Problems with 2011 Volkswagen Jetta ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

At 22,591 miles, i discovered the driver airbag, audio controls, horn, other electronics on steering wheel failed because of faulty clock spring. there is a recall notice for multiple vw models including my model and year, but the dealer and vw corporate told me my vehicle's vin doesn't qualify for the recall. here is the link to vw recall information regarding this issue: http://media.vw.com/release/1042/ this is dangerous, someone could get killed. how can this fail at only 22k miles and be normal wear and tear? it is obvious my vin number should be included in this recall. i have contacted mark gillies 703-364-7104 [email protected] who is listed on the vw site. they still refuse to issue a recall for this vin.

Vehicle driven earlier in the day without any issues. later in the day, i was unable to turn the key while in ignition to turn on the vehicle. towed it to nearby volkswagen dealer and diagnosis proved that ignition lock and cylinder have failed without any explanation of what could of caused it. searched online and discovered that there are numerous owners of 2011 and up experiencing the same issue. currently, my vehicle has 76,000 miles.

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 volkswagen jetta. while driving approximately 45 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. the engine and battery warning indicators illuminated. the failure recurred numerous times. the vehicle was taken to wray automotive volkswagen (located at 655 broad river rd, columbia, sc 29210) where it was diagnosed, but the technician could not find a failure code. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was contacted and informed the contact that there was no recall under the vin. the vin was invalid. the approximate failure mileage was 210,000.

Horn quit working completely as well as honk when alarm is activated. also when alarm goes off there's no sound. this is not an isolated incident. i have discovered many cases online where owners experience same safety concern. i called vw and they refuse to fix nor do they confess a safety concern even with obvious multiple jett's of same year having the exact safety issue. will it take a few dozen road side deaths for vw to do the right thing and fix these safety issues? horn fails when car is in motion or stationary. no blown fuses, and the relay clicks when the horn is depressed on the steering wheel. we've called 2 vw dealers who refused to fix but they offered to charge us to tell us what we already know being its not an isolated incident. we also called vw customer service about the issue and they wouldn't tell me how many owners have to drive unsafe vehicles before vw acts. some owners had their jett's with the same problem fixed under nthsa 11v19600 but we were refused assistance so this seems to be selective safety corrections.

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 volkswagen jetta. while driving various speeds, the vehicle stalled and the battery warning indicator illuminated on the instrument panel. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing, but no failure could be determined or duplicated. the vehicle was not repaired. the vin was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 11v196000 (electrical system). the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 36,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 volkswagen jetta. while driving 35 mph, the vehicle inadvertently stalled without warning. the contact coasted the vehicle over to the side of the road and was restarted. the failure recurred three times. the vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed, but a failure could not be found. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vin was unknown. the approximate failure mileage was 96,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 volkswagen jetta. while driving various speeds or while parked, the horn failed to operate when pressed. also, the headlights inadvertently failed to illuminate without warning. leith volkswagen of raleigh (4005 capital hills drive raleigh, nc 27616, (833) 827-4410) was contacted, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired due to the diagnostic fees. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure because the customer service number was busy. the approximate failure mileage was 60,000. *tt *tr

Map sensore (manifold absolute pressure sensor) has repeatedly went bad even a day after changing it. i had replaced the sensor in february then again in march and again in march a day or 2 then again in july after just replacing it. it has no hose leaks or anything wrong with it that volkswagen couldn't find anything that would make the map sensor continue to fail.

Fuse box with blown fuses . unable to replace fuses without diagram. vw dealer states i need to bring car in and pay for diagnostic test which totals over $100.00 that i cannot afford. i am able to change fuses myself that are blown but need to know what the fuse is for and this is what vw dealer told me i have to do, get test from vw dealer or pay for a diagram. i feel this is wrong, as long as i have been driving, all fuse boxes will have a diagram of fuses so individual can change fuse themselves. how can i resolve this issue for diagram without costing me over $100.00. i will await your reply. noticed my cigarette lighter and phone charge was not working. did not notice when car was purchased. changed a 20 amp fuse that was blown, that took care of cigarette lighter and charger, but now my horn does not work. that is why i am asking on advise on how to resolve situation. thank you *tr

My horn does not consistently work. when i'm driving it only works sometimes due to believed to be faulty electrical. my door locks do not engage. a noise sounds but they do not engage causing safety issue. my wiper blades do not always work correctly nor do they spray wiper spray causing visibility issues. my electrical system is faulty causing one door to stay unlocked unless locked with key. my alarm system does not work. my driver side window does not properly work and will stop in the down position. the same door is having locking issue. there is known recall for other 2011 models on electrical system. i called vw and they said my vin was not affected by the recall. i'm having the same issues as other jetta owners with same year make and model and with active recall but vw refuses to fix my car. i could get into accident due to faulty horn, faulty door locks, faulty visibility and wipers that do not work properly. my electrical system is clearly faulty if all of these issues are failing at once. i took my vehicle to firestone and they said faulty computer issues need to be fixed by vw. the vehicle is only 5 years old.

The radio loud popping went dead . turns on by itself sometimes about 1 time every 2 weeks or so. loud popping statled while driving.

Windshield wipers are working intermittently in the cold weather... but as soon as it warms up or the vehicle is pulled into a garage... wipers begin to work as normal. additionally, the vehicles horn is also doing the same thing. this problem seems to occur when the vehicle is stationary and/or moving in extreme cold weather. vehicle did this 2 years ago (2/14/2014). vw dealership replaced horn and wiper switch. problem is now occurring again intermittently. my vehicle was brought to a trusted vw mechanic today (1/5/2016) who diagnosed the vehicle with 3 different electrical trouble codes but found no problems with the horn or wipers individually. through research online, i found found many similar stories with intermittent windshield wipers and horns in the cold on vw jettas 2011 and later in articles and forums. my mechanic feels that there may be faulty wiring in these vehicles that with extreme cold conditions does not allow the full conduction of electricity to properly activate the windshield wipers and/or horn which can be a hazard while driving especially in adverse weather conditions. vw admits that there have been previous recalls to problems with malfunctioning windshield wipers and/or horns but my vehicle was not covered under the recall. additionally, vw is refusing to admit that this is a larger problem then just my vehicle and is not willing to have the issue fully looked into.

Driver side low beam not working. the headlights were replaced but this did not fix the issue. the problem might be with faulty parts or electrical.

Lights started randomly going out, and control center started naming several different bulbs that were out. when taken to dealer nothing was wrong. i took car home and everything was fine. the next morning car acted up again, so i video taped it and took it back to dealer while leaving running so they could see. this time their computer recognized the fault, which was a faulty fuse panel that was melting yet not tripping fuse.

The right half of my jetta lost all of its exterior lighting suddenly. the vehicle was taken to the university volkswagen dealership here in seattle. it was determined that fuse sb16 aka f16 melted causing the fuse panel to also melt. repair involved replacing fuse panel and new updated version of sb16 fuse. this fuse was the subject of nhtsa campaign id number: 13v569000 in my 2009 - 2011 volkswagen tiguan and the 2009 -2010 jetta. it seems that this has been happening in the my 2011 jetta.

Ignition switch key lock solenoid (n376) problem. hello, my wife's 2011 jetta has a malfunctioning ignition lock cylinder. perhaps the ignition switch key lock solenoid (n376)? normally the key should be locked in the ignition while the car is in d(drive). however, there appears to be a malfunction in the n376 (or other) which does not engage the locking solenoid. this allows for the key to be pulled out while in d. she was able to turn the car off and pull the keys out of the car while the car was still in d(drive), got out of the car and the car rolled back and hit a porsche. thankfully the car did not run over a child or other person. from brief research i see there have been multiple recalls on similar items, here is an article on one though not specifically on the 2011 jetta.

Automatic car was "parked", turned off. key removed, though it was not in p. emergency brake works and applied, but may not have been applied all the way. rolled back across the low low grade parking lot and our white car bumped a ... black porsche! doesn't appear to be any damage other than paint smudge/transfer from the bumper. normal safety feature where the car needs to be in park before the key comes out isn't working properly. any advice on how to fix this? if possible myself? is this something i can get the mfg to pay for? it's not under warranty. it's under a 3 yr power train warranty, but pretty sure at best this is a only related to a transmission issue, not directly a transmission issue. no recalls as of now for this on my vehicle. any advice is appreciated.

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 volkswagen jetta. the contact stated that while driving at night, the front driver and passenger side exterior head lights and the rear driver side tail light became inoperable as the lights out error message displayed. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 90,000.

My cars low beam headlights unexpectedly stopped working after bringing it into the west broad volkswagen of richmond, va for a safety recall. i thought there may have been a chance that they both burned out simultaneously and had the light bulbs changed, but still no luck. i also purchased a new light switch for my dash and it still does not work. i am a college student and do not have a lot of money to spend on blind diagnoses. my daytime running lights work and my high beams, just not my low beams. i have done research online and have found that this is an issue with many volkswagen jetta drivers from their standard models, through se-sel, and up into the tdi trims. i believe there should be a recall on this, because it is unsafe for me to drive during dusk and if i ever need to drive at night i am forced to use my high beams.

I have issues with the headlights. every other month my headlight goes out. when i drove off the lot i had one headlight. this has been ongoing for almost 2 years. when i change it the other side goes out. i know thats not normal. and then one day i had been running arrends and made a stop . i was wearing flip flops that day. well when i went to turn around in my seat to get what was being handed to me from my girlfriend i burned my three little toes ! !!! i immieately went under the steering wheel <dash> and seen it was a pipe not covered.i have had many cars and i have never felt any thing so hot under a dash.i had three blisters.each toe had a tiny blister.thats when i seen all the rust everywher or anywhere there is metal is covered with rust.there was a recall on the rear end .i noticed after i took it in that the tires diidnt look even in the back.driver side tire bows inward on the top side and the other side doesnt. the air bag light well thats always on . .and when i checked the air filter it smelled like it was in an electrical fire .my horn sounds defective.barely hear it. and the windsheild wiper has aloud noise when operating.

Radio popped and went dead causing a amperage drain on the battery. fuses have been verified as good but the radio will not turn back on even after resets.

Headlights went off while car in motion and would not go back on. the consequences of that happening if at a high rate of speed is disturbing to think about.

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 volkswagen jetta. the contact stated that while her son was driving at various speeds, the vehicle headlights failed to illuminate and the horn became inoperable. the vehicle was taken to heritage subaru owings mills, 9808 reisterstown rd, owings mills, md 21117, (888)553-0026 to be diagnosed. the contact was informed that the headlamp wiring harness needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired however, the failure recurred. the vehicle then was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. the contact was informed that the clocks spring needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the vehicle was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 11v196000 (electrical system). the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was unknown.

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 volkswagen jetta. the contact stated that the horn failed on three separate occasions. the vehicle was taken to the dealer. the technician diagnosed that the horn assembly would need to be replaced. the manufacturer stated that the vin was not a part of nhtsa campaign number: 11v196000 (electrical system). the vehicle was repaired three separate times. the failure mileage was 43,000.

Random exterior lights were non-functional with multiple dashboard notification errors. took vehicle in for service and was told that a bad fuse had shorted out and melted the fuse box causing the problem. fuse box must be replaced due to overheating of bad fuse. repair place said this is a known problem with volkswagen and certain models had already been issued a recall.

The horn changed sounds for a few weeks then stopped working all together. it's a safety issue when driving on the highway and in other areas when you do not have a horn. i've seen on this site that others have had the same complaint.

At approx. 48,800 miles while driving i heard a pop and the radio died. radio & hands free phone no longer work. vw dealer charged $125 to tell me that it was dead, suggested purchasing a new radio ($1500) or an after market one. too many people with the same make, model and year have had the same issue as posted on numerous sites. it's a safety hazard with the loss of the hands free telephone.

In the process of driving the vehicle the engine along with all systems in the vehicle shut down with no warning. there was no electrical power whatsoever in the car and there was no indication that anything in the vehicle was working. it should be noted that a new battery was installed in the vehicle approximately 2-3 weeks prior to this incident. the car had shut down on two previous occasions, but was parked at the time. in each instance electrical power was restored in approximately 40 minutes with no action taken. the car was given to the vw dealer where vw specialists examined the vehicle. the problem could not be duplicated. after 3 days they were 90% positive that a module in the steering column had failed. vw of america did not feel that the failure was a manufactures defect nor the fact that the car shuts down completely while being driven constituted a serious safety problem.

While driving, radio/cd/hands free telephone died. screen flickered and then went blank, no power to all these functions. vw repair said this model of radio installed on this year vehicle was a common problem, and that the radio unit is dead and will need to be replaced ($668 plus tax for a replacement by dealer). plus an install fee. an ungodly price for a replacement radio that is only 4 years old. there are numerous complaints and threads out which warrant a recall. i use the hands free constantly for work and not being able to will make me have to use the phone in an unsafe manner. safety is paramount. update 9/15/15*cw

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 volkswagen jetta. while driving approximately 70 mph, the bulb failure warning indicator illuminated sporadically indicating that the external lights were failing. the vehicle was taken to the dealer. the technician diagnosed that the fuse panel had thermally overheated, melted, and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 60,000.

Touch screen radio died inexplicably, weird knocking sound from speakers

i love this car but for the last year i have been replacing lights bulbs every three months. now i have running lights going out, no turning signals, tail light flickers, there is something that is wrong with the electrical wiring in this car.

Wife came home and said radio not working. from the research i have been looking at. it's done. have to get a new or aftermarket unit. can't believe i am the only on with this problem.

I was having trouble with various light bulbs going out. it turned out to be a fuse that had melted the fuse plate. i am lucky that it had not started a fire. my dealer replaced the fuse plate at a cost of 372 which vw is refusing to reimburse me for. i know other vw models have had the exact same problem and have been recalled. this is a serious safety issue and should be recalled as soon as possible. loosing your headlights at night or a vehicle fire are serious safety issues. *tr

Horn stopped working functioning. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 volkswagen jetta. while driving approximately 75 mph, the door locks on the vehicle began to lock and unlock independently. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 60,000.

While driving with approx. 50,000 miles, the radio popped and completely died. the radio, along with the hands free phone capability are now inoperable. the vehicle was taken to two (2) separate volkswagen dealerships and each verified that the fuses were in tact and it was a faulty radio. the broken radio is actually still drawing power from the battery which causes frequent dead batteries. i have already replaced two (2) batteries in the last year. this poses a safety concern because the battery could die at anytime and leave the driver stranded. there have been numerous complaints about this same problem which warrants a recall before anyone else gets hurt.

The car loses power, stalls then it dies. at times it speeds up, and stalls dies without warning. loses all power, found recall in reference to this issue. vin# matches series, matches date, and place where the car was made, except for the last few digits. recall 11v19600, and vw will not replace harness to electrcial fuse and circuit breaker. i need to help to get this resolved. i have been battling the dealer and vw of america since 03/20/2015 until today 06/26/2015

The ignition switch wont allow the key to, turn to turn the vehicle off.

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 volkswagen jetta. while driving at an unknown speed, the horn failed to sound. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the contact indicated that the vehicle was repaired under nhtsa campaign number: 11v196000 (electrical system) in 2011, but the failure recurred. the failure mileage was 85,000.

On february 1, 2014 i turned on my car and headed to church at about 1 in the afternoon, everything appeared fine. after church i did the same; however, shortly after i had left the church parking lot the glow plug and battery symbols started flashing and suddenly my engine stopped. out of nowhere my car stalled in the middle of the road, thank goodness i had managed to steer to the side and that the cars on the road managed to go around me because it could have turned out into a tragedy. i had never had any issues with my engine/battery nor did any of the dashboard warning lights light up prior to this incident. i tried turning my car back on several times but it was unresponsive. the battery and alternator sounded fine but for some reason the car just wouldn't start back up. could it have been the fuel pump? my car runs on diesel and i have always fueled it with the appropriate fuel without any issues so what now? i had to push my car out of the middle of the road and call a tow service to tow my car home. over the next week i drove a rental to work and called the volkswagen dealership and left multiple messages for parts and service and for the person in charge of extended warranty. it's been a week and they have not answered. my car has been out of a warranty now for a while, however i have maintained it and given it the proper care so it does not make sense that a 2011 vehicle would simply stall in the middle of the road without a warning. i am sure that this is a manufacturer's defect and i would like for it to be resolved promptly, i am sure i am not the only one that has had this issue in the past as i have seen multiple complaints online about this and there has even been a few recalls for previous diesel models regarding issues similar to mine. *js

The radio malfunctioned and the hands free phone operation was also disabled. this is a safety issue without the handsfree phone option. *tr

I had driven the car earlier that day (about 40 miles) with no problems. i got home at about 7:30pm and parked the car outside our house. at about 2am, i heard a beeping car horn. i looked outside and saw flames coming out of the front drivers side of our beautiful 2011 jetta sportwagen. i dialed 911, the car continued to burn until the fire dept arrived and put it out. the car is a total loss. i'm only happy it wasn't parked inside a garage where the fire would have destroyed our house as well. no work had been done on the car recently and no aftermarket options were installed. i have only one question - what could cause a completely cold car (not driven in over 6 hours) to suddenly burst into flame?? thank you.

I was on route 95 in florida driving at night and a car had cut in front of me i honk my horn and then both of my headlights blew. i had to put flashers on and get off next exit to find a auto parts store where they change both headlight bulbs. i then checked for recalls on my car found out that the horn was faulty and that it could cause electronic malfunction and shut engine off. headlights are working now but my horn does not work. contacted vw about recall and they said that since i had high mileage. that i had no warranty on the vehicle and that i would be responsible for the repairs. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 volkswagen jetta. while driving approximately 50 mph, the headlights and brake lights failed to illuminate. the vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. the contact diagnosed that a fuse melted and damaged the fuse box. the vehicle was not repaired. the vin was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 13v569000 (electrical system, exterior lighting). the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 65,000.

Driving down the highway at about 55mph, started switching lanes and stepped on the gas to accelerate. the car sputtered and the engine vibrated. the car felt like i was going to stall driving in the high-speed lane. the yellow check engine light came on and epc light started flashing. swerving back into the lower speed lane i couldn't even keep the car at 55mph. i had to pull over on the highway to see if i could make sense of it. after turning off the car and then back on, the lights went off and the car was fine. i took it too the mechanic and they said they couldn't find anything wrong after $85.00 diagnostic. the car ran fine for 2 days until the same exact thing happened while driving on the highway again. this occurred on and off intermittently about every 1-2 days for about 2 weeks. three trips to the mechanic within those 2 weeks and with each visit there was a computer connected to the car and a full systems diagnostic reported that there was nothing wrong with the car. it became dangerous for me to drive the car and even more so to drive it on the highway. after the second week the lights finally came on and stayed on and the problem was diagnosed as the engine misfiring in 2 of the cylinders. the mechanic changed with the ignition coil on 12/15.2014. the engine ran completely fine without any issues until last week, 3/19/2015. at 3 months and only 28,000 miles on the car the same problem started to reoccur while getting onto the highway and attempting to accelerate from 40-45mph. it started just as it did before intermittently and about 2 weeks later the engine and epc lights were on permanently again. after the mechanic confirmed that it was the same issue with the same component we changed the same part again. i am expecting to be changing it again in 3 more months, if i still have the car. *tr

Transmission kicked into neutral while cruising on highway. had to pull over and come to a complete stop and restart the car before it would allow me to shift back into drive. the fault recurred a few miles later and has recurred several times since then. the car is now too unsafe to drive. *tr

On november 22,2014, i turned on my car like any other day and headed to go run some errands, everything appeared fine. i headed to my first errand and after finished i turned my car on again but my stereo would not turn on. i turned the car off and then back on thinking that that was going to fix it but nothing, the stereo simply appeared dead. i had never had stereo problems prior to this so i was quite surprised that without a warning my stereo would just die. that same day i called the volkswagen dealership and they said i could simply stop by and they'd have my stereo looked at but when i showed up they said it would be $140 simply to get it diagnosed and then i'd still have to pay for the repairs! needless to say i walked out. i couldn't believe that they wouldn't even give my stereo a complimentary diagnostic! the same day i took my car to a specialist and had the fuses checked and the fuses were fine but it appears i needed a completely new stereo! my car is relatively new to have stereo problems, this is unheard of! i have always given my car the proper maintenance and i am quite unhappy with this issue. having looked at multiple other complaints about this particular issue online i hope vw can address this problem very soon. *js

The horn only works sporadically, not sure when it will or will not function. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2011 volkswagen jetta. the contact stated that there was an intermittent electrical short causing the headlights and the wipers to turn off unexpectedly. also, the horn and the temperature controls failed to work. the contact was not included in nhtsa campaign id number: 11v196000 (electrical system). the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was not available.