Home · 2017 Volkswagen Jetta Hev · Complaints

What 158 owners told NHTSA about the 2017 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 (158)Crash / fire / injury (20)Fuel system (41)Electrical system (33)Engine (31)Airbags (21)Brakes (15)Steering (14)Transmission & drivetrain (14)Speed control (7)Electronic Stability Control (esc) (5)Lights (5)

7 of 158 complaints match · Speed control · clear filters

Jul 11, 2020Electrical systemSpeed control

MY CAR CAN BE TURNED OFF AND DOES NEED TO BE IN PARK. THE ELECTRICAL COMES AND GOES BUT THE MOST ALARMING IS THE JETTA ACCELERATES ON IT'S OWN AND IT TAKES A COUPLE OF MINUTES TO GET IT UNDER CONTROL. AT ONE POINT I HAVE NO WAY OF STOPPING THE ACCELERATION TO STOP. ALSO, I ASKED CRESTMONT VW IF IT WAS NORMAL TO HAVE CAR OFF AND NOT IN PARK. THEY ACTED LIKE IT WAS NORMAL. THE JETTA HAS ROLLED BACK AND ALMOST HIT PEOPLE. I HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY RECALLS FROM THE COMPANY. IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME.

NHTSA ODI 11338771

Jun 4, 2020SteeringSpeed controlElectronic Stability Control (esc)

I HAVE A 2017VW JETTA WHICH SUDDENLY 'LOCKS' AS I AM DRIVING. MY CAR SUDDENLY STARTS REDUCING SPEED AND THE BREAKS BECOME STIFF. I SEE SEVERAL LIGHTS FLASH ON THE DASHBOARD, SUCH AS THE EPC LIGHT, TIRE WARNING LIGHTS, AND MOTOR LIGHT. AFTER THE MATTER, IF I WANT TO START THE VEHICLE AGAIN, THE BREAK AND SHIFT STICK BECOME STIFF AND I CAN'T START THE IGNITION. I RECALL THIS HAPPENING TO ME ONE YEAR AFTER BUYING THE VEHICLE BUT ALL I DID WAS TURN OFF THE CAR AND THE LIGHTS WENT AWAY. I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE MY CAR WITHOUT THAT HAPPENING FOR A YEAR OR SO AND IT HAPPENED AGAIN. SAME THING, I WOULD HAVE TO PULL OVER, TURN THE VEHICLE OFF AND WAIT FOR ABOUT 20-30 MIN FOR THE VEHICLE TO START. YESTERDAY THIS HAPPENED TO ME WHILE DRIVING TO WORK. I WAS DRIVING ABOUT 70MPH ON THE FREEWAY AND I NOTICED MY STEERING WHEEL BECAME STIFF AND MY CAR STARTED REDUCING SPEED ON ITS OWN. I NO LONGER HAD CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE FORCING ME TO PULL OVER ON THE SIDE OF THE FREEWAY AT A VERY LOW SPEED ALMOST CAUSING AN ACCIDENT. I HAD TO WAIT ABOUT 15 MIN FOR MY CAR TO START AND WAS ABLE TO GET DOWN OF THE FREEWAY BUT IT KEPT ON HAPPENING ON MY WAY HOME AND I HAD TO PULL OVER ABOUT 6 TIMES WAITING 10-15MIN EACH TIME FOR MY CAR TO START. I SCHEDULED A SERVICE APPOINTMENT WITH MY LOCAL DEALERSHIP SO THEY CAN TAKE A LOOK AT IT AND HOPEFULLY FIX THIS PROBLEM. I BELIEVE THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO GET ADDRESSED IMMEDIATELY. *TR

NHTSA ODI 11327216

Jul 2, 2019Electrical systemSpeed controlEngine

I HAVE A VOLKSWAGEN JETTA GLI 2.0 TURBO. IT CURRENTLY HAS 55,000. I AM HAVING A PROBLEM ON INITIAL START WHERE BY IT RUNS ROUGH, SOMETIMES STALLS AT IDLE AND SOMETIMES STALLS ON INITIAL ACCELERATION. THIS STARTED AS A 30 DAY PROGRESS OF GETTING WORSE. NOW THE YELLOW ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON AND AT THE SAME TIME THE CRUISE CONTROL YELLOW LIGHT APPEARS (INTERMITTENT). COMPUTER DIAGNOSTICS WERE RUN. WHEN TESTS WERE RUN AS A GROUP NO FAILURES REPORTED BUT WHEN RUN INDIVIDUALLY 7 FAULTS OCCURRED INCLUDING CYLINDER MISS-FIRES AND CAMSHAFT ADJ BANK 1 INTAKE ERROR

NHTSA ODI 11228971

Jun 9, 2019Speed controlBrakes

I WAS TRAVELING ON THE HIGHWAY WITH THE CRUISE CONTROL ON AT 65 MPH AND IT SUDDENLY SLOWED DOWN OR DISENGAGED FOR NO REASON. I DIDN'T THINK MUCH OF IT AND RETURNED TO THE SAME SPEED AND TURNED ON THE CRUISE AGAIN. THEN ABOUT 15 MINUTES LATER, WHEN TRAFFIC BEGIN TO SLOW AHEAD, I TRIED HITTING THE BRAKES AND HAD ZERO BRAKING ABILITY. THE CRUISE DID NOT DISENGAGE AND I HAD TO PULL THE E BRAKE TO GET THE CAR TO SLOW DOWN CAUSING THE CAR TO FISH TAIL AND ALMOST HIT A CONCRETE BARRIER.

NHTSA ODI 11218748

Apr 2, 2019Speed controlBrakes

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2017 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 35 MPH, THE CONTACT ATTEMPTED TO SLOW DOWN BY DEPRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL; HOWEVER, THE VEHICLE SPONTANEOUSLY ACCELERATED. THE CONTACT HAD TO PUSH THE START BUTTON AND SHIFT INTO PARK TO STOP THE VEHICLE. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT THE FAILURE OCCURRED APPROXIMATELY FOUR TIMES IN ONE MONTH AND WAS WORSENING. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO VOLKSWAGEN VAN NUYS (6115 VAN NUYS BLVD, VAN NUYS, CA 91401) WHERE IT WAS AWAITING DIAGNOSTIC TESTING. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 8,400.

NHTSA ODI 11193447

Apr 1, 2019Speed controlBrakesCrashFire

TAKARA RECALL- MY BRAKES JAMMED UP AND WOULD NOT STOP, WHICH RESULTED IN A VEHICLE COLLISION ON NOVEMBER 29, 2018. I TRIED PRESSING THE BRAKES, HOWEVER, THEY JUST WOULD NOT STOP. I WAS DRIVING HOME ON A CITY STREET. THEY HAD DONE THIS AFTER I GOT THEM SERVICED BEFORE AND I NOTIFIED THE DEALERSHIP, HOWEVER, I WAS TOLD THEY WERE FINE.

NHTSA ODI 11192914

Jul 3, 2018Speed control

I PURCHASED MY VEHICLE NEW AT 19,000 MILES THE ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL SYSTEM HAS FAILED WHICH ALSO CONTROLS THE AUTONOMOUS BRAKING, THE EXTRA 2500 DOLLARS FOR THIS SYSTEM IS USELESS, AND WILL NOT HOLD A RE-CALIBRATION.

NHTSA ODI 11105306

Working with the data? Download all 158 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 2017 Volkswagen Jetta Hev verdict →