- Vehicles
- 442,066
- Built between
- Nov 2009 – Jul 2013
- Models
- 2
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- Manufacturer
- Owners notified
- 7 April 2015
- Repaired
- 74%
- Unrepaired
- 113,834
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between November 2009 and July 2013. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 2012-2013 Volkswagen BeetleBuilt March 2011 to July 2013
- 2011-2013 Volkswagen JettaBuilt November 2009 to July 2013
Repair progress
113,834 of 442,066 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q3 2016.
74% repaired — 327,273 of 442,066 reported
- Owners not reachable
- 934
- Scrapped or exported
- 25
Manufacturers file these figures with NHTSA each quarter. Vehicles the manufacturer could not trace, or that have been scrapped or exported, are counted separately and are not included in the unrepaired figure.
What the defect is
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2011-2013 Jetta vehicles manufactured March 1, 2010, to November 30, 2012, and 2012-2013 Beetle vehicles manufactured March 1, 2011, to July 31, 2013. The durability of the rear trailing arms may be reduced in vehicles whose rear trailing arms have been previously deformed, such as a result of a rear or side-rear impact crash.
What could happen
The reduced durability of the trailing arm may result in its sudden fracture, possibly causing loss of vehicle control and increasing the risk of a crash.
What gets fixed
Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will install a sheet metal inlay on the rear axle trailing arms designed to prevent a sudden loss of control in the event of trailing arm sudden fracture, free of charge. The recall began April 7, 2015.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtNovember 2009 to July 2013
- Recall reported to NHTSA20 October 2014
- Owners notified7 April 2015
- Latest repair reportQ3 2016 — 74% repaired
Your rights
A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.
That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 20 October 2014.
To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.
Manufacturer contact
Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298.
Official source
- Recalling manufacturer
- Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
- Recall initiated by
- MFR
Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Additional notes
Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
Check your own vehicle
This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.
A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.