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Volkswagen Routan abs comes on

13 of the 784 owner complaints about the Volkswagen Routan describe aBS light or ABS activating, most of them for the 2009 model year.

owner complaints
13
worst model year
2009
typical mileage
22,837
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.

By model year

Often reported together

Stalling 2Loss of power 2Check engine light 2Battery drain 2Won't start 1Wipers 1

Trouble codes mentioned

C121C 1

What owners say

Filed Feb 12, 2024 · Acceleration, Brakes · PA

Battery failure due to parasitic draw from Ignition IOD fuse ( J13fuse) reads 0.9 draw and M11 fuse ( hvac system) reads 0.6 draw. First occurrence 2/10/24 and second occurrence 2/11/24. Informed auto repair shop on 2/12/24 and goes in for diagnostic 2/15/24. Abs control module failure( intermittent ) Egr valve replacement (8/9/24 due to overheating but no warning lights due to overheating was displayed which is strange) Speed control sensor was replaced as well 8/9/24 but still has problems getting stuck or not reading the right speed . Consumes fuel faster than normal as well . Getting about 9 miles to the gallon.

Filed Jul 22, 2021 · Body · ME

The brackets that hold the automatic door wires brake continuously. Then the wire gets pinched in the door and it causes a large amount of electrical problems. The abs, esp bad, brake, and traction control lights come on when the wire gets pinched. These doors were made very poorly and should have been looked over before this vehicle was made.

Filed Jun 22, 2021 · Electrical · DC

I purchased this vehicle in March of 2015 when my vehicle shut down and rebooted itself while driving. Since 2019-present, my vehicle shuts off while driving and will restart back up maybe 5 mins, an hour or so later. The ABS, check engine, airbag, and other lights on the dashboards come on and remain on, in which, my car begins to make a beeping sound. the headlights, wipers, and sometimes my horn goes on and off by itself. When my vehicle shuts off, so does my ability to steer the wheel, it locks up. when I turn the air on in the car, my car begins to shake as well. Also, I have replaced my car battery, alternator, and starter two times this year and my vehicle still have the same issue.

Filed Aug 30, 2019 · Brakes, Electrical · 59,000 miles · PA

Vehicle will intermittently not start even after multiple try's. Vehicle shuts off during driving events city and highway. Abs lights come on and stay on. Interior lights come on automatically during driving. Have had the vehicle to a vw dealer 4 times for this issue and they cannot diagnoses, nor remedy the issue. I have spent well over $2,000 for these vw dealer visits. This vehicle was built by chrysler for vw and chrysler issued a recall on the tipm for the chrysler vehicles. Vw refuses to issue a recall for the tipm. This is a major safety issue that causes the vehicle to shut off during driving and all power and braking functions are lost. At this time, I have no choice but to pay an additional $1,500 to have vw replace the tipm in the hopes that it resolves this dangerous safety issue and keeps my family safe. The federal safety agency must investigate this issue with chrysler and realize that it applies to vw routan vehicles built by them as well, and force vw to recall the vehicles and fix the issue at their cost and provide full reimbursement to all routan owners who have this same safety issue. What actions are the federal safety agency taking on this critical safety issue?

Filed Aug 6, 2018 · Brakes, Electrical · 1 miles · MI

I was driving my 2009 routan this morning (8/6/18) in a round-a-bout when out of blu my steering and brakes completely locked up and my ABS light came on. I had traffic behind me. I almost went over the curb and caused an accident due to this happening. I praise god that I and everyone around was safe. My vehicle has already had the ignition ssswitch replaced twice. I had it checked for codes and nothing came up. I noticed a huge amount of complaints regarrding this. What is it going to take to get this fixed? There are lives on the line. When a vehicle shuts down on the highway that will cause a major accident. Is volkswagen and the federal safety agency willing to live with that knowing that this has been a major issue with this vehicle for some time? How many injuries or deaths do you need to prove to you that this is a safety issue?

Filed Oct 25, 2017 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 66,000 miles · OK

Esp ABS light illuminates while car is in motion and the car will not shift out of gear when stopped as if the break is not detected. Have to shut car off in the middle of traffic or drop of lines and turn back on several times to clear error and get shifter to shift to drive gear. Used snap on reader to check codes and does not recognize car as vw, instead it pulls up chrysler town and country. Tried to replace a break light module, the part was actually for a dodge neon. (I am only owner, bought van brand new). Symptom came back after two days. Code reader cannot find anything causing code trigger. Also key doesn't always work in ignition switch, must sometimes try to turn on 3 times. This has occurred since purchase. Amazed at all these safety issues and yet vw does nothing. $34,000 car and I am going to have to replace it already. Only 66,000 miles on the car. Transmission rebuilt by vw at 12,000 miles, rotors changed at 9,000 miles, motor parts rebuilt at 35,000 miles. Car burns 6 quarts of oil every 4,000 miles. Van doors will shut on kids even though they are supposed to stop when something is in the way. Worst car I have ever bought, and vw doesn't care to resolve all these issues customers have.

Filed Jul 6, 2016 · Acceleration, Brakes · 70,500 miles · OH

Car flashes ABS esp skid control monitor, shuts car off while driving. Goes back off, does it again.locks the car, won't start, then starts a bit later. Cooling system , heater hose issues, brake issues, cruise control shuts off randomly. Could kill someone. Internet search esp volkswagenddefect.comvolkswagen_routan_problems.htm all exactly what I have experienced since purchasing this vehicle a year ago. Afraid to drive it. Updated 04/05/2017

Filed Mar 25, 2015 · Brakes, Engine · 71,000 miles · ME

We have owned the vehicle for about 2 months with no issues, when we purchased the vehicle it came with a clean carfax listing no recalls. On 3/10/15 my wife was driving on a 2 lane country road going about 35mph when the vehicle suddenly lost power and she lost control of the vehicle. The engine appeared to have cut out, she had no power steering and no power brakes and was unable to stop or steer the vehicle. The dash displayed the anti-slip light, but no others. The vehicle slowed down to a stop, thankfully there was no oncoming traffic as she was no longer in her proper lane, and no cars behind her. She was able to put it in park and restart it as if nothing had happened and it was fine after that for the rest of her commute. We contacted vw about the issue and they requested that we bring the car to a vw dealer for inspection. We did that, and vw claimed that our vehicle was not impacted by recall # rna1, but instead they insisted the issue was caused by a faulty egr valve, and gave me an engine trouble code of c121c that they claimed corresponded with the failing egr valve. Vw charged me over $100 for the diagnosis, and a day later after complaining to vw customer care they agreed to refund the charges. I brought the vehicle back to the independent dealership that I originally purchased the car at the same day that vw diagnosed this, and they were not in agreement with the egr diagnosis, and also could not corroborate the trouble code c121c as being related to an egr issue, rather it comes up as a torque request signal denied trouble code instead. The independent dealer also found that I had stored codes for ABS malfunctions, sunroof errors and mic/ccn instrument cluster. The independent dealer cleared these codes before leaving that day. On 3/25/15 my wife was driving at about 35mph when the cars engine shut off again in a similar fashion. No codes

Filed Dec 10, 2014 · Brakes · 22,837 miles · VA

Problems with braking at 22,837 miles in 2010. Vehicle would shake when going down a hill and applying brakes to stop. Front brake pads were replaced and rotors turned . Two years later in 2012 at 43,919 miles back rotors and brake pads were replaced, all 4 tires replaced, and front end alignment. In 2013 at 68,797 miles 2 of the new tires were replaced and another front end alignment. Car stops sometimes and will not come back on immediately. In 2014 at 90,000 miles, battery died and antifreeze in radiator exploded, had to purchase a new battery and a part for the radiator. Had to replace front rotors and brake pads, 2 tires and had another front end alignment. Extremely loud noise when driving, mechanic said it may be wheel bearings. The ABS and check engine light come on and off. Driver side door does not lock unless you push the lock down with your hand. Mechanic says the front brake pads will have to be replaced when tires are rotated the next time (these were replaced with the rotors in june or july 2014). If you lean against back seat from the trunk area, it falls forward and the middle seat no longer folds down. Also, the driver side window stalls when you try to roll it up or down.

Filed Dec 18, 2011 · Brakes · 12,000 miles · NJ

Brake rotors warp very quickly on this vehicle (which is also made by chrysler). During heavy braking at 40mph the steering wheel vibrates very heavily due to warped brake rotors (happens under 12000miles). Don't see how antilock sensors can withstand this vibration and get an accurate reading to keep the vehicle from locking the wheels. I have already had incidents where applying the brakes at 40mph hour that I have skidded but was smart enough to let off once I realized the ABS was not functioning correctly and re-applied the brakes.vw and dealer acknowledge the problem and replace the rotors with the same defective rotors on the vehicle. This is an engineering problem and not a wear and tear issue as they claim. It will only be a matter of time before someone gets killed in a bad accident thinking that ABS brakes and there braking system is reliable. High speed braking is not something you do everyday but in an emergency and that's when you realize that your brakes are warped and in need of repair!!! But it might be too late!!!

Related recalls

No recalls on record for this model year.

Questions about the Volkswagen Routan abs

Why does the abs come on in the Volkswagen Routan?

Owners who report it most often also describe engine stalls while driving, rotors or pads wearing out early and sudden loss of power, and the codes they mention most are C121C.

Which Volkswagen Routan years have aBS light or ABS activating problems?

The model years with the most reports are 2009 (8 complaints) and 2010 (5 complaints).

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