Volkswagen Routan loss of power problems

Filed Nov 12, 2024 · Electrical, Engine · IL

I bought this van just a few weeks ago. One day I was driving and all a sudden it lost power while in motion. This has happened 4xs so far. It could've resulted in the inability to stop my vehicle as the brakes are stiff after the power & engine stop working. It could've resulted in either I hit someone or someone could've hit me. My cousins husband had a town and country that did this & it was on a recall for the ignition switch failure. He's a mechanic. He has also stated what is going on is the ignition switch failure going into accessory mode while I'm driving. It's available to be inspected I just don't have the money to have it inspected at this point by a dealership.

Filed May 13, 2022 · Electrical · 188,000 miles · FL

The contact owns a 2010 Volkswagen Routan. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle suddenly stalled. The vehicle lost power steering and braking functionality. The contact stated that numerous unknown warning lights were illuminated and blinking. The contact was attempting to maintain lane when the vehicle independently restarted and the contact pulled off the road safely. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle and all the functions returned. The contact drove the vehicle to a dealer however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact researched online and related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 11V151000 (Electrical System). The contact stated that the failure was a recurring issue. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 188,000.

Filed Mar 20, 2022 · Brakes, Engine · VA

While driving on a highway at 65 Mph, vehicle shut down, lost brakes, steering, and all power, had to coast to a stop, narrowly avoiding a collision. Upon exhaustive review, TIPM was faulty, causing starting issues, intermittent power loss, and fuel pump issues. As this van is manufactured by Chrysler (for VW) and their (identical) model has the same issue, it was known and recalled, it is appalling that no recall exists for this VW model. These vans are being financed and bought by families, and like us driven daily with children in them. The issue is widespread, very well known, but as in our case, not disclosed by dealerships as no official action has ever been taken, and no official record exists. We have learned all about it through trial and error, and are having to pay for possibly fatal errors committed on the part of the manufacturer - who, to state again, has in fact already recalled the vehicles due to it being such a wide spread and dangerous issue with a primarily family vehicle. Again, for clarity, the VW Routan is no longer in production, but when it was it was manufactured by Chrysler for VW, and is part for part a Dodge Grand Caravan/Chrysler Town and Country. Why is this critical recall in existence for only a portion of the vehicles? This has become a major issue as we have to continue reducing this van until we can sell or trade it.

Filed Jul 1, 2021 · TN

My 2011 VW Routan completely lost power on the freeway while driving in heavy traffic. The steering completely locked up (not lost power steering), locked up and all components died while moving. It took two people to break the steering wheel loose so that the van could be pushed out of the road by TDOT. We had the van towed and once removed from the truck it started and ran like normal. Our 3 kids were also in the van which makes the situation extremely hazardous. Previous to this, we paid $1,500 to the VW dealer to replace the TIPM unit because the van wouldn’t start on many occasions. The dealer stated that he knew Chrysler had issued a recall on their vehicles with these same issues but VW hadn’t taken any action. Other info… no dash lights are/were on. Dealer can’t seem to reproduce the issue. TDOT Officer said he’d never seen a vehicle that locked the steering while the car was in motion. This was worse than it loosing all power.

Filed Nov 13, 2020 · Electrical · 30,000 miles · FL

Contacted orlando volkswagen south 5474 s. Orange blossom trail orlando fl 32839 (866) 318-7865 (407) 581-0665 https://www.orlandovwsouth.com was told they do not do the recall. Contacted dealer in 2015 and now with no remedy. When driving the car will turn off and lose all power. Has happened 10 to 20 times and is very dangerous.

Filed Nov 2, 2020 · 100,000 miles · TX

The vehicle looses all power while driving. If you hit a bump or touch the key it causes the key connection to stop and loss of all power. Have to put car in neutral while driving and restart it. This has happened while driving on the interstate and driving on rural roads. All areas. This has happened multiple times.

Filed Oct 8, 2020 · Engine · 110,000 miles · GA

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 volkswagen routan. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact stated that the vehicle loss power steering and brakes during the failure. The contact stated that the fuel pump relay failed. The contact stated that the relay continued to run after the vehicle stalled and drained the battery. The failure recurred numerous times. The contact called volkswagen of marietta (1860 cobb pkwy se, marietta, ga 30060) and informed the dealer of the failure. The contact called three other unknown dealers but was not provided any assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000.

Filed Sep 21, 2020 · Electrical, Engine · 175,000 miles · OH

Vehicle has experienced stalling, engine shutdown, and difficulty starting multiple times. Engine has now stalled more frequently at both low speeds and while driving on highway. Each time, RPM's have gone to zero and it's completely lost power to steering. I've had try and coast/navigate safely to side of road, berm, etc., stop, and restart the van. At times the dash lights will flash, other times there is no indication that a failure had occurred, just no power/rpms. No check engine light remains, no codes displayed, nothing. The local volkswagen dealer will not even address the issue as they deem it a "chrysler problem". We now take it to an independent mechanic and replaced the crankshaft & camshaft position sensors, key fobs, battery, and have done all preventative maintenance. The problem still remains. There are similar complaints (vw, chrysler, & dodge) for this exact engine & symptoms that may be related to the tipm, the main control module. This is a very serious safety issue as it random and causes a complete shutdown of vehicle while in motion and loss of operator control.

Filed Sep 11, 2020 · Brakes, Electrical · 132,000 miles · IN

I was driving home from work approx. 30-35 miles per hour and my van died. I lost power steering and brakes. Luckily I wasn't seriously injured. There was no warning. No service engine light. Within a span of less than 2 years ive already replaced the fuel pump, the battery, and the alternator is still new and under warranty. The ignition/power windows fuse constantly needs adjusting so I can roll my window up or down. All the dash lights come on randomly as well. Sometimes the windshield wipers would come on. Never had a vehicle die on me while driving due to manufacturers issues. After reading other consumer complaints about the same issues im very confident its the tipm. Some complain that this costs people $1 000s on a chance that you can get a couple more years out of it. The van wants to turn over and continues cranking when key fob is in ignition but doesn't turn over. I cannot get it to start at all.

Filed Mar 2, 2020 · Electrical · 160,000 miles · WI

There are two issues that keep occurring that may or may not be related. First, sometimes when I start the vehicle every single light on the dash will be lit up, the wipers will be on, the radio won't work, and none of the gauges will be working. I have to use my GPS just to know what my speed is since the spedometer doesn't work. I also can't turn on my defrost when this happens so I'm stuck sitting in the parking lot waiting. Eventually it will randomly switch back to normal and then everything works. My second issue is that I will lose all power while driving. This happened in a roundabout once which almost caused a crash! I lose ignition, power steering, everything. I have to get to the side of the road, put it in park, and turn the ignition off and back on again. One of these days this is going to cause a crash and then I will be suing volkswagen when my babies get injured because of this. From the looks of the other complaints this is happening to a lot of these vans!