2012 Volkswagen Routan: won't start

5 of the 63 complaints about the 2012 Volkswagen Routan describe won't start.

owner complaints: 5
of this car's complaints: 8%
typical mileage: 97,000
recalls: 0

Is there a fix? 72 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

Won't start by model year

2013
1
2012
5
2011
39
2010
26
2009
20

What owners say

Filed Aug 20, 2019 · Body, Electrical · 129,000 miles · MD

Van randomly goes to 3rd on the highway. Going to neutral and back to drive corrects the issue. Van will not start/crank randomly. Van turns off on the highway randomly. Random "enter security code" on the nav system. 129k miles on it. Chrysler recalled caravan's and the town and country for these same issues. The tipm needs to be replaced. Filing a complaint with corporate vw to have them correct this massive safety issue as chrysler has done. Http://www.chryslerproblems.com/tipm/

Filed Dec 29, 2018 · Electrical, Engine · 87,030 miles · CA

My 2012 volkswagen routan has only 87k miles and the car will crank but will not start, and or while driving the car's idle becomes rough and drops to the point of shutting off while driving. My wife drives this car with my daughter and if this car shuts off while driving it can cause accidents and bodily harm to others.

Filed Dec 3, 2018 · Electrical, Fuel system · 116,063 miles · FL

I was in a parking lot van would not start. It would turn over an crank again and again when attempting to start, but the engine would not run. Tow truck driver was able to start it by removing push start and using key fob, but had trouble getting it started again unloading at vw dealership. The vw dealer fist said it was the fuel pump, then said that the fuel pump relay in the tipm was bad and was burning out the fuel pump. The fuel pump relay is integrated into the tipm and can't be replaced without replacing tipm. The tipm not covered under warranty. Currently waiting on vw dealer to find dodge/chrysler fuel relay bypass cable kit that fit my VIN. In the meantime, the vw dealer has installed a temporary jumper to power the fuel pump while the vehicle is turned on. I feel fortunate that relay/fuel pump failure did not occur while driving, but I feel that vw should have know about this issue and been proactive to resolve it given that dodge has already had recalls on the tipm that is used in the routan. I'm also concerned about the safety of the temporary fix the vw dealer has implemented to keep the vehicle drive-able while search for the right recall kit from dodge. If that can't find the kit, then I will have to live with a potentially unsafe workaround or pay $1000+ to replace the tipm, which clearly had a manufacturing defect that could have potentially caused the vehicle to stop running while driving on the road.

Filed Mar 29, 2017 · Acceleration · 97,000 miles · TX

The problem started with the car not starting on various occasions. I just thought it was a fluke. Then it died on me multiple times while driving various speeds upward of 70 MPH. Everything would turn off and then I would pull over and it would start right back up. Upon those things happening I decided to take it in. As I was heading home on the highway going about 75 MPH the car accelerated without me touching the gas and then the transmission dropped and it died. Very scary. I took it in and they concluded that it was something to do with the transmission. $1000 later the dealership assured me the problem was fixed. After driving it for about three days the problems persisted. It wouldn't start right up and then it stalled on me while in reverse out of my driveway.

Filed Jun 21, 2016 · Electrical · 46,615 miles · CA

Engine turns over but will not start while parked. Often the car will initially start but then stall as the rps decrease to idle. After that, the car will not start until after 20-30 attempts if lucky. On february 10, 2016 (milage 44,574) I took the car to my local vw dealership service dept. (roseville , ca). They replaced the transmission range sensor. Problem continued intermittently but got progressively worse. On june 16, 2016 (milage 46,615) took back to same service dept. Who now says there is a bad totally integrated power module (tipm). This seems to be a recurring problem throughout the dodge, chrysler, and vw family of minivans (vw routan built by chrysler). While dodge and chrysler seem to have addressed this problem, vw refuses to do so. This module can potentially kill the motor while driving making it an important safety concern.