Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.: Suspension › Rear
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. reported this defect to federal regulators on Oct 20, 2014 and put the number of vehicles at risk at 442,066. The repair is free for as long as the recall stands.
The defect
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.
The risk
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.
The remedy
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. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298.
5 model years covered
Newest first| Vehicle | Complaints | Recalls | Fires | Crashes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 Volkswagen Beetle | 93 | 7 | 0 | 4 |
| 2013 Volkswagen Jetta | 518 | 6 | 3 | 12 |
| 2012 Volkswagen Beetle | 65 | 7 | 0 | 4 |
| 2012 Volkswagen Jetta | 500 | 8 | 6 | 24 |
| 2011 Volkswagen Jetta | 607 | 10 | 9 | 27 |
What this page is, and what to do next
A recall is not an opinion. It is a Part 573 report a manufacturer is required by federal law to file once it decides a defect poses an unreasonable risk to safety, and it commits them to repairing the vehicle at no cost to the owner. The three passages above are the manufacturer’s own wording as published by NHTSA.
This page describes the campaign. It cannot tell you whether one particular car has already been through the shop — that is tracked by VIN, and only the manufacturer knows it. Check yours at nhtsa.gov/recalls or with a franchised dealer, quoting campaign number 14V656000.
Full record for the 2013 Volkswagen Beetle → · Recalls carrying a do-not-drive advisory → · Where this data comes from →