2012 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT Complaints

CLOCK SPRING FAILURE RESULTING IN AIRBAG, STEERING WHEEL CONTROL, AND HORN MALFUNCTION. THIS SEEMS TO BE A BIG ISSUE WITH OTHER VW OWNERS BY DOING A SIMPLE GOOGLE SEARCH.

WHEN WE TOOK THE CAR IN FOR THE TAKATA RECALL, SERVICE DEPT. TOLD US THE CLOCKSPRING NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. AFTER BEING CHARGED MORE THAN $400, WE LOOKED INTO IT TO DISCOVER THAT IT HAD BEEN REPLACED UNDER A DIFFERENT RECALL IN 2016. UPON FURTHER INVESTIGATION, WE FOUND THAT MANY OTHER VW OWNERS HAVE EXPERIENCED THE SAME THING. WE'D LIKE TO BE ADDED TO THE LIST OF CUSTOMERS WHO DIDN'T RECEIVE ADEQUATE REPAIRS UNDER SAFETY RECALL #69L2, AND TO FIND OUT WHAT THE STATUS IS ON THE NHTSA INVESTIGATION INTO THIS MATTER.

CLOCKSPRING FAILED 6 MONTHS AFTER I GOT IT FIXED UNDER RECALL. LITTLE NOISE COMING FROM STEERING WHEEL, AIR BAG LIGHT IS ON, HORN AND ALL STEERING WHEEL CONTROLS DO NOT WORK.

STEERING WHEEL, UPON PARKING, MADE A STRANGE NOISE AND THEN WHAT SOUNDED LIKE A BREAK OF A PLASTIC CLIP. NOISE CONTINUED AS I TURNED WHEEL THE OTHER WAY. ERROR ON DRIVERS SIDE AIR BAG APPEARED ON DISPLAY AS WELL AIR BAG ICON APPEARING ON CONSOLE. IMMEDIATELY CALLED DEALERSHIP AND ASKED IF CAR SAFE TO DRIVE AND WAS TOLD TO BRING CAR AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. WAS ONLY 2 MILES AWAY SO I DID AND THEY WERE NICE ENOUGH TO LOOK AT CAR RIGHT THEN. TURNED OUT TO BE CLOCKSPRING WHICH HAD BEEN REPLACED IN FEBRUARY OF 2016, AN INITIAL RECALL OF CLOCK SPRING. SO NOW THE RECALL WORKAROUND NEEDS A WORKAROUND.

THE AIRBAG CLOCK SPRING WAS REPLACED UNDER A RECALL IN FEBRUARY 2017 BUT FAILED AGAIN IN MAY OF 2018. FROM WHAT I AM SEEING ON THE INTERNET THIS SEEMS TO BE A COMMON RECALL FAILURE WITH THIS VEHICLE. VW CUSTOMER CARE AND ITS WARRANTY DEPT WILL COVER THE COST OF A REPLACEMENT PART BUT NOT LABOR.

THE EPC LIGHT KEEPS FLASHING AND EVERYTIME THE CAR IS TAKEN TO THE VW DEALERSHIP THE REPLACE PART BUT THE PROBLEM REMAINS. WHEN THIS HAPPENS THE CAR LOOSES POWER AND IT STALS. SOMETIMES IT WOULD SHUT OFF WITHOUT WARNING AND THAT COULD BE VERY DANGEROUS.

ON 01/10/18 I TOOK MY VEHICLE IN FOR SOME RECALLS. ON 05/22/18, I HEARD NOISE COMING FROM THE STEERING COLUMN, THE AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED ON THE DASHBOARD AND ALL OF THE STEERING-MOUNTED CONTROLS FAILED. THIS OCCURRED WHILE I WAS DRIVING, AND CAN HEAR THE NOISES MOST WHEN TURNING. BASED ON MY RESEARCH AND TALK WITH OTHER VW DRIVERS, IT APPEARS TO BE THE CLOCK SPRING (WHICH HAD A RECALL ON IT, AND WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN FIXED). I UNDERSTAND THERE IS NO ACTIVE RECALL ON THIS ISSUE, HOWEVER, DOES THIS NOT INDICATE THE RECALL PERFORMED FAILED? THAT BEING SAID, I DONT FEEL SAFE DRIVING AROUND IN A VEHICLE THAT SAYS MY AIRBAG WONT DEPLOY IF I AM IN AN ACCIDENT.

CLOCK SPRING FAILED AFTER BEING "FIXED" BY PREVIOUS RECALL. IN EARLY 2016 I HAD THE RECALL ON MY CLOCK SPRING. I TOOK IT TO A DEALER WHERE THEY PUT ON THE COVER THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO FIX THE CLOCK SPRING ISSUE. TWO DAYS AGO MY AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON WHILE DRIVING AND TODAY I NOTICED MY HORN AND THE CONTROLS ON MY STEERING WHEEL DO NOT WORK. VW WILL NOT FIX THE PART EVEN THOUGH IT WASN'T ACTUALLY REPLACED DURING THE PREVIOUS RECALL.

MY VEHCILE WAS RECALLED FOR A DEFECTIVE CLOCKSPRING. THE REMEDY WAS TO REPLACE THE CLOCKSPRING IF THE AIRBAG LIGHT WAS ON AND INSTALL A SHIELD IF THE AIRBAG LIGHT WAS OFF. MY VEHCILE DID NOT HAVE A LIGHT SO A SHIELD WAS INSTALLED OVER THE DEFECTIVE (BUT NOT YET FAILED) CLOCKSPRING. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE CLOCKSPRING HAS FAILED AND VOLKSWAGEN REFUSED TO REPLACE THE CLOCKSPRING PER THE RECALL. VW STATED THAT ONCE THE RECALL WAS PERFORMED, EITHER WAY, THAT IS IT COMPLETED AND THEY ARE NO LONGER RESPONSIBLE FOR IT. THE RECALL DOES NOT STATE THAT ONCE A SHIELD IS INSTALLED THAT YOU CAN NEVER AGAIN BE COVERED BY THE RECALL. I THINK THIS PRACTICE OF "SHIELDING" AGAINST THE FUTURE FAILURE OF A DEFECTIVE PART IS NOT SAFE OR FAIR. I THINK THAT A RECALL THAT HAS MORE THAN ONE REMEDY SHOULD REMAIN OPEN TO THE OTHER REMEDY IF THOSE CONDITIONS ARE MET.

MY AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON AND THE HORN STOPPED WORKING AS WELL AS THE BUTTONS ON THE STEERING WHEEL. TOOK MY CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP FOR 2 RECALLS AND THEY SAID THE PROBLEM IS WITH MY CLOCK SPRING. ONE OF THE RECALLS THEY ARE DOING REPLACES THE CLOCK SPRING COVER. THEY QUOTED ME A NEW CLOCK SPRING FOR ~$500. THEY ARE REPLACED THE CLOCK SPRING COVER FOR A CLOCK SPRING THAT IS DEFECTIVE.