There are 39 owner-reported powertrain & transmission complaints for the 2012 Volkswagen Jettain NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
I recently bought vehicle seen there is a recall
A bolt holding my CV Joint backed out causing the bracket between two of the bolts to come lose. The bracket then swung as I drove a created a hole in my transmission. This caused me to lose transmission fluid and damage my transmission. My car has only been serviced at VW certified dealers so I am very disappointed with this issue
The car stop at the stop sign n in the traffic then push start n it worked 4times in a 2years I thought the vw made fir saving fuel. Today the car stop at highway n I almost got killed by sudden stopped. I got panicked couldn't think about anything then push the start it worked again. I Google myself, there are many same problems n reports for 2012 vw jetta. Please help me what I should do. Last year The vw dealer couldn't find anything wrong but there is some problem
Experiences rollaway issue but VIN not currently covered under recall.
AS I WENT TO CHANGE GEARS INTO REVERSE I HEARD A VERY HARD THUMP, THEN INTO DRIVE AND THE THUMP GOT LOUDER AND THE WHOLE ENGINE SHIFTED FORWARD. NOW IT SOUNDS AS IF EVERYTHING ( MOTOR ) IS ABOUT TO FALL OUT THE VEHICLE .
I WAS DRIVING THE CAR NORMALLY ON THE HIGHWAY AND I PUSHED THE CLUTCH IN AND IT WENT STRAIGHT THE FLOOR THIS IS A PROBLEM BECAUSE IT WAS THE SLAVE CYLINDER A KNOW FAILURE POINT. THIS IS DANGEROUS BECAUSE IO COULDN'T PUT THE CAR INTO GEAR AGAIN AND WAS IN NEUTRAL ON THE HIGHWAY. VOLKSWAGEN NEEDS TO FIX THIS ON THIS YEAR JETTAS.
JUST BOUGHT THIS VECHILE USED, WITH 136K MILES. ON INITIAL DRIVE, WHICH LASTED AROUND 30 MINUTES, EVERYTHING SEEMED FINE. NOW IT'S ALMOST LIKE ITS SLIPPING GEARS AND SLAMMING WHEN IT DOWN SHIFTS COMING TO A STOP. OBVIOUSLY CAME WITH NO WARRANTY, DIDN'T THINK I'D NEED TO PURCHASE THAT ON A CAR 8 YEARS OLD. BASIC ASSESSMENT, TRANSMISSION ISSUES WHILE IN MOTION AND COMING TO A STOP.
THE THROW OUT BEARING SUFFERED A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE AS I WAS GOING 80 MPH DOWN THE FREEWAY, TO REPLACE IT I DISCOVERED THAT THE SWAY BARS END LINKS WERE RUSTED SOLID AND THE BRAKES HAVE BEEN DONE 6 TIMES AND BROKEN EVERY TIME BUT THIS LAST TIME WITHIN A MONTH
I WAS ON MY WAY TO WORK AT 3 AM I JUMPED ON THE FREEWAY AND MY VEHICLE LOST ACCELERATION AND STARTED SPUTTERING BACK AND FORTH I WAS ABLE TO PULL ASIDE TO GET AWAY FROM THE FREEWAY THE CAR THEN SPED UP ON ITS OWN I PUT MY FOOT ON THE PEDAL TO SEE IF I COULD SLOW IT DOWN IT THEN DROVE NORMAL ABOUT A BLOCK AWAY FROM THE FREEWAY BACK TOWARD MY HOME IT LOST POWER AGAIN WHILE DRIVING VERY SCARY I NOTICED AN EPC LIGHT GO ON AND OFF 2 TIMES WHILE DRIVING WHEN I FINALLY GOT IT HOME I TURNED THE CAR IN THE ON POSITION AND NOTICED THE EPC LIGHT STAYING ON THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME
I NOTICED MY CAR HAS BEEN CUTTING OUT AND NOT HAVING POWER WHEN DRIVING DOWN A FREEWAY. ILL PUT THE PEDAL DOWN IT DIDNT MOVE. I NOTICED MY STEREO STARTED KIND OF FLASHING AS WELL. I FIGURED MAYBE IT WAS ELECTRICAL SO I STARTED LOOKING AROUND AND I OPENED UP MY TRUNK AND IT WAS 4 INCHES OF WATER WHERE MY SPARE TIRE IS. THEN I STARTED LOOKING AROUND WHERE MY PANORAMIC SUNROOF IS AND THERE'S A HUGE SPOTS OF WATER THAT'S WET. THEY DID NOT DISCLOSE THIS TO ME WHEN I PURCHASE THE CAR AND I ASKED THEM IF THERE WAS ANY PROBLEMS OF LEAKING. I THINK IT'S MESSING UP MY ELECTRICAL SYSTEM AND MY POWER. I FELT VERY UNSAFE WHEN I WASN'T ABLE TO ACCELERATE IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA. WHILE PARKING THE VEHICLE AND PLACING THE GEAR IN THE PARK POSITION, THE VEHICLE STARTED TO ROLL FORWARD DOWN A HILL. THE CONTACT HAD TO APPLY THE EMERGENCY BRAKE BEFORE THE VEHICLE ROLLED INTO A RIVER. THE VIN TOOL LOCATED A RECENT RECALL FOR NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 19V615000 (STEERING, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM) THAT WAS ISSUED ON AUGUST 22, 2019. VILLAGE VOLKSWAGEN OF CHATTANOOGA (6001 INTERNATIONAL DR, CHATTANOOGA, TN 37421, (423) 855-4981) STATED THAT THEY DID NOT BELIEVE THE FAILURE WAS DUE TO THE RECALL. THE VEHICLE REMAINED PARKED AND WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER REFERRED THE CONTACT BACK TO THE DEALER TO SCHEDULE A RECALL REPAIR APPOINTMENT. THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT FOLLOW-UP LETTERS WOULD BE MAILED AROUND OCTOBER 22, 2019. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 120,000.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA. WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS TURNED OFF AND PARKED WITH THE IGNITION KEY REMOVED FROM THE IGNITION SWITCH, THE VEHICLE WOULD ROLL AWAY. THE CONTACT INDICATED THAT THE EMERGENCY BRAKE NEEDED TO BE ACTIVATED EVERY TIME THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED TO PREVENT IT FROM ROLLING. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO HALLMARK VOLKSWAGEN AT COOL SPRING (620 BAKERS BRIDGE AVE, FRANKLIN, TN) WHERE IT WAS CONFIRMED THAT THE FAILURE WAS RELATED TO NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 19V615000 (POWER TRAIN); HOWEVER, THE REMEDY WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 96,000.
WHEN MOVING FROM STOP, TRANSMISSION TAKES A SECOND TO ENGAGE. THIS IS DANGEROUS BECAUSE WHEN TRYING TO TAKE A TURN FROM STOP, HESITATION COULD LEAD TO SERIOUS ACCIDENT. ENGAGE 1ST GEAR.
MAP SENSOR - REPEATING FAILURE THE MANIFOLD ABSOLUTE PRESSURE (MAP) SENSOR FAILURE CAUSES EXPONENTIAL SAFETY ISSUES WHILE DRIVING ON HIGHWAYS AND/OR HIGHER SPEEDS THAT CAN RESULT IN DEATH. AFTER REPEATED REPLACEMENT AND REPAIRS, CONTINUOUS FAILURE OCCURS. STALLING, POWER AND STEERING ISSUES OCCUR AT HIGH SPEEDS AND/OR ON HIGHWAYS, PUTTING DRIVER AT RISK FOR A FATAL COLLISION. PERSONALLY, I HAVE HAD THE SENSOR REPLACED MULTIPLE TIMES, INCLUDING HOSES AND PUMPS ON THREE DIFFERENT OCCASIONS. SOON THEREAFTER, MAP SENSOR FAILS AND HAS CAUSED ME TO CREATE ALMOST A DOZEN COLLISIONS AT HIGH SPEEDS, PARTICULARLY ON HIGHWAYS.
VEHICLE STALLED OUT WHILE DRIVER AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS DUE TO INTERCOOLER FREEZING, ON SECOND OCCASION VEHICLE WAS UNABLE TO START DUE TO ENGINE HYDROLOCKING FROM FROZEN INTERCOOLER THAWING OUT. VW HAS RELEASED A BULLETIN FOR THIS ISSUE BUT WILL NOT STAND BY WARRANTY ON SAID COMPONENT.
I PARKED AND COULD NOT REMOVE MY KEY OR TURN OFF THE ENGINE. MY CAR IS NOT SAFELY DRIVE ABLE. UNPREDICTABLE IF KEY WILL TUR ON OR WORSE STILL TURN OFF. THE FAILURE TO TURN OFF HAPPENED ON A PUBLIC STREET.
90K MILES TRANSMISSION AND TRANS AXEL WENT
THE CVT TRANSMISSION IS IS A KNOWN ISSUE THAT NISSAN FIXED UP TO THE 2010 MODELS UP TO 120000 BUT CONTINUED TO MANUFACTURE THEM AND THE 2012 MODELS HAVE THE SAME ISSUE. I AM DISAPPOINTED IN THE LACK OF RECALL DUE TO THIS ISSUE BEING SO PREVALENT ON INTERNET.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE ENGINE SEIZED FREQUENTLY WHILE DRIVING AND THERE WERE METAL FRAGMENTS STUCK IN THE ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION. IN ADDITION, THE ENGINE CONTROL MODULE AND BATTERY INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO MCKINNEY VOLKSWAGEN (855-402-5098, 3600 S CENTRAL EXPY, MCKINNEY, TX 75070), BUT WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 90,000.
TURNING MY KEY INTO THE IGNITION IS VERY DIFFICULT. TURNING THE KEY TO TURN OFF THE CAR IS HARD ALSO. HAVE TO JIGGLE STEERING WHEEL SOMETIMES TO GET THE KEY OUT OF THE IGNITION. SOMETIMES I HAVE TO JIGGLE THE KEY BACK AND FORTH TO GET THE KEY OUT AT ALL.
Showing 1–20 of 39 complaints
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026