- Vehicles
- 825
- Built between
- Mar 2010 – Apr 2015
- Models
- 1
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- Manufacturer
- Owners notified
- 6 June 2016
- Repaired
- 65%
- Unrepaired
- 203
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between March 2010 and April 2015. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 2011-2015 Volkswagen Touareg HybridBuilt March 2010 to April 2015
Repair progress
203 of 825 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q3 2017.
65% repaired — 540 of 825 reported
- Owners not reachable
- 80
- Scrapped or exported
- 2
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 2011-2015 Touareg Hybrid vehicles manufactured March 20, 2010, to April 11, 2015. The hybrid battery tray may not drain water sufficiently. If water collects in the hybrid battery tray, it may cause an electrical short in the high voltage battery.
What could happen
An electrical short in the high voltage battery increases the risk of a fire.
What gets fixed
Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will install a fitted drain valve to allow water to drain properly, free of charge. The recall began late February 2016.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtMarch 2010 to April 2015
- Recall reported to NHTSA25 January 2016
- Owners notified6 June 2016
- Latest repair reportQ3 2017 — 65% 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 25 January 2016.
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. Volkswagen's number for this 53B8.
Official source
- Manufacturer's recall number
- 53B8
- 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.