2018 Volkswagen Passat problems and recalls

Owners have filed 45 complaints on the 2018 Volkswagen Passat, and NHTSA has issued 4 recalls. The most cited component is the Service Brakes (12 complaints).

45
Complaints
4
Recalls
5
Crash reports
0
Fire reports
2
Injuries
66.9
Severity index

Severity index 66.9 Medium. The index weights crashes, fires, injuries and fatalities per 100 complaints. How it is calculated.

Middle half of all tracked vehiclesThis vehicle: 66.9p25 46p75 80cleanestworst
Severity index against the quartile range for all tracked vehicles.

Ranked 39 of 122 by severity index among 2018 vehicles with at least 40 complaints, highest first. 68% of those vehicles scored lower. Full 2018 ranking.

Components cited in complaints

Service BrakesService Brakes: 12 complaints (26.7%)12 27%EngineEngine: 11 complaints (24.4%)11 24%Electrical SystemElectrical System: 10 complaints (22.2%)10 22%Fuel/Propulsion SystemFuel/Propulsion System: 6 complaints (13.3%)6 13%Air BagsAir Bags: 5 complaints (11.1%)5 11%Vehicle Speed ControlVehicle Speed Control: 4 complaints (8.9%)4 9%Power TrainPower Train: 3 complaints (6.7%)3 7%Forward Collision Avoid…Forward Collision Avoidance: 3 complaints (6.7%)3 7%
A single complaint can cite more than one component, so shares total over 100%.
ComponentComplaintsShare of complaints citing it
SERVICE BRAKES1226.7%
ENGINE1124.4%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM1022.2%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM613.3%
AIR BAGS511.1%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL48.9%
POWER TRAIN36.7%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE36.7%

Complaints filed per year

0482018: 52019: 42020: 72021: 82022: 22023: 42024: 52025: 42026: 6 (partial year)1819202182223242526
Complaints by the calendar year they were filed. The hatched bar is the current year to date.
YearComplaints
20185
20194
20207
20218
20222
20234
20245
20254
2026 (year to date)6
Filings in 2023 to 2025 were close to 2020 to 2022 (13 against 17).

Recall campaigns

CampaignReportedComponentSummary
18V53600015/08/2018SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:CALIPERVolkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018 Volkswagen Atlas and 2017-2018 Volkswagen Passat vehicles. The brake caliper bracket mounting bolts on these vehicles may not have been tightened sufficiently.
18V36900001/06/2018SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:CALIPERVolkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018 Volkswagen Atlas, Passat, Beetle, Beetle Convertible, Golf, Golf SportWagen and GTI and Audi Q5 and SQ5 vehicles. The brake caliper pistons on these vehicles may have insufficient coating, potentially reduc
19V38900022/05/2019EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTSVolkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2012-2020 Volkswagen Passat and 2018-2019 Atlas vehicles. The blocking cap disabling the adjustment of the headlight's horizontal aim may not have been installed. As such, these vehicles fail to conform to Fede
20V56100016/09/2020UNKNOWN OR OTHERVolkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018 Volkswagen Golf R and Atlas, 2017 Golf Alltrack and E-Golf and 2016-2018 Passat vehicles. These internal use vehicles were sold without confirmation that they were built to all applicable regulatory require

Other Volkswagen Passat model years

Severity index for every other model year on file. Compare all 10 years side by side.

Source. NHTSA public complaint and recall APIs (api.nhtsa.gov), retrieved 2026-07-25. Complaints are unverified consumer reports. Totals vary with units sold and years on the road. Not affiliated with NHTSA or any manufacturer.