Volkswagen Passat fire or smoke problems

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 26, 2023 · Fuel system · GA

I was letting my car run for a couple of minutes for the AC to cool down the car and I went into my house. When I came out about 2 minutes later, there was a large puddle of gas under the car in front of the right rear wheel and gas was running down the driveway all the way to the street. I immediately turned off the car and the gas stopped pouring out from under the car. I was lucky the car, my house or I did not go up in flames.

Filed Sep 6, 2022 · Airbags, Engine · PA · crash · fire

The contact owned a 2006 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated that while her husband was driving in traffic, he rear-ended a vehicle at approximately 25 MPH. The air bags did not deploy upon impact. While her husband was exchanging information with the other driver, the other driver alerted him that his vehicle had caught fire. As her husband attempted to retrieve a fire extinguisher from the truck, he was alerted that the fire had worsened and was instructed to move away from the vehicle. Within minutes, the vehicle became engulfed in flames and was incinerated. A police report was filed. No injuries were reported. The contact had the vehicle towed to her home where it remained in her possession. The dealer nor the manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle was a total loss. The failure mileage was unknown. The VIN was not available.

Filed Jun 28, 2022 · Seat belts · OR

Just as I parked, the explosive seatbelt retractor for the rear passenger seat activated. There was a loud pop from the charge and the plastic seatbelt alignment clip flew off, and smoke came out from around the seatbelt. Had the vehicle been in motion there would have been a very serious safety hazard from the distraction, and if someone was in the back, there was the clip that flew off that could have struck them. No one was in the seat at the time of the incident. The seatbelt is now stuck in the retracted position. The component has not been inspected. There were no warning lamps before or after the failure. The climate control system does have an error and is not cooling. The error is for the A/C pressure sensor, so it does not seem related. I do have an appointment for the climate control system, so I can have the component inspected by the service center. Ambient temperature was approx 85F at the time of the incident. The sunroof was set to vent position while driving, and the climate control system fan was operating so interior temp should have been around 85F as well.

Filed May 2, 2022 · Brakes, Transmission · MA

The brakes totally went out on my vehicle with no warning. It first started when I bought the car, the brake pad (almost brand new) almost set my left front rotor on fire within 10 minutes of driving. If I didn’t pull over there’s no question that my car would’ve set on fire. My fuel like was leaking heavily, and the emergency brake which is hydraulic wouldn’t even deploy. I could’ve gotten killed. There is also an extreme issue with the power train system. Completely unsafe.

Filed Oct 2, 2021 · Engine, Fuel system · DE

Engine time chain skipped. Fuel rail leak from regulator(dangerous to drive as it can catch on fire). Suspension problem car shakes over 40mph(alignment and balance did not help), problem due to coils or other components. Mechanic shop checked car and they denied to work on it due to fuel recall.

Filed Sep 20, 2021 · Engine · 150,000 miles · CO · fire

The contact owns a 2003 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph the vehicle's speed suddenly begin to reduce and smoke was present coming from the engine compartment. After stopping and exiting the vehicle became engulfed in flames. The fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames and the vehicle was towed away. During the incident, the vehicle was destroyed. The local dealer and manufacturer were notified of the incident but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 150,000.

Filed Nov 30, 2020 · Seats · 121,365 miles · MO · fire · 1 injury

My son was driving (in motion) on hwy 17 in miller county mo with seat heater on saturday nov. 28, 2020. Seat caught on fire. I had noticed when I had seat heater on previously it became so hot as to burn legs. This is a serious problem. It could have burned my car completely. Very dangerous.

Filed Nov 6, 2020 · Seats · 132,400 miles · NY · 1 injury

While driving on a highway, the driver seat suddenly overheated (the seat warmer was turned on). It started with a burning smell. Excessive heat burned my leg a bit (some skin redness), before I realized what is happening and turned the seat warmer off. The seat leather now appears stiff and wrinkled (not soft and smooth like the rest of the leather) in the area where I felt the heat.

Filed Aug 21, 2020 · Electrical, Engine · 136,005 miles · TX · fire

2013 passat tdi. 136000 miles. Vehicle was driving at highway speeds and the glow plug light started to flash, no other indicator lights or car performance issues were noted at this time. Car was pulled over safety to a town within 5 miles, the car was shut down. Just to see if it was a glitch car was restarted briefly and the check engine light remained on. Car was immediately turned off. While on the phone relaying my information to family, bystanders advised me that the car was on fire below the engine bay. The fire was quickly put out with water. The damage seems to be in the same area as has been noted by recalls 17v309000 and 16v171000, both of these recalls were complied with prior to this event. Documentation of this is maintained with the owner. All scheduled maintenance and repairs have been completed at volkswagen dealerships since purchase, all records maintained.