2012 VOLKSWAGEN ROUTAN — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 63 complaints · 1 recalls
Most-reported system: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM (18 complaints · 28.6%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 1
  • Fires 0
  • Injuries 2
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2011 →
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 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM appears in 18 of 63 owner complaints (28.6%) in this vehicle snapshot. ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 18 complaints, 28.6% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 18 · 28.6% ENGINE: 10 complaints, 15.9% of reports ENGINE 10 · 15.9% FUEL SYSTEM: 9 complaints, 14.3% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 9 · 14.3% STEERING: 6 complaints, 9.5% of reports STEERING 6 · 9.5% POWER TRAIN: 5 complaints, 7.9% of reports POWER TRAIN 5 · 7.9% AIR BAGS: 2 complaints, 3.2% of reports AIR BAGS 2 · 3.2% EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 2 complaints, 3.2% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 2 · 3.2% SERVICE BRAKES: 2 complaints, 3.2% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 2 · 3.2% SUSPENSION: 1 complaints, 1.6% of reports SUSPENSION 1 · 1.6% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 7 complaints, 11.1% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 7 · 11.1% · 1 crash 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)
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 18 28.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 10 15.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 9 14.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 6 9.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 5 7.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 2 3.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 2 3.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 2 3.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 1 1.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 7 11.1% 1 crashes · 0 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 Apr 2013; the first recall shown was reported in Apr 2012. 2013-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2015-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 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-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2018-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2018-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2018-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2019-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2019-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2019-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2020-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2020-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2020-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2021-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2021-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2022-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2022-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2023-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2023-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2024-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2024-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Apr 2012 Jul 2024 Recall campaign 12V147000 ◆ Recall campaign 12V147000
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2013-Q2 Owner reports 2
2013-Q3 Owner reports 1
2014-Q1 Owner reports 1
2014-Q2 Owner reports 1
2015-Q3 Owner reports 2
2015-Q4 Owner reports 1
2016-Q2 Owner reports 1
2016-Q3 Owner reports 2
2016-Q4 Owner reports 1
2017-Q1 Owner reports 1
2017-Q3 Owner reports 1
2017-Q4 Owner reports 5
2018-Q1 Owner reports 3
2018-Q3 Owner reports 5
2018-Q4 Owner reports 4
2019-Q1 Owner reports 6
2019-Q2 Owner reports 3
2019-Q3 Owner reports 1
2019-Q4 Owner reports 2
2020-Q1 Owner reports 1
2020-Q2 Owner reports 3
2020-Q3 Owner reports 2
2020-Q4 Owner reports 2
2021-Q3 Owner reports 3
2021-Q4 Owner reports 2
2022-Q1 Owner reports 2
2022-Q4 Owner reports 1
2023-Q2 Owner reports 1
2023-Q4 Owner reports 1
2024-Q1 Owner reports 1
2024-Q3 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 12V147000
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (1)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 12V147000

    Report date
    Component:
    SUSPENSION
    Consequence:
    THIS COULD RESULT IN A DECREASE IN DURABILITY, WHICH MAY LEAD TO WHEEL SEPARATION, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
    Remedy:
    VOLKSWAGEN WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE RIGHT REAR HUB AND BEARING ASSEMBLY, FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON APRIL 20, 2012. OWNERS MAY CONTACT VOLKSWAGEN AT 1-800-822-8987.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
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 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 63 complaints · page 1 of 3

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 2026-08-21
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