2009 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 145 complaints · 0 recalls

Verdict & Safety Summary

Most-reported system: FUEL SYSTEM (44 complaints · 30.3%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 5
  • Fires 12
  • Injuries 2
  • Deaths 0
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 FUEL SYSTEM appears in 44 of 145 owner complaints (30.3%) in this vehicle snapshot. FUEL SYSTEM: 44 complaints, 30.3% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 44 · 30.3% · 2 crash reports ENGINE: 40 complaints, 27.6% of reports ENGINE 40 · 27.6% · 7 fire reports STEERING: 17 complaints, 11.7% of reports STEERING 17 · 11.7% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 9 complaints, 6.2% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 9 · 6.2% · 3 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 8 complaints, 5.5% of reports POWER TRAIN 8 · 5.5% · 1 fire reports AIR BAGS: 7 complaints, 4.8% of reports AIR BAGS 7 · 4.8% · 2 crash reports SUSPENSION: 4 complaints, 2.8% of reports SUSPENSION 4 · 2.8% SERVICE BRAKES: 2 complaints, 1.4% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 2 · 1.4% · 1 crash reports SEAT BELTS: 1 complaints, 0.7% of reports SEAT BELTS 1 · 0.7% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 19 complaints, 13.1% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 19 · 13.1% · 1 crash reports 1 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)
FUEL SYSTEM 44 30.3% 2 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 40 27.6% 0 crashes · 7 fires
STEERING 17 11.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 9 6.2% 0 crashes · 3 fires
POWER TRAIN 8 5.5% 0 crashes · 1 fires
AIR BAGS 7 4.8% 2 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 4 2.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 2 1.4% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 1 0.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 19 13.1% 1 crashes · 1 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 2009. 2009-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2010-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2012-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2012-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2013-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2014-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2014-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2014-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2015-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2015-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2015-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2015-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2016-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2016-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2017-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2017-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2017-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2017-Q4: 14 owner reports 14 2018-Q1: 13 owner reports 13 2018-Q2: 15 owner reports 15 2018-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2018-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2019-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2019-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2019-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2019-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2020-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2020-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2020-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2022-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2022-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2024-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2025-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 Owner reports Jan 2009 Apr 2025 Investigation PE09022 ● Investigation PE09022
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2009-Q1 Owner reports 1
2009-Q3 Owner reports 1
2009-Q4 Owner reports 3
2010-Q3 Owner reports 1
2010-Q4 Owner reports 1
2011-Q1 Owner reports 1
2011-Q2 Owner reports 1
2011-Q3 Owner reports 2
2012-Q2 Owner reports 4
2012-Q3 Owner reports 1
2013-Q1 Owner reports 2
2013-Q2 Owner reports 3
2013-Q3 Owner reports 2
2013-Q4 Owner reports 2
2014-Q1 Owner reports 1
2014-Q2 Owner reports 4
2014-Q3 Owner reports 3
2014-Q4 Owner reports 2
2015-Q1 Owner reports 5
2015-Q2 Owner reports 2
2015-Q3 Owner reports 3
2015-Q4 Owner reports 1
2016-Q1 Owner reports 2
2016-Q2 Owner reports 4
2016-Q3 Owner reports 3
2016-Q4 Owner reports 2
2017-Q1 Owner reports 3
2017-Q2 Owner reports 3
2017-Q3 Owner reports 4
2017-Q4 Owner reports 14
2018-Q1 Owner reports 13
2018-Q2 Owner reports 15
2018-Q3 Owner reports 7
2018-Q4 Owner reports 3
2019-Q1 Owner reports 3
2019-Q2 Owner reports 2
2019-Q3 Owner reports 3
2019-Q4 Owner reports 3
2020-Q1 Owner reports 4
2020-Q2 Owner reports 2
2020-Q3 Owner reports 1
2021-Q1 Owner reports 1
2021-Q3 Owner reports 2
2022-Q3 Owner reports 1
2022-Q4 Owner reports 1
2024-Q4 Owner reports 1
2025-Q2 Owner reports 2
Defect investigation 1 PE09022
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 145 complaints · page 1 of 6

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