I backed up my car and upon turning the wheel I heard some crackling from the steering wheel. The airbag and transmission error lights came on and I lost functionality of all the buttons on the steering wheel and the horn. Based on research, this is a clock spring that has been recalled for other model years.

- Palm Bay, FL, USA

The clock spring fails. Causing the airbag light to illuminate. The car is a 2015 and the first clock spring failed in January 2021, with around 155,00 miles (estimate). Second one failed this week with 162,000 miles. I know the car is old, but the part that gets power to the airbag should last more than 2 years. Volkswagen extended the warranty of the part, but we were outside for both repairs now. The dealer tells me this part is fixed on a regular basis to the point he was surprised he was able to get the part. I feel like for the part that supplies power to the airbag, an extended warranty is not sufficient. (For the information below, I was in a parking lot when the clock spring broke, so speed was irrelevant, np accident occurred)

- Ellijay, GA, USA

I did a left-U turn- heard a loud sound, and then all the electrical things on my steering wheel failed, like horn, air bag, and controls. The failed airbag light is on, and it has other warning lights as well. I am now not protected in a crash, nor can I use my horn. I believe from a bit of research that my car has what I think is the same clockspring defect that VW has had in a TON of their vehicles- mine has failed- but does not seem to fall into a safety recall. Why is that? This seems to be a serious safety problem they have had- and I believe it should be covered by the manufacturer.

- Lexington, KY, USA

After turning on the vehicle, I turned the steering wheel and heard a click, then the airbag malfunction warning light came on immediately. Horn and all steering wheel buttons have stopped working (radio control, cruise control etc). and airbag warning light remains on. This seems obviously to be the broken clock spring problem. Vehicle has about 105,000 miles on it. I am not sure if the steering area was ever serviced during a previous safety recall, but I have never had any service on the steering wheel or issues in that area.

- Haverhill, MA, USA

steering wheel clock spring malfunction, it is broke

- Miami, FL, USA

I have a 2015 VW Golf sportwagen with about 47K miles. 9 months ago I had my clock spring go bad in my vehicle, which rendered my airbag to be disabled. The replacement was covered under the 3yr/36K mike warranty that comes with the car new (this is a tdi model, so the in-service date is May 2018 -car has approx. 32K miles on it at the time of repair). Today (March 2021), I had my clock spring go bad again, which disabled my airbag, again. VW tells me that my model specifically isn't covered under an existing extended warranty that has been issued to resolve this problem. This is a widespread problem with almost all models of VW from 2010-2018 and the NHTSA is well aware. My model of clock spring, although used in many of these other models that are coverage by this extended warranty, is not covered by VW. I'm not driving with no airbags until I can afford to replace out of pocket. This is a known issue and should cover all models which use that same clock spring that is the problem.

- Fallbrook, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2015 Volkswagen Golf sportwagen. While backing into the driveway, the air bag indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to prestige Volkswagen (321-309-8989, located at 1416 S harbor city blvd, melbourne, fl 32901) where it was diagnosed that the clockspring needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 44,784. Consumer stated other models of VW have been recalled for this same thing. This model should have been as well, estimate from prestiage VW $135 diagnosis, $727.54 repair/tax/ X charges. Air bag failure light came on as I was backing into the driveway at about 1 mph. 'parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).'

- West Melbourne, FL, USA

Clock spring failed at 52,000 miles--affecting both the airbag and horn. VW refused to reimburse me for the repair, despite their clock spring recall on multiple VW models, that was initiated by NHTSA investigation.

- Fayetteville, NY, USA

The display screen says error: Airbag, then it says error: Transmission. All the bottons on the streeing wheel do not work curse control, bottons for changing the display to see info about the car, and radio. The car was driving on city streets when the messages first where noticed. I think it has something to do with inside the steering wheel and think it might be the clock spring. The fact that it is saying error: Airbag, I am concerned that the airbag will not work, or might just go off for no reason.

- Eaton, CO, USA

Loud snapping sound while turning, airbag warning light illuminated, lost all electrical functions of steering wheel, including horn & airbag. Vehicle was in motion. Had vehicle examined, codes pulled, determined it was failure of the clock spring mechanism.

- Lincoln, RI, USA