2013 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen
On the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen, the failure owners report most often is fuel pump failure, with 8 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 80,000 miles. Overall it scores 61 out of 100, high risk for a 2013.
High risk for a 2013 — 277th riskiest of the 284 2013 vehicles we can rate. 47 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
What breaks on the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen
Owners have reported 19 named failure modes on the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen, and the three most-reported carry 36% of everything filed.
Fuel pump failure leads with 8 reports and about 0.8 per 1,000 vehicles.
Steering column or shaft failure follows with 5 reports.
Other engine problem follows with 4 reports, median 90,000 miles.
By system, the reports fall mostly into fuel (12), steering (6) and engine (5).
The mileage the reports cluster at
24 of the reports on the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 80,000 miles.
Cumulatively, 4% by 50,000 miles, 63% by 100,000 miles and 88% by 150,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed, with 1 filed above the top of the chart.
The busiest stretch is between 70,000 and 80,000 miles, which alone holds 25% of the dated reports.
0% of the dated reports were filed below 36,000 miles, so this is mostly a story about older, higher-mileage cars.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
Showing the 12 most-reported failure modes of 19. The full list is in the table below.
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A further 1 report came in above that, which is why the line stops short of the top. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
- Dashed the median reported mileage
Severity, and what it costs
Across the named modes, 1 mentions a crash and 1 a fire. Those are the words owners used in their own complaints, and NHTSA does not verify them, but they are the closest thing in this data to a measure of what a failure actually did.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 4.19, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: fuel pump failure at $600–$2,600, steering column or shaft failure at $600–$2,500, other engine problem at $300–$4,000 and airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault at $300–$1,600. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
15% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel pump failure | fuel | 8 | 3 | — | 120k | — | 0.8 | $600–$2,600 | High |
| Steering column or shaft failure | steering | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.5 | $600–$2,500 | Critical |
| Other engine problem | engine | 4 | 3 | — | 89k | — | 0.4 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault | airbag | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.3 | $300–$1,600 | High |
| Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure | suspension | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.3 | $400–$2,200 | High |
| Other electrical problem | electrical | 3 | 3 | — | 85k | — | 0.3 | $250–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other fuel system problem | fuel | 3 | 3 | — | 75k | — | 0.3 | $300–$2,200 | High |
| Catalytic converter failure | emissions | 2 | 2 | — | 136k | — | 0.2 | $900–$3,500 | Moderate |
| Stalling while driving | engine | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $300–$2,500 | Critical |
| Complete transmission failure | transmission | 1 | 1 | — | 112k | — | 0.1 | $2,800–$8,000 | Critical |
| Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure | fuel | 1 | 1 | — | 210k | — | 0.1 | $250–$1,800 | Moderate |
| Master cylinder or brake booster failure | brakes | 1 | 1 | — | 70k | — | 0.1 | $450–$2,200 | Critical |
| Airbag failed to deploy in a crash | airbag | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $1,000–$5,000 | Critical |
| Strut, shock or spring failure | suspension | 1 | 1 | — | 50k | — | 0.1 | $500–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Sunroof failure or glass breakage | body | 1 | 1 | — | 50k | — | 0.1 | $700–$4,500 | High |
| Other powertrain problem | transmission | 1 | 1 | — | 87k | — | 0.1 | $400–$4,500 | High |
| Other steering problem | steering | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $350–$2,400 | High |
| Other suspension problem | suspension | 1 | 1 | — | 104k | — | 0.1 | $350–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other body or interior problem | body | 1 | 1 | — | 63k | — | 0.1 | $200–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Unclassified problem | other | 5 | 2 | — | 63k | — | 0.5 | — | Moderate |
Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen draws about 4.4 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 84th percentile of complaint rates among 2013 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound.
The working figure is 10,636 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2013 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The odometer reading is the one the owner gave.
Fuel pump failure
While driving the vehicle was low on power and the glow plug light was flashing. This was the second time that this exact thing happened. The first time I turned the car off and let it set for a few minutes and it restarted and ran fine. We were on the highway and had to make our way through traffic to the side of the road, luckily it was not busy. On july 31 the same thing happened but this time the car was stopped in the middle of an intersection coming off of the highway. This time the car would not restart and the check engine light along with the glow plug light were on. Once we had the vehicle towed to the dealership they proceeded to inform me that the high pressure fuel pump had failed and the entire fuel system minus the tank had to be replaced due to metal shavings being in the fuel system. The only good thing about this issue was that none of my children were in the car when this happened as the car stopped in the middle of an intersection.
Other engine problem
While driving this vehicle to work it started to decelerate on the highway, lose power, and stumble. The check engine and glow plug lights came on the dash. The car was able to be driven at a reduced highway speed for a short distance to a park and ride to be towed to a dealer. The car was stumbling occasionally when accelerating and starting to die out, but not stalling. *tr
Recalls on the 2013 model year
NHTSA has issued 1 recall campaign covering the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen, affecting an estimated 10,636 vehicles. A recall is a different kind of evidence from a complaint: it is the regulator and the manufacturer agreeing that something has to be fixed, and the fix is free for as long as the car exists.
The campaigns cover air bags:frontal:driver side:inflator module. Whether the work was actually done on the car in front of you is a question only the VIN can answer, and the manufacturer or NHTSA will answer it free.
Recalls also distort complaint counts. Publicity about a campaign reminds owners that complaining is possible, so reports for a recalled component often spike after the recall rather than before it.
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
659,493 vehicles 2016-02-10- Defect
- Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2010-2014 Golf, 2007-2010 Passat sedans and wagon, 2012-2014 Passat sedan and Eos, 2009-2014 CC, 2009-2012 Audi Q5, 2010-2012 S5 Cabriolet and 2010-2012 Audi A5 Cabriolet vehicles. Upon deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture.
- Consequence
- In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflators, free of charge. Volkswagen issued an interim notification to owners on April 12, 2016, and will send a second notification when parts are available. Volkswagen will notify owners again once parts are available. Volkswagen owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Audi owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834.
Recall work is free at a franchised dealer regardless of the car's age. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before assuming it was done.
How it ranks in the 2013 field
The score at the top of the page, placed among its peers. The zones are the same thresholds the scorer applies, read out of the scorer itself, so the picture and the band word cannot disagree.
Scores are ranked within the model year, never across years, because an older car has had longer to accumulate reports.
- Left fewer and less serious reports
- Right more, or worse
- Marker this vehicle
Better and worse years of the same car
High risk for a 2013 — 277th riskiest of the 284 2013 vehicles we can rate. Every score on this site is a rank inside its own model year, which is what makes a 2004 and a 2019 comparable at all.
Across the 6 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 2009 comes out best at 60 and 2014 worst at 65, with 2013 itself at 61.
No other year of this model scores meaningfully better than 2013, so if this generation is what you want, the year is not the lever.
Within the 2008–2014 generation specifically, 2009 is the strongest year at 60 and 2014 the weakest at 65.
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
Within the 2008-2014 generation, 2009 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen scores best at 60 and 2014 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen worst at 65.
The limits of complaint data
47 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 47 reports, 24 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 51% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
Named failure modes come from matching phrases in the complaint text, so a badly worded complaint can land in the wrong bucket. The effect washes out across hundreds of reports and does not wash out across five.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen?
The most-reported failures are fuel pump failure (8 reports, median 120,000 miles), steering column or shaft failure (5 reports) and other engine problem (4 reports, median 90,000 miles). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
Is the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen reliable?
It scores 61 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 277th riskiest of the 284 2013 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2013 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.
Which year of the Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen is best?
Within the 2008–2014 generation, 2009 scores best at 60 out of 100 and 2014 worst at 65. Same body, same engines, different luck.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed