2012 Volkswagen Passat: check engine light

Filed Dec 9, 2025 · Electrical · AZ

We would have been in a life threating situation (very cold) if we would have not walked down highway to get internet service to look up the issue. What happened. We drove up from Phoenix to the mountains in Arizona. When starting the car after a stop (to look at a heard of Elk in a pasture) the car would not start. It would briefly start for a second then die. The dash lit up with many errors. We were stranded with no cell phone service with night approaching. We walked down the road and got cell service again and called family. Found out from online video while waiting for family to arrive you could disconnect the battery and reconnect to get the car started. We did this and it worked but engine light still was on. Car would not start again next morning and dash lit up. We would have been in a really bad situation (very cold) if we would have not walked down highway to get internet service to look up the issue. More internet research shows thousands of people have this problem.

Filed Aug 14, 2021 · Fuel system · TX

The DPF keeps causing the engine light to come on when there isn’t anything wrong but it also makes the car use more fuel every time this happens

Filed Mar 16, 2021 · Acceleration · 106,585 miles · TN

I have had to have work done on the throttle body three times before this repair. As I have been driving, I have had cruise control light with an exclamation point come on along with the epc light and check engine light. After the lights come on, I can drive about a mile before I loose complete power and cannot accelerate above 15mph. This has happened while I have been driving around town. The dealership is recommending a full throttle replacement along with the vacuum pump. I had a complete throttle replacement in 2018 and have only put 6,000 miles on the car since that time. I feel that this is a safety problem that needs to be addressed and possibly recalled.

Filed Mar 15, 2021 · Electrical, Engine · 76,000 miles · OR

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 volkswagen passat. The contact stated while driving 76 MPH, the check engine warning light and exhaust fluid warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the failure persisted for over a year. An error code stated vehicle shut-off at 200 miles was on the instrument panel however, the vehicle did not shut-off. The contact took the vehicle to overturf volkswagen kia (1016 west columbia drive, kennewick, wa 99336, (509‑586‑3185) however, the mechanic was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The dealer replaced the knock sensor and catalytic converter however, the failure persisted. The manufacture was notified of the failure but provided no additional assistance. The failure mileage was 76,000.

Filed Oct 22, 2020 · Acceleration, Engine · 59,400 miles · AZ

While driving the vehicle it will loose driving power, check engine light will come on as well as epc light. When taken to a mechanic it was found out that the whole throtke body needed to be replaced. I was also told that this was a dealer only part, when the mechanic shop called to order the part from the dealership they were told that the part was on a national back order and that it could be 6 months to a year before a part was avaliable. When I called the dealership a week later the part was still on back order, and they said that they had over 200 on a list waiting for this part, and to keep calling back to ask about the status. I have not been able to drive my vehicle since july 2020, and as of today 10/22/2020, accordinf to the dealership there is still no estimated timeframe that this part eill be available. I fell that if there is that many that if they do in fact have over 200 waiting for the part then there must be somthing defective with the current part that is on the vehicle.

Filed Dec 23, 2019 · Transmission · TX

They vehicle is stationary and is my 2nd vehicle for occasional days so for the most time stay at home. One day I just turned on to warm up and the check engine light turned on. I went to auto zone for diagnosis and the error code read p2432 secondary air injection system air flow / pressure sensor circuit low bank 1. I checked on internet and there was a recall for 2011 vw jetta 5 cylinder 2.5l that exactly the same engine.

Filed Apr 27, 2017 · Fuel system · AR

Engine light is on and the fuel vapor leak detection pump improperly working can result in health issues.dueto the fact that it is not reducing atmospheric pollution due to hydrocarbon emissions,

Filed Oct 18, 2016 · Fuel system · 77,500 miles · NJ

I have a 2012 vw passat tdi vehicle with 78,000 miles as of october 124, 2016. It is effected by the tdi emissions issue and qualifies under the court settlement that has yet to be approved. The issue I have is that I took the car to the dealer about 1 month ago because the check engine light was on. I was told that the ad blue heater which scrubs nox (albeit not very well) from the exhaust needs to be replaced for $1,100.00. I did some research and came to find out that apparently this has happened hundreds of times to tdi owners especially 2012 models. It is my understanding the failure is a function of time not mileage and has been corrected in newer models. It is ironic that even after paying the $1,100 my car is still out of emissions compliance! I request that vw be forced to do a recall and reimburse owners regardless of the vehicles mileage for this repair.

Filed Sep 11, 2016 · Fuel system · 61,000 miles · AZ

Mechanic found a code for a defective adblue level sensor after I took the vehicle in to check the reason for the engine light illumination. They removed the adblue tank and installed an update kit. Yes, update kit, which tells me volkswagen knows there is a widespread problem with the original level sensor equipment. Final cost of the repair: $1053.51. This should be an extended warranty item, or recall.

Filed Sep 10, 2016 · Engine · 91,000 miles · PA

Check engine light came on and a 200 mi. Countdown began indicating the car would not start again. We were over 500 miles from home on the weekend. We had to drive the manual transmission car home 10 hours to nearest dealer with the threat of stalling in traffic on interstate. We could not turn the car off, nor stall it as the car indicated it would not start again. It was the nox sensor. I paid $625 plus tax to fix part of the fraudulent emissions system.

Filed Jul 27, 2016 · 60,302 miles · NY

Went to vw dealer and had cel on. Diagnosis was def heater failure. This is a common problem with these cars and without the heater function def fluid freezes at 12 degrees. Car has always been dealer maintained and called vwoa and was told part is only covered 3 /36. The car currently has 60000 miles. So they charged me 100 dollars for diagnosis and car is in the shop currently for the repair at quoted 971.00 dollars. This def system is certainly part of the emissions system and should be covered under warranty. I really thought about just driving the car until the buyback but felt I may damage another part of this complicated system. The vehicle still drove fine but was probably spewing even more pollutants into the air than it normally does . It seems silly that I am spending 1071.00 to only have vw buyback in the fall. This is a well known problem with these cars and I feel a component that vw should extend the warranty on. So much for vw and my " clean diesel " I also have 2 other open recalls with no parts for repair yet. Just got a call from the dealer they cracked the def pump while making the repair to the heater,parts ordered. Unbelievable!

Filed Jul 20, 2016 · Engine · 103,000 miles · SC

The check engine light came on 7/14/16. I brought the car into the dealership on 7/15/16 and learned that the car's adblue heater had gone and will cost just over $1,000 to replace. The adblue heater heats the adblue to remove no2 for emissions, however volkswagen is claiming that this is not covered under the emissions warranty. The adblue system has not other purpose than for emissions and should be covered under the federal warranty, as the emissions would fall outside of the federal regulations without this component. Proper emissions help to keep our entire population safe and healthy from the harmful pollutants generated by vehicles. Now the car will not start because of this false emission sensor reading.