6.7
fairly significant- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 9,820 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
The vehicle had been making mild clunking noises for some time (at least 2.5 years) during some combinations of turns/bumps. When took to mechanic in January 2020, the sound would not reproduce during test drive, so problem was not diagnosed. Clunking sound became more pronounced over time, until on 8/27/21 while driving a neighborhood road, there was a loud clank, as if some metal part came loose. Then there was very loud clunking, as if a metal part was knocking around loose - more pronounced when turning or going over bumps. Upon inspection by a mechanic later in the day, the sway bar had come loose due to one of the bolts on the driver side sway bar bracket had come out. Both this mechanic and later, the Volkswagen dealer mechanic, said this was very odd, since they normally only see sway bar damage when a car has been in an accident. My car has never been in any kind of accident. Sway bars help ensure a vehicle doesn-??t roll too much when handling turns. Aside from safety, sway bars help prevent lopsided wheel alignment and work to maintain an overall better grip on the road. A faulty sway bar puts the vehicle at risk for rolling during turns. My belief is that there was something faulty about the sway bar mounting bracket or bolt which explains the mild clunking I heard prior to deterioration (more frequent clunking) and ultimate failure (on 8/27/21). I have a write up of the inspection and repair from the dealer. I also have photos from the dealer prior to the repair.
- Portland, OR, USA
There are loud creaking/crunching noises coming from all 4 corners of the vehicle. Searching youtube, it is a prevailing problem in alltracks. It seems to be defecting bushing at the top of the suspension. It occurs when there is lateral compression and occurs even at low speeds. This is dangerous as the entire car rest on these bushing and could cause loss of control when these defective parts fail catastrophically.
- Pickerington, OH, USA
When we bought the car it came lifted with bigger wheels and tires. They did not tell us it was aftermarket and not covered under warranty. It is not safe to be on the road because it keeps blowing the rear shocks. It blows the rear shocks and basically your driving just on coil springs. Which means lack of control to the vehicle.it has been on going since we bought the car for about 8 months.
- Yukon, OK, USA
The front strut mounts on this car continually go bad. After several months of mixed city and highway (no offroad) driving, the struts make a rumble at low speeds on anything but a flat road, and cause a low whine when turning the steering wheel at low speeds (I.e. parking, right turn on red). The mounts have been acknowledged replaced by the dealer twice under warranty and I am currently on my 3rd and they are making the sounds again. My car is currently at 23,000 miles and has the same symptoms. Previous fixes occurred at around 9,000 and 20,000 miles.
- Washington, DC, USA
- Washington, DC, USA