Next time I turned on my car and went to pull out, an airbag warning appeared as well as the symbol, and I lost all use of my steering wheel controls as well as my horn. It seems to be a faulty clock spring which is a reported problem that has been investigated but not with my 2016. The car is only 5 years old and shouldn't be having these issues that I have to repair out of pocket.

Vw repaired clock spring (a recall) after airbag warning, steering wheel controls stopped working. Vw returned the vehicle to me, the customer, with the clock spring supposedly repaired yet steering wheel buttons, including cruise control and others, remained broken and unusable. Vw wanted several hundred dollars to fix this, despite the issue obviously being directly related to the clock spring as all buttons were in working order prior to the clock spring issue. (dates below may not be entirely accurate as this happened several years ago and still has not been repaired, however I was unaware I could file a report here).

Steering wheel began to click when turning any direction mid-trip. Vehicle was in motion and had been in motion for approx 30 minutes when issue began. All steering wheel buttons, including cruise control, no longer worked. Air bag malfunction light illuminated. Dealer stated clock spring had malfunctioned, issue was repaired. Noted that cruise control buttons continued to malfunction post-repair dealer claims �coincidence� with malfunction, putting cost on customer to repair. .

There was a recall on the clock spring. I brought it in for service and it got replaced 10/7/15. It snapped again 5 months later was replaced 3/8/16. It snapped again 6 months later. Now volkwagon offers a 12,000 mile 12 year warranty on parts. I bright the vehicle in 10/18/16 and they told me it wasn't covered under warranty. This is a major safety issue seeing that it controls my horn and will not let my airbag deploy. I have contacted vw headquarters several times concerning this on going issue. They replaced the part under a �goodwill� which it should've been replaced under the recall & the warranty.