"How reliable is the 2021 Volkswagen Jetta?"

"Based on 91 NHTSA complaints, the 2021 Volkswagen Jetta has a median complaint mileage of 9000 miles. The most common issue is Service Brakes."

"What are common problems with the 2021 Volkswagen Jetta?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 2021 Volkswagen Jetta is Service Brakes, accounting for a significant portion of the 91 total complaints filed."

2021 Volkswagen Jetta: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 91 complaints

Total Complaints

9,000mi

Median Mileage

Service Brakes

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

1,900 25th Percentile

9,000 Median Mileage

14,469 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

Service Brakes

Electrical System

Unknown Or Other

Fuel/Propulsion System

Engine

Automatic Emergency Braking

Steering

Visibility/Wiper

Air Bags

Seat Belts

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"CONFLICTING TORQUE SPEC IS LISTED FOR THE WHEEL BOLTS. THE OWNER'S MANUAL (17A012723SF) SPECIFIES 120 NM, BUT I SEE A ODI TSBS (HTTPS://STATIC.NHTSA.GOV/ODI/TSBS/2020/MC-10183302-0001.PDF) THAT INDICATES THE TORQUE SPEC IS 140 NM. THAT IS A LARGE DISCREPANCY."

"The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was diagnosed with needing the air bag control module replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approxi..."

"I've owned my car for 3 weeks and have driven it ~10 times in total. On 2 different occasions (most recently yesterday), it has stalled out while standing in traffic. On both occasions, it was a "soft stall" just as a vehicle with auto on/off would have. I had no warning lights, and wasn't even a..."

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

NY: 11 NC: 9 CA: 8 FL: 8 OR: 7 OH: 5 IL: 5 CO: 4 TN: 4 MA: 3

Volkswagen Jetta — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

Year	Complaints	Median Mileage	Top Issue	Crashes
1990	29	120,000	Heater Core	2
1991	38	103,000	Heater Core	3
1992	33	-	Gasoline	6
1993	22	-	Latch	0
1994	167	-	Accessory Scissor/Screw/Bottle Jack/Lift	9
1995	338	100,000	Latch	23
1996	36	94,969	Power Window Devices And Controls	3
1997	100	74,500	Power Window Devices And Controls	8
1998	253	78,000	Power Window Devices And Controls	14
1999	488	70,419	Power Window Devices And Controls	44
2000	633	55,000	Power Window Devices And Controls	38
2001	861	51,120	Side/Window	44
2002	885	54,900	Seat Heater/Cooler	41
2003	552	56,860	Seat Heater/Cooler	38
2004	295	69,995	Electrical System	16
2005	354	74,000	Power Train	13
2006	792	76,000	Electrical System	21
2007	280	60,000	Electrical System	15
2008	250	62,000	Electrical System	7
2009	1269	66,655	Fuel System, Diesel	53
2010	1184	54,000	Electrical System	31
2011	880	50,000	Electrical System	37
2012	690	53,000	Electrical System	32
2013	736	55,450	Electrical System	22
2014	550	57,000	Engine	33
2015	283	41,000	Engine	11
2016	248	38,937	Engine	32
2017	247	38,000	Engine	27
2018	34	32,000	Unknown Or Other	2
2019	758	4,900	Power Train	36
2020	75	6,000	Electrical System	2
2022	55	-	Service Brakes	1
2023	55	20,000	Engine	3
2024	41	17,600	Engine	1

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28