2017 Volkswagen Passat Steering Problems

Today, as my wife was driving home, she heard a "crunch" noise while making a turn. Afterwards, the Airbag light came on, and her steering wheel botton functions are not working, including her car horn. This all relates to the clockspring. This will be the third time we have had the clockspring replaced. This is extremely inconvenient, as the dealership is an hour away. The original clockspring didn't break until October 2023. The second broke and replaced in August of 2024. Now, we are scheduling to have the clockspring replaced again, 6 months later. I am unsure why the part is so unreliable. Whomever manufactures the part needs to do a FAR better job. This was our first new car, and now we regret the purchase due to this headache.

NHTSA ID

11655558

Incident

Apr 18, 2025

Our 2017 VW Passat had the clockspring replaced last year under warranty number [XXX] at Barnes Crossing Volkswagen in Tupelo, MS. The airbag stopped working and safety features such as adaptive cruise control were also not available. Not realizing the airbag would NOT deploy in the event of an accident, Volkswagen asked us to drive an hour to have it repaired which was considerably dangerous. As of today the clockspring they replaced once again failed with the same associated problems. I am submitting a report due to how dangerous this problem is considering they supposedly fixed the issue however it seems multiple people have reported the issue coming back. The fact the airbag could stop working at anytime due to a defective clockspring is very troublesome and make me worry in the event of an accident if the clockspring will fail thus not allowing the airbag to deploy. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11584287

Incident

Apr 21, 2024

Clock spring has failed 5 times within a year. The first clock spring replacement failed two weeks after the repair. I the. took it to a different dealership to be repaired. The second clock spring broke about 6 months later. The third clock spring broke two weeks after the repair. The fourth clock spring broke two months later and I am about to have it repaired within the next week. Due to the faulty clock spring, the driver side air bag will not deploy in the event of an accident and I have no use of the horn - both of which are necessary when living in South Florida. There are only two dealerships within reasonable driving distance to have the repair done (while the part is under warranty). It takes at least a week, if not more, to get an appointment at the dealership to ensure they have the part at the time of the repair. During which time, I have no choice but to drive the vehicle without the use of the air bag. Even though I can tell when the clock spring is likely about to break, I cannot take it to the dealership for repair until it has actually broken. This is not only extremely inconvenient, but hazardous as I’d be without safety mechanisms in the event of an accident. This should not be a reoccurring issue with the vehicle. The dealership has gone as far as contacting VW support to ensure the correct part is replaced and repaired properly, yet it continues to happen. It is unrelated to my driving or the way the part has been repaired. It is simply faulty parts being supplied.

NHTSA ID

11573880

Incident

Feb 21, 2024

steering wheel clock spring failed

NHTSA ID

11521068

Incident

Mar 1, 2023

The Air Bag light, temperature warning, radio and information panel going wacky. The Clockspring is making clicking noises in the steering wheel.

NHTSA ID

11486761

Incident

Sep 24, 2022

no prior warnings before malfunction ,all fuses were checked to no fault. OBD scan reported car lost communication with steering column control module On steering wheel, multifunction buttons and horn stopped working. Airbag light illuminated. OBD scan reported driver airbag igniter resistance too high Emergency braking and blind spot were no longer working although front parking assist still worked.

NHTSA ID

11459938

Incident

Feb 25, 2022

I had my battery changed at the VW dealership and a week later, my horn stopped working, my airbag light came on and my front assist no longer works. There’s also a clicking noise when I turn my steering wheel. It seems this clock coil issue has been a recall issue for VW for years, but when I search my VIN it list no recalls of this nature.

NHTSA ID

11458432

Incident

Mar 26, 2022

While driving straight in dry weather (i.e. no rain), the lane light will change from – green – to – yellow – color in the dash and the steering wheel will jerk, usually left, sometimes right, very abruptly, as if the car is trying to find the lane with lane assist on. Note, this is on well marked city streets and on regular interstate roads with clearly marked dashed lane lines. This has been happening for at least two months (today's date Dec. 12, 2021) and only now reporting this complaint. It did almost cause me to run into the car beside me several times or turn into the center median (trees) on city streets.

NHTSA ID

11443830

Incident

Dec 14, 2021

My airbag light came on, the steering wheel started to make crunching noise. Now all functions are now working on the steering wheel and upon looking up online there seems to be many issues with Volkswagen cars clock spring breaking. Why is this not recalled? There is hundreds of customers commenting about the same problem?

NHTSA ID

11440419

Incident

Nov 1, 2021

THE DRIVER AIRBAG LIGHT WENT ON, THE WHOLE STEERING WHEEL CONTROL STOPPED WORKING AS SOON AS THIS LIGHT WENT ON. THE AGENCY ADVICES US THAT THIS IS A VERY COMMON ISSUE WITH THIS VEHICLE. THAT THERE WAS A RECALL FOR THIS SAME ISSUE FOR THE CLOCK COIL I BELIEVE HE CALLED IT, AND I WANT TO VERIFY WHY MY VEHICLE IS EXPERIENCING THIS SAME ISSUE AND IS NOT ONE OF THE RECALLED MODELS? HOW DO YOU DETERMINE THAT ONLY CERTAIN MODELS WHERE AFFECTED, THIS YOU USE DIFFERENT COILS FOR DIFFERENT VEHICLES?

NHTSA ID

11407999

Incident

Mar 30, 2021

ALL THREE SENSORS CAME ON AT THE SAME TIME. AFTER HAVING THEM CHECKED, NO ISSUE WAS FOUND AND CODES WERE RESET. A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER, ALL THREE SENSORS SHOWED UP AGAIN. ALL OF THIS OCCURRED WHILE VEHICLE WAS PARKED, THEN AGAIN IN MOTION.

NHTSA ID

11404095

Incident

Mar 15, 2021

ON 1/12/21 WHILE TURNING INTO A FAST FOOD RESTAURANT I HEARD CLICKING IN THE STEERING COLUMN AND THEN THE AIR BAG LIGHT CAME ON AND ERROR CODES ACROSS THE DIGITAL SCREEN AND A CLOCK EMBLEM SIGNAL CAME ON. PULLED OVER AND LOOKED AT MY MANUAL. DROVE ON HOME AND DID RESEARCH AND FOUND THAT THE CLOCK SPRING IS A MAJOR ISSUE WITH VWS. I WENT BACK OUT TO TEST THE STEERING COLUMN AND SURE ENOUGH THE HORN AND ALL CONTROLS ON THE COLUMN DID NOT WORK. CALLED THE LOCAL VW DEALER THE NEXT DAY. THEY SAID THERE WAS A RECALL ON THIS 2017 PASSAT SEL MODEL. THEY REPLACED 6 DAYS LATER.

NHTSA ID

11390094

Incident

Jan 12, 2021

Mileage

47,500 mi

WHEN TURNING THE WHEEL WHILE DRIVING, I HEARD A CLICKING SOUND FROM THE STEERING WHEEL. THEN THE AIRBAG LIGHT TURNED ON. NOW MY HORN DOES NOT WORK OR ANY OF THE CONTROLS ON THE STEERING WHEEL. I KNOW THIS IS THE CLOCK SPRING MALFUNCTION, WITH THE TAKATA AIRBAG MALFUNCTION THAT HAPPENED WITH THE 2015 PASSATS.

NHTSA ID

11378090

Incident

Dec 4, 2020

Mileage

100,000 mi

AIRBAG LIGHT ON FOR DRIVER SIDE AIRBAG, HORN WILL NOT WORK, CRINKLE SOUND WHEN TURNING STEERING WHEEL. NO POWER TO STEERING WHEEL CONTROLS

NHTSA ID

11348868

Incident

Aug 7, 2020

SINCE I HAVE THIS CAR HAVING PROBLEMS VIBRATIONS I TOOK THE CAR ON VW DEALER FEW TIMES I EXPLAIN TO THEM MY CAR IS VIBRATING WHEN I APPLY THE BRAKES ALSO WHEN I CRUISE OVER 55MPH. THEY TOLD ME ALWAYS CAR IS PERFORMING TO MANUFACTURE SPECIFICATIONS SO NOW I HAVE 6500 MILES ON MY CAR I TOOK MY CAR TO DIFFERENT DEALERSHIP THEY FOUND OUT MY TIRES AR CUPPING. AND MY ROOTS ARE OUT OF ROUND AND ALIGNMENT WAS CORRECT TIRE BALANCING THEY DID FEW TIME TIRE ROATATION SO NOW I HAVE 6500 MILES ON THE CAR LESS THEN 1 YEAR OLD CAR. AND VW OF USA WE CANNOT COVER UNDER WARRANTY I REPLACE THE TIRES ON MY OWN AND THE CAR STILL VIBRATES IDK WHAT TO DO ANY FURTHER VERY DISAPPOINTED ALSO HAVING ISSUES WITH FRONT ASSIST WITH ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL AND LANE ASSIST NO RESPONSE

NHTSA ID

11113466

Incident

Apr 2, 2018

Mileage

6,100 mi

FAILED STEERING WHEEL CLOCK SPRING ON A 2017 VEHICLE THAT HAS BEEN DRIVEN 20,000 MILES OVER 14 MONTHS. AFTER BEING PARKED FOR APPROX 40 MINS, PULLING OUT OF A PARKING SPOT MY STEERING WHEEL MAKE POPPING/CLICKING SOUNDS AND IMMEDIATELY THE AIRBAG ERROR SENSORS WENT OFF ALONG WITH MY SERVICE VEHICLE WARNING. UPON TURNING OUT OF THE PARKING LOT THE STEERING WHEEL MADE A FEW ADDITIONAL POPS/CLICKS. IMMEDIATELY DROVE TO THE DEALERSHIP WHERE THEY DIAGNOSED THE STEERING WHEEL CLOCK SPRING ISSUE. THE DEALERSHIP DID NOT HAVE A PART ON HAND AND HAD TO ORDER IT, SO I DROVE THE VEHICLE HOME. NOW THAT I'M HOME AND RESEARCHING THE FAILED STEERING WHEEL CLOCK SPRING ISSUE, I AM QUESTIONING WHETHER I SHOULD HAVE BEEN ADVISED TO NOT DRIVE THE VEHICLE, ESPECIALLY WITH MY CHILD IN THE BACK SEAT.

NHTSA ID

11062894

Incident

Jan 15, 2018

Mileage

20,000 mi