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2012 Volkswagen Routan problems, recalls and owner complaints
What the 2012 Volkswagen Routan has been recalled for and what owners report, from official government data. Updated October 25, 2026.
- 1safety recall
- 63owner complaints
- 1crash report
- 0fire reports
- 2injuries reported
The most complained-about Volkswagen Routan year on file: 63 complaints, against an average of 7 for the other 1 model year.
Every Volkswagen Routan model year with its number of owner complaints. Pick a year to compare.
What goes wrong with the 2012 Volkswagen Routan?
The components named most often in the 63 owner complaints. One complaint can name several, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
What symptoms do 2012 Volkswagen Routan owners describe?
Found by reading the text of all 63 owner complaints. Tap a symptom for the answer, a real owner quote and any related recall.
Has the 2012 Volkswagen Routan been recalled?
1 U.S. safety recall. Repairs are free at a franchised dealer; some are done over the air.
Suspension: Rear VOLKSWAGEN IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2012 ROUTAN VEHICLES, MANUFACTURED FROM NOVEMBER 15, 2011, THROUGH NOVEMBER 21, 2011. SOME VEHICLES MAY BE EQUIPPED WITH RIGHT REAR HUB AND BEARING ASSEMBLIES THAT WERE NOT FULLY MACHINED.
Risk: THIS COULD RESULT IN A DECREASE IN DURABILITY, WHICH MAY LEAD TO WHEEL SEPARATION, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
Fix: VOLKSWAGEN WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE RIGHT REAR HUB AND BEARING ASSEMBLY, FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON APRIL 20, 2012. OWNERS MAY CONTACT VOLKSWAGEN AT 1-800-822-8987.
What do 2012 Volkswagen Routan owners report?
12 of the 63 complaints, the most recent for the most-reported components, as the owners wrote them. NHTSA removes names and VINs; long reports are trimmed. CarHooq has not verified individual claims.
Driver steering wheel airbag deployed while parking van at work. Nothing was hit just went off causing burns and wrist pain and swelling. Wife stated that the front windshield wipers started turning on randomly while driving to work and then airbag blew while parking.
My vehicle is shutting off while driving. It randomly shuts off and I see there are other recalls associated with this issue for a different year but same vehicle/model. I am being quoted well over $2,000 in repairs. This vehicle only has 130,000 miles on it.
At first it starts off the vehicle will just shut off while you are driving which is very dangerous I have read many people complaining about this it needs to be recalled then the brakes go and then the transmission seal I have done all the maintenance up keep on my vehicle there is no reason for the vehicle did you shut off the way it keeps shutting off and dying for no reason the battery keeps dying by the next morning when nothing is left on in the vehicle it has caused me a great deal of grief and it is very scary when you have children in the car and your vehicle just shuts off on the…
NHTSA Recall 14v396 is probably the best correction to this issue. My van has shut off mid-driving while my children are in the car with me. It is so dangerous in the road. I can't move the steering wheel. Mechanics can't seem to diagnose the problem because the van doesn't give any computer codes when it would shut down. There are similar complaints and I wonder how Volkswagen knows of this issue and has failed to inform the owners of these vehicles. Chrysler had a similar issue and did a recall. I hope Volkswagen would acknowledge this issue.
Several times in the last month the car has stopped running without warning. It just shuts off. This has happened in our subdivision travelling at 20mph and most recently on the highway travelling 65mph. The power steering, brakes, everything go dead when the car just turns off and this could cause a serious accident.
Car is stalling out while driving with no warning. Doesn't matter the rate of speed I'm going it just cuts out. Can't turn steering wheel. No codes pop up. No mechanics can pinpoint issue. I have seen quite a few thousand people complaining of the same issue and reported it to vw as well as nhtsa and NO ONE will do a recall. Chrysler did a recall for this same issue but NOT vw. This is a safety issue for not only the owner but other drivers on the road. If I get into an accident or cause one I WILL BE suing nhtsa as well as vw for no recall being done. I have printed out over 100 pages of…
The transmission on our 2012 VW Routan has completely failed. The car will not go into gear and left my wife in a position where she was stranded in traffic. We are the original owners of this vehicle and have followed the recommended maintenance schedule. The engine in this vehicle is a Chrysler Pentastar V6. (The vehicle was built as a joint venture between VW and Chrysler) According to online research Chrysler has recognized a “fatal flaw” in this engine and has extended warranty to customers in order to cover repairs beyond 100,000 miles. We only have 72,000 on our vehicle. I have spoken…
referenced to recall nhsta Id no:11v-151 same issue happens on newer models, the car key ignition switch does not secure the key and that causes the car shut-down in tje middle of highway or road intermittently! ıt does not give any dashboard warning and no codes! all the lights are being gone and even ac shuts off! when ı push the key the lights come back on and the car can be turned on again. similiar problems are poster on youtube: https://youtu.be/ZESy-MnVPZs
The battery started dying randomly several months ago. I have called multiple dealerships and had diagnostics ran twice on the car. Initially I was told there is no draw on the battery. Then it was discovered that the TIPM module needs to be replaced. I then started researching this problem with this vehicle only to find multiple forums full of people having the same exact issue or worse! As in, their car stalls on the highway randomly while driving!! Someone could die! This module fails and in my case causes the fuel pump to continue running even when the car is off which completely drains…
VEHICLE HAS EXPERIENCED STALLING, ENGINE SHUTDOWN, AND DIFFICULTY STARTING MULTIPLE TIMES. ENGINE HAS NOW STALLED MORE FREQUENTLY AT BOTH LOW SPEEDS AND WHILE DRIVING ON HIGHWAY. EACH TIME, RPM'S HAVE GONE TO ZERO AND IT'S COMPLETELY LOST POWER TO STEERING. I'VE HAD TRY AND COAST/NAVIGATE SAFELY TO SIDE OF ROAD, BERM, ETC., STOP, AND RESTART THE VAN. AT TIMES THE DASH LIGHTS WILL FLASH, OTHER TIMES THERE IS NO INDICATION THAT A FAILURE HAD OCCURRED, JUST NO POWER/RPMS. NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT REMAINS, NO CODES DISPLAYED, NOTHING. THE LOCAL VOLKSWAGEN DEALER WILL NOT EVEN ADDRESS THE ISSUE AS…
HAD TO REPLACE RIGHT REAR WHEEL BEARING AT APPROXIMATELY 60,000 MILES. HAD TO REPLACE LEFT REAR WHEEL BEARING AT 80,500 MILES. BOTH WHEEL BEARINGS WERE MAKING GRINDING NOISES. RACK AND PINION HYDRAULIC LINE CRACKED AT ELBOW AND HAD TO BE REPLACED. RACK AND PINION PROBLEM OCCURRED WHILE DRIVING CLOSE TO HOME. LOST ALL STEERING IN DRIVEWAY. *TR
DRIVING AT LOW SPEED VAN RACED FORWARD THEN STOPPED ALMOST HIT ANOTHER VEHICLE. NOW WON'T RUN AND CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON. I WAS IN A PARKING LOT OF A TARGET WHEN HAPPENED
Volkswagen guides on CarHooq
2012 Volkswagen Routan: questions owners ask
Is the 2012 Volkswagen Routan reliable?
NHTSA data alone cannot rate reliability, but it shows what owners reported. Owners filed 63 complaints with NHTSA about the 2012 Volkswagen Routan; the most common categories were electrical system (39, 61.9%), engine (21, 33.3%), fuel/propulsion system (8, 12.7%). There is 1 safety recall. 1 complaint mentions a crash, 2 injuries were reported.
What are the most common problems with the 2012 Volkswagen Routan?
Across 63 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the categories mentioned most often are electrical system (61.9% of complaints), engine (33.3% of complaints), fuel/propulsion system (12.7% of complaints), steering (12.7% of complaints), power train (11.1% of complaints). One complaint can name several components.
Does the 2012 Volkswagen Routan have any recalls?
Yes. NHTSA lists 1 recall for the 2012 Volkswagen Routan; the most recent (campaign 12V147000, 2012-04-05) concerns Suspension: Rear. Recall repairs are free at a franchised dealer; check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Why does my 2012 Volkswagen Routan stall, lose power or shut off while driving?
21 of the 63 owner complaints NHTSA has on file for the 2012 Volkswagen Routan (33.3%) describe the engine stalling, losing power or shutting off while driving. One owner wrote: "My vehicle is shutting off while driving. It randomly shuts off and I see there are other recalls associated with this issue for a different year but same vehicle/model. I am being quoted well over $2,000 in repairs. This vehicle only has 130,000 miles on it." (NHTSA complaint 11578885, March 2024). If it happens to your car, check your VIN for open recalls at nhtsa.gov/recalls and report the problem to NHTSA; complaints are what trigger investigations.
Why won't my 2012 Volkswagen Routan start?
7 of the 63 owner complaints NHTSA has on file for the 2012 Volkswagen Routan (11.1%) describe the car failing to start. One owner wrote: "Van randomly goes to 3rd on the highway. going to neutral and back to drive corrects the issue. van will not start/crank randomly. van turns off on the highway randomly. random "enter security code" on the nav system. 129k miles on it." (NHTSA complaint 11245265, August 2019). If it happens to your car, check your VIN for open recalls at nhtsa.gov/recalls and report the problem to NHTSA; complaints are what trigger investigations.
Why is the check engine light on in my 2012 Volkswagen Routan?
6 of the 63 owner complaints NHTSA has on file for the 2012 Volkswagen Routan (9.5%) describe the check engine light coming on. One owner wrote: "Driving at low speed van raced forward then stopped almost hit another vehicle. now won't run and check engine light on. i was in a parking lot of a target when happened" (NHTSA complaint 11204319, April 2019). If it happens to your car, check your VIN for open recalls at nhtsa.gov/recalls and report the problem to NHTSA; complaints are what trigger investigations.
Check your own Routan
Counts are a starting point, not a verdict: popular models collect more complaints because more of them are on the road, and NHTSA does not verify individual reports. To see whether a recall is still open on your car, enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls (U.S.) or your registration at check-vehicle-recalls.service.gov.uk (UK). Had a safety problem? Report it to NHTSA; complaints are what trigger investigations and recalls.
Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation recall and complaint databases (public domain), retrieved October 25, 2026. Model year 2012 only.