Check a VIN

2016 Volkswagen Jetta: excessive oil consumption

6 of the 162 complaints about the 2016 Volkswagen Jetta describe excessive oil consumption.

owner complaints
6
of this car's complaints
4%
recalls
1
Is there a fix? There is 1 recall and 159 service bulletins for this area of the car. See below

Excessive oil consumption by model year

What owners say

Filed Jan 18, 2026 · Engine, Transmission · AL

Car was great for first 100000 miles. Then it was not. While driving in heavy traffic on a three lane highway, car lost power, ability to accelerate and went into limp mode. EPC code went on. Very dangerous. Took it to several mechanics, VW dealerships, could find nothing wrong. Issue has happened over 100x since, but I am unable to afford another vehicle and pray over car continually to keep me and others on road safe. Few times car would suddenly shudder like engine was quitting. Canceled medical trip to city when this happened 50 miles from home. Have had to cancel work as well one day when this happened. Recently bought a FIXD sensor and it diagnosed issues with faulty gas cap and purge valve. Replaced both. That issue seems to have resolved. Car has been burning oil like crazy. Sometimes 1L after driving 150 miles. Fuel efficiency is terrible. Even running 91 grade fuel hasn't helped. In cold weather, around -30, sometimes driver door won't close. Literally have to drive with one hand holding steering wheel and one hand on door. Scary. Newest issue this week. While driving highway speed, low oil light flashed momentarily. Then speedometer and rpm gages quit. Then entire instrument cluster went black. Was almost at work, so prayed and got there safely. After work, instrument cluster worked, but car started and stalled immediately. Mechanic code reader pulls up nothing. My FIXD reader says it's a upstream oxygen sensor. Looking at youtube videos, the issue it describes sounds like this may have been what contributed to those EPC codes for last few years. Borrowing a vehicle from family - car is stranded at work. This is my first and likely last VW.

Filed Jan 5, 2024 · Engine · TX

There is an issue with the amount of engine oil used. It is burned up at a rapid pace. This has caused my car to malfunction (EPC light turns on). This happened to me driving on the highway it put myself and my passengers in danger as the car would slow down and jerk abruptly. My car has been inspected by a VW dealership. They found no issue on it. However, when taking it to an independent VW mechanic shop, I was informed this is a common issue in this car. They engine oil burns drastically. This has caused me to spend a significant amount of money to replenish the oil level every week. My current situation is using about 3 quartz of oil every 1500 miles! Otherwise, my car will run with no oil which could lead to permanent engine problems and dangerous driving conditions. The low oil warning goes off almost all the time. I was quoted a repair cost from an independent shop of more than $3,000 to fix this well known issue by reconstructing parts of the car to mirror newer models for which VW fixed this problem. This indicates to me VW is aware of this factory defect. Moreover, tons of people are reporting this issue online. I recall is in order.

Filed Jun 30, 2023 · Engine, Fuel system · MS

We purchased the car in May 2021, within a week, the check engine light, EPC and oil lamp became illuminated. Contacted dealership who "inspected" it and said "nothing was wrong and reset the lights." A few weeks go by and the same thing. We noticed the car was "stuttering" during acceleration. We attempted to bring it to the dealership they couldn't inspect our vehicle because they didn't have "availability". My husband brought it to a local mechanic who recommended bringing it to the dealership again because of the codes it was throwing. We scheduled an appt which was 4 months out. During that time the oil was changed every 1.5 months because the lights kept coming on. Moved to Mississippi and the issues became worse. The vehicle would seem to lose power while driving on the interstate causing a Semi to veer into the other lane because the car went from 70mph to 20mph in a matter of seconds. Brought it to VW of South MS, was told Timing case, sealant, rail, tensioner, gasket, and several other things were needed to be replaced. Was told the vehicle was burning oil, lower timing cover was replaced and found bolts from tensioner broken and metal shavings. Was charged over $2500. 1 week later same exact issues occurred again. Brought it in, reset lights told us "it's fine" Few weeks of the car not being driven, happens again. We bring it back and they inform us of an array of "new issues" charges us $2000 and within a week the car is back for the same exact issue. I reviewed the recalls but it is saying none of them apply to my vehicle but they are the exact things that are going on. It is unsafe to drive the car. My husband will not allow me to drive it out of fear that it will stall and result in a serious MVA. Why isn't VW doing anything about this issue? How many people have to get injured or killed for them to conduct an investigation for this issue?

Filed Jul 3, 2021 · Engine · MA

Excessive oil consumption over a short period of time - inspected by auto mechanic and VW dealer - no leaks and no buring of oil noted. Loosing a quart over the period of one month after an oil change - warning light comes on but when you are alone on the highway at night you cant always pull over.

Filed Mar 4, 2021 · Engine · 64,000 miles · AZ

Beginning at 60k miles I realized that my jetta sport 1.8l began to consume oil at a much higher rate than usual so much so that I took it to my nearby dealership and had it looked at. I was told that there were no leaks and that the older vw's get the more they burn oil. However, they referred to the oil burning at around a quart every 5,000 miles but my car is burning oil at 5 times that speed of a quart every 1,000 miles. I have to keep a quart of oil in my car at all times and it is beginnign to become expensive. I travel between states often and do the arizona-indiana and back trip once a year so it does have mostly highway miles on it.

Filed Jun 12, 2019 · Brakes, Engine · 78,000 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2016 volkswagen jetta. The contact took the vehicle to gunther volkswagen of coconut creek (4300 fl-7, coconut creek, fl 33073) for a software update per the federal safety agency campaign number: 15v705000 (engine and engine cooling, service brakes hydraulic). The contact was advised by the mechanic that the oil consumption on the vehicle was high and metal shavings were found inside the oil reservoir. The vehicle was not repaired for the metal shavings. The contact also stated that after the software update was performed the "ECM" warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 78,000.

Service bulletins that may apply

Related recalls

Engine and engine cooling: engineReported October 26, 2015 · 91,867 vehicles affected
What is wrong
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2015-2016 Jetta, Beetle, Beetle Convertible, Passat, Golf and Golf SportWagen vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the camshaft lobe that drives the brake vacuum pump may shear off, resulting in a loss of brake assist.
Risk
If the camshaft lobe shears off there would be a loss of brake assist, lengthening the distance needed to stop the vehicle and increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy
Volkswagen dealer will update the engine control module (ECM) software. The recall began March 2016. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1‑800‑822‑8987. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 23R1.

Recall number 15V705000 · Recall details

Questions about the 2016 Volkswagen Jetta oil consumption

Is excessive oil consumption a common problem on the 2016 Volkswagen Jetta?

6 of 162 owner complaints about the 2016 Volkswagen Jetta (4%) mention excessive oil consumption. The model year with the most reports is 1999.

Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2016 Volkswagen Jetta?

There is 1 recall and 159 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.

Other symptoms on the 2016 Volkswagen Jetta

Check engine light 21Stalling 8Fuel smell 7ABS 6No deployment 6Fire or smoke 6Headlights 6Loss of power 6Brake failure 5Transmission failure 5

All model years of the Volkswagen Jetta

VIN decoder

See the problems and recalls for an exact car

Buying a used 2016 Volkswagen Jetta?

Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.

Check its history