2011 Volkswagen Jetta
Complaints about this year name tdi far more often than the other years of this generation — 14% of them, about 6× the usual rate of 2.3%.
First year of a new generation. The Volkswagen Jetta was redesigned for 2011. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 639 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 190 |
| Involving a crash | 28 |
| Involving a fire | 12 |
| Recalls | 10 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 27.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- tdi — 16.7% of this year's complaints, against 3.3% across the other years of this generation (5×). Owners wrote it as: tdi, jetta tdi, sportwagen, jetta sportwagen.
- radio — 6.6% of this year's complaints, against 0.8% across the other years of this generation (8.4×).
- fuse — 9.1% of this year's complaints, against 2.9% across the other years of this generation (3.2×). Owners wrote it as: fuse, box, exterior, melted.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- diesel — 12% of complaints, 7× usual
- fuel pump — 14% of complaints, 4× usual
- high — 12% of complaints, 4× usual
What owners wrote
TWICE THE CAR JUST STALLS. ON THE ROAD OR IN A INTERSECTION. CAR WAS IN MOTION, ON STREET, AND JUST KILLED, MOTOR SHUT OFF! CHECKING SEVERAL FORUMS THERE HAS BEEN MULTIPLE REPORTS OF DIESELS PRIOR TO 2013 WHERE THE HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP GOES OUT. LUCKLY I DI…
HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP BREAKDOWN LITTERED THE DIESEL INJECTION SYSTEM WITH METAL PARTICLES. AT LEAST THE FOLLOWING WERE DAMAGED, ACCORDING TO VOLKSWAGEN FUEL PUMP HAS METAL IN IT INTAKE FUEL PUMP HIGH PRESSURE PUMP AUXILLARY FUEL PUMP FUEL LINES 4 INJECTORS F…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V679000 UNKNOWN OR OTHER
- 19V615000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 15V483000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 14E007000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
- 14V656000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
- 11V196000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 11V490000 FUEL SYSTEM, DIESEL Fixed free of charge.
- 11E036000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 10. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Volkswagen Jetta was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2011 Volkswagen Jetta? What happened to yours?
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