2015 Volkswagen Jetta: brake failure

Filed Jul 28, 2025 · Brakes · AL

Bottom line: brakes failed to stop car on decline slope. Situation: driver depressed brake and hit start button. With brakes still depressed the driver put the car into gear. However, the gear jolted and the car began rolling forward. Driver attempted to press the brakes without any response. The car rolled to a stop without any control over braking or accelerating. Once stopped the driver put the car back into park and pressed the start button. The car then ignited and started. After starting, pressure came back into the brake pedal and the engine revved when the accelerator was pressed. No issues were detected after the car started. Available for inspection upon request. Safety: the safety of the driver and surrounding persons was endangered due to the vehicle’s inability to stop when the brakes are depressed. Reproduction: the problem has not been reproduced by a dealer, however a second Reddit user describes a similar situation happening in their Jetta. Inspection: part has not been inspected since the incident but was regularly checked before. Warning: no warning lights were on before the event occurred. Car seemed to operate normally.

Filed Mar 26, 2022 · Brakes, Fuel system · IA

You will be driving the car and it will shut off with no warning. You can not steer th ecat you have no brakes.

Filed Oct 21, 2020 · Brakes · 47,000 miles · NY · crash · 1 injury

I have owned this used vehicle for 3 months. When attempting to apply the brake at low speed (10-15mph) the brake pedal stuck in place and would not go down. This brake failure resulted in an accident. During said accident, at low impact, the airbag was triggered to deploy. This leads me to believe the airbag or sensor is defective, as I have been in a much more serious accident with an older jetta that did not result in airbag deployment. I am at risk of having my vehicle totaled out because of these issues when it normally would be repairable.

Filed Oct 6, 2016 · Brakes, Electrical · 16,000 miles · MA

Just seconds after the epc light came on (I didn't know what it meant) my brakes went out. The brake pedal was stiff and my car had no response in slowing down. Luckily I had been in a position where there was time and space to react and to slow down using the e brake. Just minutes earlier I had been on the highway, as well as in some city traffic - if I lost my brakes at any other moment things could have been deadly. Vw ended up swapping out the entire engine. The camshaft had broken in half. I was told by the technician that this was related to some sort of recall issue they had in the past, but I don't know anything more than that. I'm very troubled that a less than 2-year-old car with 16k miles on it can have such a sudden and serious malfunction. Please advise and ensure this does not happen to anyone else. Oh and to make things worse, I was on my honeymoon...

Filed Sep 12, 2016 · Brakes, Engine · 14,907 miles · AZ · crash

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 volkswagen jetta. While at a red light, the engine suddenly revved and the brakes failed to stop the vehicle from moving, the vehicle accelerated and crashed into the preceding vehicle, which then crashed into a third vehicle. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The air bags did not deploy. There were no injuries and a police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a local dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 14,907. The VIN was not provided.

Filed Nov 9, 2015 · Brakes · 9,517 miles · CA

I bought a brand new 2015 vw jetta in june 2015 in san jose, ca. On 7th nov 2015 I was in this jetta with my family, driving at 70 MPH. Traffic started slowing down and I tried braking but I had almost no brakes. There were no warnings in the vehicle to let me know there was a failure. Fortunately I was in the extreme right lane and swerved to get on to the shoulder of the road to avoid hitting other cars. My family and I and others may have been killed or injured. Volkswagen says they will look into it and are will decide if this is covered under warranty. Meanwhile I am without a car and they do not know when they will get it fixed.