2019 Volkswagen Jetta
Complaints about this year name transmission far more often than the other years of this generation — 21% of them, about 6× the usual rate of 3.5%.
First year of a new generation. The Volkswagen Jetta was redesigned for 2019. 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 | 545 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 190 |
| Involving a crash | 19 |
| Involving a fire | 3 |
| Recalls | 11 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 34 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- transmission — 21.5% of this year's complaints, against 3.5% across the other years of this generation (6.2×).
- ignition — 26.4% of this year's complaints, against 10.1% across the other years of this generation (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: ignition, switch, starter system, shut.
- electrical — 18.5% of this year's complaints, against 6.6% across the other years of this generation (2.8×). Owners wrote it as: electrical, electrical system, displayed, stop vehicle.
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
- starter system — 11% of complaints, 27× usual
- grinding — 18% of complaints, 5× usual
- ignition switch — 9% of complaints, 23× usual
What owners wrote
Vehicle parked under the sun, temperature reaching 85 degree, hotter inside the cabin. Vehicle started with no issues but "Check starter system" warning comes up and all the electrical component shut off its power, including all the gauge in the dashboard and…
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION. GRINDING NOISE AND VIBRATION WHEN SHIFT GEAR AT LOW SPEED.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V679000 UNKNOWN OR OTHER
- 18V671000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 18V904000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
- 18V824000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 19V110000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 19V188000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
- 19V879000 WHEELS Fixed free of charge.
- 22V815000 TIRES Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 11. 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 2019 Volkswagen Jetta? What happened to yours?
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