2010 Volkswagen Routan
Complaints about this year name electrical system far more often than the model's other years — 16% of them, about 28× the usual rate of 0.6%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 240 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 63 |
| Involving a crash | 5 |
| Involving a fire | 3 |
| Recalls | 2 |
| EPA combined | 19 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- vin — 24.2% of this year's complaints, against 7.9% across the model's other years (3×).
- switch — 21.7% of this year's complaints, against 6.9% across the model's other years (3.2×). Owners wrote it as: switch, vin number, fell, replicate.
- motion — 10.4% of this year's complaints, against 3.4% across the model's other years (3.1×). Owners wrote it as: motion, car motion, proper.
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
- vin — 24% of complaints, 3× usual
- since — 11% of complaints, 14× usual
- turn — 19% of complaints, 3× usual
What owners wrote
THE CAR STALLS/ TURNS OFF WHILE DRIVING ON CITY STREETS. HAPPENS RANDOMLY EVERY COUPLE OF WEEKS SINCE PURCHASE OF THE CAR IN 2016. HAVE TO PULL OVER AND RESTART CAR. HAVE HAD MECHANIC LOOK AT , NO CODES ARE COMING UP RELATED TO IT.
WHILE DRIVING 20 MPH, THE IGNITION KEY FELL OUT OF THE IGNITION SWITCH INDEPENDENTLY AND THE VEHICLE REMAINED ON. THERE WERE NO WARNING SIGNS ILLUMINATED PRIOR TO THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER. THE TECHNICIAN WAS UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 15V194000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 11V151000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Volkswagen Routan 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 2010 Volkswagen Routan? What happened to yours?
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