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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2013 Volkswagen Jetta — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 517 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

517

Complaints

filed with NHTSA

Involved a Crash

owner-reported

Involved Fire

owner-reported

Injuries

across all reports

Years to Avoid

Volkswagen Jetta — Complaints by Model Year

Years flagged AVOID have at least twice this model's average complaint count — the strongest public-data signal of a bad year.

2010 Volkswagen Jetta AVOID

875 complaints

2011 Volkswagen Jetta

640 complaints

2012 Volkswagen Jetta

527 complaints

2013 Volkswagen Jetta

517 complaints

2014 Volkswagen Jetta

386 complaints

2015 Volkswagen Jetta

194 complaints

2016 Volkswagen Jetta

161 complaints

2017 Volkswagen Jetta

159 complaints

2018 Volkswagen Jetta

31 complaints

2019 Volkswagen Jetta

549 complaints

2020 Volkswagen Jetta

53 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Electrical System 148 reports

Power Train 141 reports

Engine 112 reports

Unknown Or Other 98 reports

Steering 37 reports

Fuel/propulsion System 34 reports

Air Bags 31 reports

Service Brakes 22 reports

In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Engine ODI 11445570 12/30/2021

My vehicle was not included in several recalls (e.g. 36F6/4V and 34J6) that were made for identical cars (2013-2015 Jetta Hybrid). As result, the transmission is approaching its end of life (I was quoted $9600 + tax for the replacement). I called VW customer service and they could not offer a reason why some cars are not recalled; they just tried to spin it. The transmission…

Power Train ODI 11292111 12/30/2019

CAR WOULD SLIP/STALL WHEN ACCELERATING FROM A DEAD STOP. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. THEN CAR WOULD NOT START. DEALERSHIP SAID IT NEEDS A NEW TRANSMISSION ASSEMBLY.

Power Train ODI 11164145 12/30/2018

SUDDEN LOSS OF ACCELERATION POWER AT ANY SPEED WITHOUT WARNING. ON FREEWAY MUST ROLL TO A STOP. NO ENGINE LIGHTS ON. MECHANIC UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE PROBLEM, CAR IS NOT GIVING A TROUBLE CODE. ISSUE OCCURS WHEN VEHICLE IS COLD OR HOT AT A STOP OR MOVING. IT'S BEEN OCCURRING TWICE A WEEK NOW FOR THE PAST TWO WEEKS. I'VE NOTICED SIMILAR COMPLAINTS FROM OTHER OWNERS ON AUTOMOBILE FOR…

Engine ODI 11445452 12/29/2021

Transmission is about to fail: at ODO 98800 the CEL indicates code P177B - Clutch Tolerance limit reached. The DSG transmission mechatronic unit was changed at ODO 46734 because the engine was loosing power. Volkswagen's has a recent recall 34J6 for this problem and vehicle type, but mine is not included in the recall.

Electrical System ODI 11163988 12/29/2018

MY CAR WHILE ON THE BUSY INTERSTATE SUDDENLY LOST POWER. IT WAS RUNNING BUT PUSHING THE GAS PEDAL DID NOTHING. I WAS ABLE TO GET IT TO THE SHOULDER. I SHUT THE CAR OFF, WAITED 5 MIN, & TURNED IT BACK ON. THE EPC LIGHT WAS ON. I WAS ABLE TO THEN MANEUVER SLOWLY TO A NEARBY TRUCK STOP TO CALL FOR A TOW. THE CAR SURGED THE WHOLE TIME. 1 WEEK LATER THE VW DEALERSHIP SAYS ENGIN…

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

Check Another Car

Problems Checker

Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.

Questions

FAQ

Is the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta reliable?

Owners have filed 517 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta, most often about electrical system. Compare the complaint counts across model years above — a year with far more complaints than the model's average is the strongest 'avoid' signal in public data.

Which Volkswagen Jetta years should I avoid?

The rule of thumb used by analysts: a model year whose complaint count is well above the model's own average (we flag 2× or more) usually had a real manufacturing or design problem — not just noisy reporting. Use the year-by-year strip on this page.

Where do these complaints come from?

Directly from NHTSA, the US government road-safety agency. Any owner can file a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire; NHTSA publishes them as public domain data. We cache each lookup for up to 7 days.

Do complaints mean a recall is coming?

Sometimes. NHTSA opens defect investigations when complaint patterns emerge, and investigations can end in recalls. Check the recalls page for this vehicle to see what has already been recalled.