Volkswagen Routan - Problems, Statistics, and Analysis

Volkswagen Routan owners have reported a total of 1,241 problems for their cars built in the 7 model years listed in the chart below. The chart shows the number of problems reported across all service years for each given model year of the Volkswagen Routan. The 2009 Volkswagen Routan cars have the most problems reported (449 problems).

Table 1. Total number of problems by model year for Volkswagen Routan

Model Year Number of Problems
  2014 Routan
2
  2013 Routan
8
  2012 Routan
114
  2011 Routan
299
  2010 Routan
366
  2009 Routan
449
  2008 Routan
3

🔍 Common problems of Volkswagen Routan

The following chart shows the 26 most common problems for Volkswagen Routan cars. The number one most common problem is related to the vehicle's electrical system (448 problems). The second most common problem is related to the vehicle's engine and engine cooling (203 problems).

Table 2. Common problems of Volkswagen Routan

Problem Category Number of Problems
  Electrical System
448
  Engine And Engine Cooling
203
  Service Brakes
101
  Steering
77
  Equipment
74
  Power Train
68
  Other Fuel System
58
  Electronic Stability Control
36
  Structure
27
  Vehicle Speed Control
26
   
  Air Bag
23
  Wheel
20
  Exterior Lighting
17
  Seats
13
  Visibility
10
  Latches/locks/linkage
10
  Suspension
8
  Tire
7
  Unknown Or Other
4
  Child Seat
2
  Gasoline Fuel System
2
  Seat Belt
2
  Traction Control System
2
  Parking Brake
1
  Air Brake
1
  Interior Lighting
1

📉 Compare Reliability Across Model Years Using PPMY Index

It would not be fair to compare the Volkswagen Routan of an older model year to newer model years since older vehicles have been in service longer and thus are expected to have more problems. In order to compare the reliability across Routan model years, we use the PPMY index which is defined as the problems reported per thousand vehicles per Year. A smaller PPMY index indicates greater reliability of the given model year cars.

    PPMY = P / S / Y * 1000,

where P = total problems reported during the life of a Volkswagen Routan model year; S = total units sold of the model year; Y = years since the debut of the model year (the age of the vehicle).

The results are shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Use PPMY Index to Compare Reliability Across Routan Model Years

Routan
Model Year
Problems Sales [1] Vehicle
Age
PPMY Index
  2014 21,24912    
0.13
  2013 81,25013    
0.49
  2012 11410,80314    
0.75
  2011 29911,76015    
1.70
  2010 36616,55816    
1.38
  2009 44918,47517    
1.43

📊 Number of Problems Reported During the First Year

Another way to measure the reliability across the model years of the Volkswagen Routan is to use the total number of problems reported during the vehicle's first year in service, as shown in the Table 4.

Table 4. Number of problems in vehicle's; first service year

Model YearProblems Reported
  2012 Routan
2
  2011 Routan
9
  2010 Routan
18
  2009 Routan
27


Routan Service Bulletins
Routan Safety Recalls
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