2004 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 274 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (66 complaints · 24.1%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 9
  • Fires 25
  • Injuries 23
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2003 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution ENGINE appears in 66 of 274 owner complaints (24.1%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 66 complaints, 24.1% of reports ENGINE 66 · 24.1% · 7 fire reports FUEL SYSTEM: 53 complaints, 19.3% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 53 · 19.3% · 1 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 34 complaints, 12.4% of reports POWER TRAIN 34 · 12.4% · 1 crash reports STRUCTURE: 14 complaints, 5.1% of reports STRUCTURE 14 · 5.1% · 1 fire reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 13 complaints, 4.7% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 13 · 4.7% · 2 crash reports VISIBILITY: 11 complaints, 4.0% of reports VISIBILITY 11 · 4.0% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 10 complaints, 3.7% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 10 · 3.7% · 4 fire reports SERVICE BRAKES: 9 complaints, 3.3% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 9 · 3.3% · 1 crash reports AIR BAGS: 7 complaints, 2.6% of reports AIR BAGS 7 · 2.6% · 4 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 167 complaints, 61.0% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 167 · 61.0% · 7 crash reports 17 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
ENGINE 66 24.1% 0 crashes · 7 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 53 19.3% 0 crashes · 1 fires
POWER TRAIN 34 12.4% 1 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 14 5.1% 0 crashes · 1 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 13 4.7% 2 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 11 4.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 10 3.7% 0 crashes · 4 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 9 3.3% 1 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 7 2.6% 4 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 167 61.0% 7 crashes · 17 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 2004. 2004-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2004-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 2004-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2004-Q4: 9 owner reports 9 2005-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2005-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2005-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2006-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2006-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2006-Q4: 10 owner reports 10 2007-Q1: 11 owner reports 11 2007-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2007-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2007-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 2008-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2008-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2008-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 2008-Q4: 10 owner reports 10 2009-Q1: 15 owner reports 15 2009-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2009-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2009-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2010-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2010-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2010-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2010-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2011-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2011-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2011-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2011-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2012-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2012-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2012-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2013-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2013-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2014-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2014-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2014-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2014-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2015-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2015-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2015-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2016-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2017-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2018-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2018-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2021-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2025-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2025-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 2004 Jul 2025 Investigation EA07014 ● Investigation EA07014 Investigation PE08008 ● Investigation PE08008 Investigation EA11002 ● Investigation EA11002
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2004-Q1 Owner reports 7
2004-Q2 Owner reports 10
2004-Q3 Owner reports 7
2004-Q4 Owner reports 9
2005-Q1 Owner reports 6
2005-Q2 Owner reports 5
2005-Q3 Owner reports 3
2005-Q4 Owner reports 5
2006-Q1 Owner reports 2
2006-Q2 Owner reports 3
2006-Q3 Owner reports 5
2006-Q4 Owner reports 10
2007-Q1 Owner reports 11
2007-Q2 Owner reports 5
2007-Q3 Owner reports 6
2007-Q4 Owner reports 7
2008-Q1 Owner reports 8
2008-Q2 Owner reports 3
2008-Q3 Owner reports 9
2008-Q4 Owner reports 10
2009-Q1 Owner reports 15
2009-Q2 Owner reports 5
2009-Q3 Owner reports 5
2009-Q4 Owner reports 5
2010-Q1 Owner reports 7
2010-Q2 Owner reports 6
2010-Q3 Owner reports 5
2010-Q4 Owner reports 8
2011-Q1 Owner reports 7
2011-Q2 Owner reports 2
2011-Q3 Owner reports 3
2011-Q4 Owner reports 2
2012-Q1 Owner reports 3
2012-Q2 Owner reports 2
2012-Q3 Owner reports 1
2012-Q4 Owner reports 2
2013-Q1 Owner reports 4
2013-Q2 Owner reports 1
2013-Q3 Owner reports 3
2013-Q4 Owner reports 4
2014-Q1 Owner reports 5
2014-Q2 Owner reports 4
2014-Q3 Owner reports 7
2014-Q4 Owner reports 2
2015-Q1 Owner reports 3
2015-Q3 Owner reports 3
2015-Q4 Owner reports 1
2016-Q1 Owner reports 3
2016-Q2 Owner reports 1
2016-Q3 Owner reports 2
2016-Q4 Owner reports 1
2017-Q1 Owner reports 1
2017-Q2 Owner reports 2
2017-Q4 Owner reports 1
2018-Q2 Owner reports 5
2018-Q3 Owner reports 2
2018-Q4 Owner reports 1
2019-Q3 Owner reports 1
2019-Q4 Owner reports 1
2020-Q1 Owner reports 1
2020-Q4 Owner reports 1
2021-Q1 Owner reports 2
2021-Q3 Owner reports 1
2025-Q2 Owner reports 1
2025-Q3 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 EA07014
Defect investigation 1 PE08008
Defect investigation 1 EA11002
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA records.

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 274 complaints · page 1 of 11

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources