Home · 2011 Volkswagen Jetta Hev · Complaints

What 639 owners told NHTSA about the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta Hev

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (639)Crash / fire / injury (43)Electrical system (200)Fuel system (96)Engine (93)Fuel System, Diesel (82)Transmission & drivetrain (55)Lights (46)Airbags (38)Brakes (28)Engine & cooling (26)Speed control (26)

26 of 639 complaints match · Engine & cooling · clear filters · page 2 of 2

Oct 27, 2010Engine & cooling

18 DAYS AND 400 ODOMETER MILES AFTER PURCHASING MY 2011 JETTA SPORTWAGEN TDI, THE 'GLOWLIGHT' WARNING LIGHT CAME ON WHILE DRIVING. THE FOLLOWING DAY, THE 'GLOWLIGHT' BEGAN TO BLINK, THEN THE 'CATALYTIC' WARNING LIGHT ALSO BEGAN BLINKING. CAR WAS TAKEN TO DEALERSHIP THE SAME DAY. AFTER (REMOTE) DIAGNOSTIC ASSISTANCE FROM THE MANUFACTURER, DEALER REPORTED THAT THE 'CRANK SENSOR' NEEDED REPLACING. AFTER 2 DAYS, THE DEALER INFORMED ME THAT IT WAS NOT THE 'CRANK SENSOR' AFTER ALL. DAYS LATER, A MANUFACTURER'S REP INSPECTED THE CAR AT THE DEALERSHIP AND DETERMINED THAT AN ONBOARD COMPUTER WAS THE PROBLEM, AND THAT ONE WOULD ARRIVE FROM GERMANY IN 10 TO 14 DAYS. DEALER LATER REVISED THAT TIME ESTIMATE TO 35 DAYS. IF DEALER'S ESTIMATE IS CORRECT, MY NEW CAR WILL HAVE BEEN IN THE SHOP FOR WELL OVER 40 DAYS. NOTE: U.S. DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION DATABASE SHOWS AT LEAST 3 SIMILAR COMPLAINTS FOR 2010 JETTA TDI'S. SEE ODI ID # 10359939, 10359434, 10353544. SO WHY HASN'T VOLKSWAGEN CORRECTED THIS KNOWN PROBLEM? *TR

NHTSA ODI 10362604

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Working with the data? Download all 639 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 26, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2011 Volkswagen Jetta Hev verdict →