2010 Volkswagen Passat: won't start

Filed Mar 14, 2026 · Electrical, Fuel system · FL

My 2010 Volkswagen CC became completely inoperable because of the active fuel pump control module recall (the federal safety agency 17V509). The vehicle stalled and nearly caused an accident. The check engine light came on just before I noticed a burning smell coming from the backseat of my car immediately after smelling that the car suddenly stalled out in the middle of a busy intersection and the engine would not start back up. I had to push it to a gas station parking lot across 3 lanes of traffic. I lifted up the backseat and found that the fuel control module was overheated and melting on top of the fuel pump so I carefully and properly disconnected it from the vehicle. The next day I had the vehicle towed to Lokey Volkswagen in Clearwater, FL. Today 3/14/2026 They did the recall repair and told me my vehicle is safe to drive. Today 3/14/2026 I drove the car 1 mile from the dealership when the exact same thing happened again the car stalled out, and I had to carefully maneuver to the shoulder of hwy us 19 s narrowly missing vehicles in the other lanes. The vehicle was then towed back to lokey Volkswagen. It is pretty clear that the issue was not resolved, and that this fuel control module failing may have affected other parts of the fuel system/wiring and or the fuel control module failed again. I have pictures of the fuel control module, and I gave the initial melted/failed fuel control module to the service department and they took it. The dealership service department is stating that this may be to do something other than the recall repair and that I may be liable for the diagnostic and towing charges. This is a very serious safety issue that almost cost me to get in accidents on the highway twice. I feel that they (Volkswagen) needs to be held responsible for rectification and to find out if there is a connection between this recall and the continuing failure of the vehicle to operate safely.

Filed Jul 24, 2023 · Engine · WV

Drove the car to and from work that day with no problems. Also, went back to work a 2nd side job that evening with no issues. Got home, shut the car off and when my wife and I went out to go to work the next morning at 5 a.m., the car wouldn't start at all. Wouldn't even click. Did a lot of research because I had the starter replaced about 2 weeks before and knew it couldn't be the starter and also had bought a new battery when I had the starter replaced as well, so knew it wouldn't be the battery. After a lot, I mean a lot of research online, finally came to the decision it was the timing chain tensioner was faulty. When I went to replace the tensioner for the timing chain, I took my camera and put it in the cylinder heads and found out that there was 2 broken valves in the number 3 piston. One was broken and sideways in the piston and the other just broken. I'm not sure whether a rod has gone through the bottom of the head or not, couldn't get my camera to go that far down. So now I have no vehicle what-so-ever to drive back and forth to work. My wife had to resign from her job because she had no way to get there everyday and I have to pay someone gas money weekly to pick me up and bring me home from work so needless to say, we are currently struggling, can't pay our bills because my wife cannot get a job and now I have to figure out how to repair this damage that should have been made a recall for these volkswagens because by the looks of things, there are over 100 people that have had this same problem. An engine is going to be between $4,000 and $6,000 to repair and I have no way to fix this at that price. So now I am probably going to have to just junk the car.

Filed Aug 24, 2020 · Engine · 12,000 miles · SC

The car wouldn't start and found out the timing chain jumped

Filed Jan 23, 2020 · Electrical, Steering · 99,900 miles · IL

Vehicle lost power and shut off while driving on the street at approximately 20 MPH. I had driven about 1 block on this street after having turned onto it from another street. When the car died, "steering wheel locked" displayed on dash panel. Car would not start, steering wheel wouldn't move beyond about 1" to the right. Message would display "steering wheel still locked" or "move steering wheel." after 40 minutes of this rotation of messages and trying to start the vehicle, moved the steering wheel up and down. Car finally started but only for 3 seconds. Battery light would come on. Was able to start the car several times doing this and moving it 30 feet to safely park on the side of the road. Temperature outside was about 30 degrees f. For about 1 month prior to this, I would periodically hear a ticking sound after removing the key from the ignition. After the ticking stopped, a message would display on the dash panel "steering column locked. Visit workshop!" it was extremely cold when this happened, but it didn't happen every time I turned off the car, and the car started fine each time after. Outside temp was in the teens (f) when this typically happened.

Filed Dec 13, 2019 · Engine, Transmission · 127,000 miles · WA

Drove car without problems. Came back an hour later and it started, but engine was shaking. Moved it across parking lot and shut engine off. Next time I tried to turn it on, would not start. Took it to mechanic, said that timing chain broke and ruined the rest of the engine. Did research and found this to be a common issue with vw engines. Faulty timing chains are used which cause catastrophic engine failure leaving driver at risk if this happens when driving. Even when not driving, the possibility of such a common occurrence from one of their products failing and ruining the rest of the car is unfair to consumers and volkswagen should be held accountable beyond warranty liabilities for any of their vehicles that this happens to. They should not be allowed to build faulty engines and leave consumers to foot the bill for their shoddy designs and workmanship.

Filed Oct 24, 2019 · Engine · 115,000 miles · FL

The timing chain was part of a class-action lawsuit in 2018 by vw owners. My 2010 passat was part of that, but we didn't have any problems with it. Now, the timing chain failed at 115k miles on the car. It would not start. It tried to, but would never catch. I now need a brand new engine. I had two mechanics look at it. I also called vw both local and national to see if my timing chain had been replaced. They said they don't keep track of that information. I bought the car used in 2017. Carfax doesn't show service records for a timing chain replacement, so I assume this is the original.

Filed Oct 5, 2019 · Engine, Transmission · 63,000 miles · CA

I have owned this car for beraly one month. 2 days after purchasing the 02 sensors went bad. 1 week later my pcv valve went bad. And 2 days after that my car stalled on me while driving down a canyon and would not start again. I lost control and ended up on the side of the road. I though I was going to kill myself. After sitting there for about an hour the car turned on but was extremely shaky and would stall the minute I slowed down or came to a stop. I managed to get the car to a repair shop only to have the engine die on me. The car cannot be turned on or moved. I was told it might be the timing chain which is a common issue in this engine. I'm being told I need to practically replace the engine which will cost more than what the car is worth. If I try to turn the car on. It hesitates a lot and once it turns over it immediately shuts off. I have beraly made 1 payment on this vehicle and it already died on me. Was excited about such a nice looking car only to have fall under the lemon car category in my opinion. I am now left with a car payment. A huge repair bill and no mode of transportation all due to volkswagens faulty design.

Filed Aug 7, 2019 · Engine · 124,000 miles · DC

Takata recall the car will not start no warnings no codes just stop working

Filed Jan 24, 2019 · Engine · 102,251 miles · PA

Service engine notification came on in late december. I called the dealership for an appointment. The person who answered told me my vehicle didn't need a 100k check up but it was due for an oil change and I could just walk in without an appointment. I walked in a few days later and they told me I needed an appointment for the oil change. I just had it at the dealership for an inspection and recall in october; the guy waiting on me wondered why they didn't do the oil change and 100k check up then. I couldn't get an appointment until after the holidays. I dropped it off january 2. January 3 at 3:30 pm I got a text stating they needed to keep it until the next day to figure everything out. I picked it up on the 4th. After driving straight home and locally, not more than 10 miles, the engine light started flickering and I parked it at home. It was a saturday. I tried to get in touch with someone but no one responded until monday. They told me to bring it back in. I called aaa; they sent a tow truck; he tried to start it to get it out of the driveway but it wouldn't turn over; I had it towed. They told me it was the timing chain and it would be over $5,000 to fix it.

Filed Jun 11, 2018 · Engine · 100,399 miles · TX

I drove to school in the morning and parked my car stationary for 2 hours. Once I returned the vehicle it would not start. I towed car to dealership and turns out the timing chain had failed. I only have 100,399 miles on the car.

Filed Apr 12, 2018 · Fuel system · FL

There is a known issue with the fuel pump control module. Volkswagen has been aware of this since 8.16.2017. On certain vehicles, there could be an interruption in electrical power to the fuel pump control module. This could result in the fuel pump running continuously, resulting in a drained battery and/or a no start condition, or cause a loss of motive power while the vehicle is in motion, which could increase the risk of a crash causing injury and/or damage to property. The solution is to replace the fuel pump control module, however, as of today, my vehicle is still not showing as eligible for this repair, despite the fact that this has been a known issue for more than 8 months.

Filed Sep 13, 2017 · Engine · 114,000 miles · MO

On may 25, 2017 my wife and I purchased a 2010 volkswagen passat for our son who is making monthly payments. Approximately one month after the purchase he was on the on ramp getting ready to pull onto highway 65 in springfield, missouri. The car seemed to lose energy and wasn't acting correctly. Fearing that it would die when he pulled onto the highway, he pulled to the side of the road to see what was wrong. After looking at the engine he decided to get off the highway as soon as he could. Approximately one week later my son was driving through town. He had traveled less than three miles when he pulled into the parking lot of one of the local high schools. Not having any noticeable issues that evening, he was very surprised to find that when he tried to start his car it wouldn't turn over. It sounded like it wanted to, but was making a strange noise that it hadn't before. We decided to leave it parked and have it towed the next day. After looking at it the mechanic informed us that the timing chain had slipped due to a faulty tensioner, causing catastrophic engine damage. Because of this the engine will have to be completely replaced. We are so very thankful that our son wasn't hurt, or even worse. I have since become aware of the class action lawsuit that has been put into place due to the million plus volkswagen vehicles that have the same tensioner. Volkswagen knew it was a faulty part yet continued to manufacture these vehicles regardless of the safety issues that can, and in fact have, become issues with many people. I've read many stories of unsuspecting drivers who while driving down the highway at full speed had their vehicles stop in full traffic nearly causing severe accidents, we feel that due to the negligent design and manufacture of these vehicles, a recall should take place. Keeping consumers safe from their faulty practices. Thank you.