2022 Volkswagen Passat

Routine

Owners filed 13 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the electrical system. No safety recall has been issued.

What fails
ComponentReportsCrashesFiresInjuries
Service Brakes3
000
Steering2
000
Engine2
000
Electrical System2
000
Power Train1
000
Lane Departure › Warning1
000
Fuel/Propulsion System1
000
Forward Collision Avoidance › Automatic Emergency Braking1
100

What owners reported

Newest filings
Electrical System
Filed Sep 16, 2026CT

Door sensor is faulty, and is repeatedly giving notifications while driving that the door is open, causing the cabin lights to come on, which causes safety issues when driving at night. Car is only four years old, and a similar issue was reported for the VW ID.4 vehicles, which have a similar wiring harness and circuit board to the VW 2022 Passat

Fuel/Propulsion System
Filed Aug 18, 2026AZ

Fuel smell in cabin lingering, strong fuel odor around passenger rear side, fuel cap area as well

Forward Collision Avoidance › Automatic Emergency BrakingCrash
Filed Jun 24, 2026MO

I believe the cars FRONT END BRAKE ASSIST FAILED, resulting in a preventable accident. VW will not release data, and I have never had an accident in 32 years. There have been multiple class action lawsuits but VW refuses to announce a recall. Now, my car that is a 2022, with 50k miles on it, has major front end damage, and deployed airbags for an accident that could have been avoided. They have already been sued in 2024.

Engine
Filed Jun 21, 2026IN

My car consumes an over abundant amount of oil about 1 quart every 1000 to 1500 miles. There is a civil lawsuit right now about the piston rings having low tension and my car has every symptom of this. This could lead to turbo issues, and several thousands of dollars in repair costs. I’ve already had to replace my oil pan, timing cover, and pcv and the car only has 80,000 miles on it.

Service Brakes
Filed Mar 8, 2026CA

I am reporting what appears to be a serious, chronic safety issue with this vehicle (not just this particular car, but all M/Y 2020~2022 (and possibly 2012~2019 as well if they use the same brake components). Since new, my car has had chronic brake problems and these ongoing issues keep arising, pointing to defective brake caliper design. They have not caused an accident (for me anyway), but should be investigated because they have the potential to do so. I'll list dates, mileage and details here because they are numerous: 05/22/2023 - 40,805 - Heard brake (dragging) noise. Found one pad in rear driver side completely worn with no perceptible wear on other rear pads or on front pads. Dealer diagnosed seized caliper on driver side and repaired under warranty. 02/05/2024 - 59,631 - During dealer inspection, dealer noticed passenger side rear caliper seized. Replaced caliper under warranty but I had to pay $220 labor. 11/23/2024 - 83,100 (approx.) - During another recent brake issue, dealer diagnosed a bad ABS module. Part was ordered and replaced on this day. 03/07/2026 - 115,275 - Heard early signs of brake wear so checked pads. Front pads still have zero wear on them (115,000+ miles and still has factory original pads -- no front brake actuation?). Rears are completely worn down. While checking, found guide pins on both front calipers seized as well as one guide pin on rear passenger side caliper. This vehicle has been stopping on only the rear brakes since new, and has chron

Engine
Filed Aug 12, 2025ME

Manufacturers defect. Known excessive oil consumption of the 2.0 Turbo 4 cylinder engine.

Service Brakes
Filed Nov 12, 2024CA

In May of 2023, I reported that the driver side rear brake caliper appeared to be sticking as one pad at that corner was completely worn down and making contact with the rotor, while the other pad at that same corner had no visible wear. Dealer replaced the rear left rotor under warranty (40,805 miles). Warranty also covered both rear rotors and rear pads due to rotor damage. In February of 2024, dealer inspection noticed the exact same issue on rear right brake caliper and replaced it under the extended warranty (59,631 miles). Although rear right rotor was damaged again, the extended warranty did NOT cover rear rotors or pads and I had to cover the cost out of pocket. In November of 2024 with approximately 80,000 miles, I performed a full brake inspection and noticed that even at this mileage, there was NO visible wear to the factory installed front brake pads (which at this mileage was odd and concerning), and while inspecting the rear pads I noticed that there was no visible wear to the rear left pads, but the rear right pads were worn down almost to the rotor. This uneven wear was shown to the dealer and after a day of "diagnosis", the dealer tech found no issues. They claimed fluid was flowing freely and the brake pistons were not sticking (pointing to the ABS module applying significantly more braking force to the rear right corner, in my opinion). I pressed the issue and after another day of diagnosis, they claimed the ABS module was defective and submitted the claim

Power Train
Filed Jul 15, 2024KY

While driving car began to jerk and had odd smell. Stopped at a Midas to have car looked at and all of the transmission fluid leaked out. Techs at Midas state the gasket that hold the fluid in came out and caused all the fluid to leak out. Had no issues while driving previous to this, this just happened randomly in the middle of our drive. We did jot hit or run over anything and the road we were traveling on was in good paved condition.

Steering
Filed Jan 21, 2024NY

I keep adding oil and the dealership says there’s nothing wrong. For electric problems the speakers have static noise and the screen goes black and turns on hours later. I took in my recently they said there wasn’t any problems with the car but I literally deal with it everyday. I told them my car shakes when I brake on high speed they said they checked car but found no issues I personally do not feel safe driving my car at all.

Service Brakes
Filed Sep 26, 2023MO

Brakes are on this care are failing well in advance of typical cars. My car's rear brakes are measuring at a 2 with just over 20,000 miles on the vehicle. When we asked the dealership about this, they said the Passat is just "hard on rear brakes." We had a previous Passat and did not experience this issue. This is unsafe and unreasonable to expect these brakes wearing out at less than half of what is expected. Ironically, my husband's Taos - of the same model year - is doing the same.

Lane Departure › Warning
Filed Apr 18, 2023IL

Since owning the vehicle, the lane assist is very aggressive. It will pick up tire marks or tar in the road and jerk the car out of the lane that I am in. I’ve contacted the dealership and they told me that there is nothing they can do to turn the sensitivity down. It has done it several times and almost caused a sideswiped collision.

Electrical System
Filed Apr 13, 202290 milesTX

The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated that whenever the vehicle was parked, all 4 doors would automatically unlock. There were no warning lights on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer and diagnosed with no failure being found. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 90.

Steering
Filed Oct 18, 2021MN

The steering tightens up at times when decelerating between 30 - 42 mph. This has occurred three times now since purchase of the vehicle new. My vehicle database feedback notes no repairs needed; just check of vehicle at 20,000 miles and oil change at 10,000 miles. I am subscribed to the vehicle's car-net data monitoring system since purchase of the vehicle new from the dealership. The monitoring system notes GPS location, speed travelling, etc. When this steering condition occurs it is as if power to the steering is lost for about 0.7 - 1.2 seconds. It is as if driving in a vehicle that has an electrical system controlling the power functioning of the steering and there is a loss of electrical feedback to the steering. I have driven over 100 vehicles and this vehicle does have a problem with the steering system. There is a noticeable pull back on the vehicle when the automatic shifts down and this steering issue may or may not be related to the automatic transmission downshifting mechanisms.

13 of 13 complaints, reproduced as filed.

Across model years

Worst on record: 2013
YearComplaintsRecallsFiresDeathsAssessment
2022 — this page13000Routine
202118110Routine
202018300Routine
201912100Routine
201845400Do not drive
2017110710Routine
2016106500Routine
2015243720Above average
20145941030Above average
2013748942Fatalities reported
20124831130Above average
201116011Fatalities reported
2010163410Routine
20091464120Routine
2008168460Routine
2007262760Above average
2006576760Above average
20051484110Routine
20042794250High concern
20036347940High concern
20026364462Fatalities reported
20014304140Above average
20005075251Fatalities reported
19996646132Fatalities reported
1998331541Fatalities reported
199770120Routine
1996142110Routine
199593110Routine
199425110Routine
1993683100Routine
199239110Routine
199124110Routine
199034230Routine

Compare every Passat year →

Reading this record

No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.

Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.

Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.