- Vehicles
- 91,442
- Built between
- Apr 2011 – Jul 2014
- Models
- 1
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- Manufacturer
- Owners notified
- 15 September 2016
- Repaired
- 48%
- Unrepaired
- 44,888
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between April 2011 and July 2014. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 2012-2014 Volkswagen PassatBuilt April 2011 to July 2014
Repair progress
44,888 of 91,442 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q4 2017.
48% repaired — 43,773 of 91,442 reported
- Owners not reachable
- 2,711
- Scrapped or exported
- 70
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 2012-2014 Passat vehicles equipped with TDI engines. Due to improperly assembled wire seals in a connector for an underbody sensor, water may enter and corrode the electrical connectors of the sensor, causing an electrical short.
What could happen
An electrical short can cause the electrical connectors of the sensor to overheat, increasing the risk of a fire.
What gets fixed
Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the connector, replacing it as necessary, free of charge. The recall began in September.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtApril 2011 to July 2014
- Recall reported to NHTSA24 March 2016
- Owners notified15 September 2016
- Latest repair reportQ4 2017 — 48% 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 24 March 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 recall is 23T3.
Official source
- Manufacturer's recall number
- 23T3
- 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.