There are 50 owner-reported engine complaints for the 2019 Volkswagen Jettain NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
The vehicle is sluggish while driving as if trying to pick up speed as if it is not shifting into the next gear. The other day while making a hard left turn, the vehicle stalled and when picking up speed continued to stall and struggled to gain power. When looking under the hood when it was safe to stop, there was smoke. Thank you.
Miles on car 79,000 December 1, 2025 Car started to slow down while driving on bay bridge, San Francisco speed went suddenly from 55 miles an hour to 30 miles and hour Lights went off EPC and RPM maximum was showing on dashboard. Car suddenly started running at 25 to 35 miles an hour while driving on the highway. I was at risk of getting hit by another vehicle since everyone else was driving at 55 and 65 miles an hour on the highway. I was Unable to drive to the mechanic or dealer and requested a towing company to take it to the dealer Important facts to add Transmission was replaced with only 50 thousand miles (2 years after bought from the dealer) On Feb 2025 Car was making noises and showing EPC light and RPM maximum. Car taken to dealer and dealer said that EVAP line was lose and fell from designated connection. Per dealer findings The Engine needs to be replaced at 79,000 miles The car was bought in December 2021 with 22,678 miles. In my opinion the car was sold defective and required two major repairs with less than 79,000 miles
Initial call out for oil change and investigation of oil consumption and knocking from engine. Upon examination in person the timing cover was found to be heavily leaking and had pools of oil around the valleys that surround it. further examination if taking the cover off revealed metal shavings and debris caked all around the interior of the cover and deep inside the engine and oil in areas where there should not be. Even further investigations revealed that one of the bolts on the cam gear was missing and after researching it was found that this is a common issue/failure found on many of the 1.4tsi engines but is not widespread enough to form a recall as of yet. Many reports state very similar issues of the cam gear/phaser bolts becoming loose and falling down into the engine causing catastrophic failure and metal shavings/debris/fragments inside the engine. I paid nearly 18k$ just to drive the car about 10k miles and still owe 6300$ on the vehicle. This has completely turned my life upside down. Now I have no job, no way to take car of my elderly mom and barely able to take care of myself now that my engine has almost completed failed, if continued to drive the way it is, it may catch fire/explode. Im going to have a professional try to fix this issue but its going to cost more than I have. VWOA refused to help in any way since the vehicle is out of warranty. Vehicle is at 62388 in miles. I noticed the engine knocking while in a McDonald's drive thru i was about 800 miles until oil change was needed. So I took it home to check oil and it was extremely low.
Exhaust camshaft actuator oil cap bolts loosen and fall out and could cause engine failure. Volkswagen has issued a service bulletin for this problem but not a recall.
MY Jetta is only 6 years old and has only 27,350 mileage when this issue happened. Low oil light came and took it to a Local Shop where they put it on a lift and saw oil all over the bottom of the car. The technician told me this car is not safe and you need to have it towed to VW and see what is happening. I had it towed to VW where I purchased the car. The technician removed the upper timing cover and found camshaft sprocket bolts backed out 1 and another one ready to come out, causing oil to leak out all over. When I asked the service manager what caused this, he had no answer. I also asked him have you ever seen this in any of the Jetta. He said he never seen this. I told the service manager that what happened to my car was a safety issue, due to a defect and workmanship from the manufacture or whoever assembled this camshaft. Their is research on it regarding the camshaft . This particular part has to be assembled correctly while assembling these bolts into the camshaft. If did not bring in my car to find out why I was leaking oil and my oil light was working. I could of had a serious problem harming myself and any passengers in my car, due to losing control of my car. My cost for the repair was $2,407.99 and no one would give me any compensation on my repair.
Started car in the morning to go to work and 20 minutes later heard loud clunking coming from engine bay. Pulled over and got towed. Upper timing cover was removed and found that screws from camshaft phasers had backed out causing issue. Issue was confirmed at German car shop. No prior problems. Mentioned at last service visit that a rattling was coming from the engine bay. Was told that it was normal. Googled issue and found multiple people complaining of same issue. Car has not ever had work done in that area. Seems like a failure of quality control in the factory.
engine stalling and cutting off while driving. unsafe while in heavy traffic.
Faulty started. Per your website, Volkswagen issued a recall for certain 2019 and 2020 Jetta models with traditional ignition keys(not push-button start) due to a faulty ignition switch that can cause the electrical system to shut down and the engine to stall, increasing crash risk. This recall, identified as Recall 23V-604 by NHTSA. My vehicle needs to be included in this recall.
1. The car started making a rattle noise from inside the engine. Immediately stopped the car and contacted a mechanic , discovered that the bolts holding the cam shafts became loose and were hitting the timing belt cover. Upon further research, the dealer wasn't aware of said problem, however there are numerous VW customers experiencing the same problem. 2. EVAP CODE. EXPERIENCING STRONG GASOLINE SMELL INSIDE CARS, AND CAR HAS THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON. dealer is aware of the problem, they said is the EVAP canister purge valve defective, there's no safety recall on the problem. Car has 95,000 miles.
While driving, the car's electrical system failed and came to a complete stop. Identified as a faulty ignition switch by the dealer's service center. I contacted Volkswagen regarding the issue and provided NHTSA's campaign number of 23V604 for a recall on the 2019 Jetta's for ignition switch failure. Volkswagen took my information but stated the recall did not include my car based on the vin number. I am reporting it here to see if there are other Jetta owners who have reported the same issue. The case number with Volkswagen is #06375019.
Exhaust cam phaser cover bolt backed out. It hit the engine casing which caused the exhaust cam phaser to misfunction.disfunction. The car has not been checked by a dealer but is available for inspection.
I purchased 2019 Volkswagen Jetta RLine Turbo in 2022 with 30 something thousand miles with warranty. The car was and only serviced at Volkswagen dealership since purchased(oil changes, etc.). My daughter mentioned several times to the service people the coolant was empty and needed to be refilled they checked and said it probably do to the heat and use of AC. So we took car in for an oil change at 60,000-70,000 to a Volkswagen dealership in Tampa because oil light came on. They said that the engine oil had sludge all throughout the engine. How no way possible. The car had only been serviced at Volkswagen in Brandon were we lived since we purchased it. I couldn’t believe it. They had just serviced our car at Brandon location not even a month or so. They couldn’t find the problem is all I was told. I have spent over $3500 in 5 mths trying to have the dealership mechanics give us an answer. I spent $24,000 for this vehicle and doesn’t have 75,000 miles. They said it is a failure within engine! Help!!!
I have already submitted a complaint but today I am submitting another one because I see the vw 2019 jetta recall for ignition switch does not yet have a remedy and today I experienced my engine stalled and the engine light is currently on. This recall increases the risk of crashing which can cause harm and poses a threat to overall safety. A solution needs to be made as I have work and school and overall errands and now am worried about driving a vehicle with a life threatening recall
Starter System Faulty light came on. I believe there's an issue with the VW Jetta's starter system and A/C actuator.
Car stalled and turned off after a red light turned green and pressed on the gas pedal. Error message popped up: Error: Start-Stop System. The red triangle with exclamation point symbol appeared. The check engine light has been on since. I had to immediately put my hazard lights on, put the car in park, press the start button to turn on again. It happened again immediately afterwards when the red light turned green again. Thankfully I was able to pull over safely. Will be sending the car to VW dealership tomorrow to be serviced to diagnose issue.
The purge valve and hose assembly for the EVAP system has failed and is leaking gas fumes into the cabin.
The contact owns a 2019 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power with an unknown warning light illuminated and an unknown message displayed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 119,000.
Vehicle caught fire while putting car in reverse. Car exploded from engine, no check engine light. I could have died, the fire almost burned down a building. The fire department was called and the front of the car was melted. My arm was injured and I had to get a new cast for my broken wrist. Car was towed by city officials as a hazard.
Car started making a weird noise after service. It sounded like a tractor trailer idling next to me. Brought the car up to the dealership and determined it was due to a faulty engine. Luckily I didn’t avoid the sound since there was metal shavings in my oil pan which could have caused a complete engine failure. Car only had 27K miles on at the time.
1999 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA. CONSUMER STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING OVER 25-35 MPH THEY HEAR A LOUD GRINDING NOISE. THE CONSUMER STATED THE DEALER ADVISED THE TURBO WASTE GATE HAS PLAY IN IT WHICH IS COMMON IN THIS MODEL VEHICLE.
Showing 1–20 of 50 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 26, 2026