2011 Volkswagen Routan Steering Problems

The brakes randomly stop working. At random times you go to brake and have to push the pedal all the way to the floor to start stopping. 2nd issue. The car dies and looses all power at intermittent times while driving. The car has to be restarted while driving. Could be driving 70 on a hwy or 30 on a residential street. Either coast to the side of the road to restart... or quickly put the car in neutral and restart it while driving. Both of these have almost caused wrecks several times. Unknown own causes to both as they happen at random and different times.

NHTSA ID

11643273

Incident

Feb 15, 2025

loss of steering while driving, fluid loss multiple times since late september 2024(all while driving and no lights or warnings came on), 2 snapped serpentine belts, key ignition sticking(would not turn), dashboard not lighting up, rpm no longer rests below 1.5 - 2, car struggles to accelerate(especially uphill), car turns over and struggles to start, even though has newer battery. 1/9/25 driving to an appointment, upon reaching destination, a pop sound. No smell, no warnings came up on dashboard. Upon leaving, saw fluid leak, headed straight to dealership, at which a massive amount of fluid began pouring out of vehicle..in exact same area as original issue from 8/31/24.

NHTSA ID

11635180

Incident

Aug 31, 2024

While driving on a highway at 65 Mph, vehicle shut down, lost brakes, steering, and all power, had to coast to a stop, narrowly avoiding a collision. Upon exhaustive review, TIPM was faulty, causing starting issues, intermittent power loss, and fuel pump issues. As this van is manufactured by Chrysler (for VW) and their (identical) model has the same issue, it was known and recalled, it is appalling that no recall exists for this VW model. These vans are being financed and bought by families, and like us driven daily with children in them. The issue is widespread, very well known, but as in our case, not disclosed by dealerships as no official action has ever been taken, and no official record exists. We have learned all about it through trial and error, and are having to pay for possibly fatal errors committed on the part of the manufacturer - who, to state again, has in fact already recalled the vehicles due to it being such a wide spread and dangerous issue with a primarily family vehicle. Again, for clarity, the VW Routan is no longer in production, but when it was it was manufactured by Chrysler for VW, and is part for part a Dodge Grand Caravan/Chrysler Town and Country. Why is this critical recall in existence for only a portion of the vehicles? This has become a major issue as we have to continue reducing this van until we can sell or trade it.

NHTSA ID

11457492

Incident

Nov 15, 2021

CAR SHUT OFF NUMEROUS TIMES WHILE DRIVING. THERE WAS NO WAY TO TURN STEERING WHEEL IT JUST STOPS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO KEEP IT RUNNING HOPEFULLY NO ONE IS TAILING ME BECAUSE IF NOT I WILL DEFINITELY CRASH. MECHANIC CAN'T SEEM TO FIND PROBLEM. MAYBE TIPM OR KEY FOB? CHANGED KEY FOB NO LUCK

NHTSA ID

11191746

Incident

Mar 1, 2019

Mileage

85,000 mi

VEICLE HAS STALLED WHILE DRIVING ON CITY STREETS AT 40 MILES PER HOUR POSING A DANGER TO MY SELF AND CHILDREN LEAVING ME AND MY CHILDREN PANICKING FROM SUCH INCIDENT, WAS ABLE TO PULL TO THE SIDE BY HANGING TO STEERING WILL, TURNED IT OFF AND ON AGAIN WHEN I TURNED IT ON VEICLE STARTED ACCELERATING BY ITSELF IT WAS GOING CRAZY, TURNED IT OFF AGAIN AND VEICLE STARTED AS NORMAL, TOOK ONLY 3 MILES FOR SAME THING TO HAPPEN AGAIN. ALSO BATTERY GETS DRAINED IF LEFT OFF FOR MORE THAN 4 HOURS.

NHTSA ID

11061079

Incident

Jan 7, 2018

Mileage

122,000 mi

I HAVE A VOLKSWAGEN ROUTAN 2011 BUILT BY CHRYSLER IN A CANADA FACTORY. THIS VEHICLE IS SHUTTING OFF WHEN DRIVE ON THE FREEWAY. THE GEARS AND SREERING LOCKS UP WHILE DRIVING. THE VEHICLE ALSO HAS ELECTRICAL ISSUES THE LIGHTS TURN ON AND OFF EVEN WHEN THE CAR IS OFF. AFTER PURCHASING A NEW BATTERY AND ALTERNATOR THE CAR IN THE MORNING WILL NOT START. THE BATTERY IS DEAD AND DRAINED. WITH NOTHING ON IT INTERMITTENTLY HAS A DEAD BATTERY AND SHUTS OF AFTER STARTING THE CAR. WHEN I CALL THE VOLKSWAGEN DEALER IN STOCKTON CA TO EXPLAIN THE SERVICE GUY HUNG UP ON MY HUSBAND AND I AND STATED IT'S NOT A RECALL. WE EXPLAIN THAT THOUSANDS ARE HAVING THE SAME ISSUE AND IT'S RECORDED AND ALL OVER YOU TUBE. WE ARE HAVING THE SAME IGNITION SWITCH ISSUES OR POSSIBLE TIPM ISSUES.

NHTSA ID

10968462

Incident

Mar 13, 2017

Mileage

100,000 mi

I WAS DRIVING ALONG A HIGHWAY WITH MY WIFE AND CHILDREN WHEN ALL THE POWER IN MY VEHICLE SHUTOFF. I LOST POWER TO THE ENGINE, POWER STEERING, AND POWER BRAKING. I WAS ABLE TO GET THE VEHICLE OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD WITHOUT INCIDENT. SINCE THEN I HAVE HAD SEVERAL ELECTRICAL ISSUES AND THE VOLKSWAGEN DEALERSHIP HAS ATTRIBUTED IT TO A FAILED TOTALLY INTEGRATED POWER MODULE (TIPM). *TR

NHTSA ID

10702747

Incident

Mar 23, 2015

Mileage

61,000 mi

THE VW ROUTAN RECENTLY WHEN I GOT FROM THE DELESHIP I NOTICE THAT EVERYTIME THAT I WOULD APPLY THE BRAKES WHILE DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY THEN ENTIRE VAN WOULD VIBRATE AND THE STEERING WHEEL WOULD VIBRATE EVEN MORE I DID SOME RESEARCH AND I FOUND THAT I WASN'T THE ONLY ROUTAN OWNER HAVING BRAKE PROBLEMS SO IT LOOKS LIKE THE BRAKE ROTTORS ARE OVER HEATING THAT THEN CAUSED THE ROTTORS TO WARPED!!! SO I TOOK THE CAR TO THE VW DEALERSHIP AND THEY HAD TO REPLACE ALL FOUR ROTTORS AND BRAKE PADS!! BUT BEFORE REPLACING THEM THEY KEEP TELLING ME THAT IT WAS DRIVER ERROR. SO NOW A YEAR AND HALF AFTER THE VW DEALERSHIP FIX THE PROBLEM THE CAR NEEDS ALL NEW BRAKE ROTTORS AND PADS AGAIN DUE TO THE OVER HEATING THAT CAUSED THE ROTTORS TO WARPED AND NOW THEY WON'T FIX THE PROBLEM AGAIN BECAUSE THE WARRANTY EXPIRED; *TR

NHTSA ID

10588773

Incident

Nov 5, 2012

Mileage

34,354 mi

MY 2011 ROUTAN SUDDENLY LOST POWER WHILE I, WITH MY KID ON BOARD, WAS DRIVING ON A HIGHWAY IN MARCH 2014. CAN YOU IMAGINE A VEHICLE STOPPING IN A FLOW OF VEHICLES AT 70+ MPH? ALL LIGHTS WERE ON. I MANAGED TO RESTART THE ENGINE AND WAS ABLE TO DRIVE BUT THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS STILL ON. THE DEALERSHIP FROM WHOM I BOUGHT THE VEHICLE "REPAIRED" IT AND TOLD ME THAT "EVERYTHING IS FINE" BY HAVING A BRAND-NEW SET OF WIRING. A MONTH LATER, THE SAME LIFE-THREATENING ISSUE HAPPENED AGAIN WHILE I WAS DRIVING. THIS TIME, THE VEHICLE STALLED AND I COULD NOT ROTATE THE STEERING WHEEL AT ALL. NOW THE VEHICLE IS AGAIN WITH THE DEALERSHIP FOR DIAGNOSIS. AS A MATTER OF FACT, ABOUT HALF A YEAR AGO BEFORE THESE LOSSES OF POWER HAPPENED, I EXPERIENCED ANOTHER PROBLEM WITH THE VEHICLE. THE ACCELERATION WAS NOT VERY RESPONSIVE. THAT IS, WHEN I HIT THE GAS PEDAL, THE VEHICLE INITIALLY DID NOT ACCELERATE AT ALL AND AFTER 2-3 SECONDS, IT SUDDENLY ACCELERATED. THIS REALLY FRIGHTENED ME AS I TRIED TO CHANGE LANES. NOW I HAVE NO CONFIDENCE WITH THIS VEHICLE AT ALL. I AM DEEPLY WORRIED THAT EVEN IF THE VEHICLE IS "REPAIRED" THIS TIME, I AND MY FAMILY COULD GET INJURED OR KILLED BY HAVING A CAR THAT RANDOMLY SHUTS OFF IN THE MIDST A STREAM OF FAST-MOVING VEHICLES. THIS TYPE OF VEHICLE SHOULD BE BANNED FROM THE ROAD FOR THE SAFETY OF INNOCENT PEOPLE. *JS

NHTSA ID

10585581

Incident

Mar 13, 2014

Mileage

30,000 mi

I HAVE A FEW CONCERNS ABOUT AN ACCIDENT MY WIFE WAS IN ON 12/06/2012. SHE WAS STRUCK HEAD ON BY ANOTHER DRIVER. SHE HAD THREE CHILDREN IN THE CAR. THEY WERE ON A HIGHWAY AND THEY WERE GOING 55MPH AND THE DRIVER THAT HIT THEM HEAD ON WAS GOING AROUND 20MPH ACCORDING TO THE POLICE REPORT. THERE WAS $10,000 DAMAGE TO THE FRONT OF THE ROUTAN. THE BODY SHOP SAYS THAT THEY HAVE TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE FRONT END. MY CONCERNS ARE THAT THE AIRBAGS NEVER DEPLOYED IN THIS CRASH AND THAT MY WIFE AND CHILDREN COULD HAVE BEEN SPARED SOME EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL DISTRESS IF THEY HAD DEPLOYED. MY WIFE AND CHILDREN HAVE EXPRESSED MANY TIMES SINCE THE ACCIDENT THAT THEY DO NOT FEEL SAFE GETTING BACK INTO OR DRIVING THAT SAME VEHICLE AGAIN. MY QUESTIONS ARE: 1. IS THIS SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS FREQUENTLY? 2. IS THIS SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE REPORTED TO THE NHTSA?3. IS THIS SOMETHING THAT I NEED TO GET A LAWYER TO HANDLE? 4. IS THIS SOMETHING WHERE YOU WANT TO GET THE VEHICLE TO INSPECT IT YOURSELF FOR MALFUNCTIONS? 5. I AM SURE IT IS A COINCIDENT, BUT WE GOT AN EMAIL FROM VW AFTER WE TOLD THEM ALL THIS THAT THEY WERE GOING TO STOP MAKING THE ROUTAN AFTER THE NEXT YEAR. IT IS JUST SUSPICIOUS. IF YOU COULD PLEASE GIVE ME AN EMAIL OR CALL BACK PLEASE LET ME KNOW. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND EFFORT IN THIS MATTER. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

NHTSA ID

10491849

Incident

Dec 6, 2012

Mileage

26,000 mi

HAD THE VAN LESS THAN 3 MONTHS AND TOOK IT IN FOR SERVICE - BRAKES SQUEAKING AND STEERING PULLING TO RIGHT W/ONLY 4K MILES. FOUND OUT STEERING BOOT WAS "DISINTEGRATED" AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED, ALONG WITH STEERING PUMP AND RELATED PARTS. DEALERSHIP HAD NO EXPLANATION AS TO WHY THE DAMAGE OCCURRED OR WHAT COULD HAVE CAUSED IT. MY VAN WAS IN THE SHOP FOR 28 DAYS WAITING FOR AVAILABLE PARTS AND COMPLETING REPAIRS. I HAVE ONLY HAD MY VAN BACK A WEEK AND IT'S PULLING TO THE RIGHT AGAIN. ALSO, A/C DOESN'T COOL CONSISTENTLY - FADES IN AND OUT. *TR

NHTSA ID

10421300

Incident

Jul 6, 2011

Mileage

4,000 mi