Other engine problem on the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta
2 crashes 3 fires 2 injuries 7 of the 56 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other engine problem gets reported
Owners of the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta report other engine problem at a median of 40,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 12,500 miles and a quarter after 80,000 miles, from 43 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 3rd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 500 miles at the tenth percentile to 100,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 100,340 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
42% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 460 miles | 13,290 miles | 41,000 miles | 79,995 miles | 100,800 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 2 a crash, 3 a fire and 2 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $300–$4,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 27 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2019, at a median of 700 miles, and latest on the 2025 at 115,000 miles.
By volume the 2010 carries the most reports, with 91; the 2011 has 56. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
18 days and 400 odometer miles after purchasing my 2011 jetta sportwagen tdi, the 'glowlight' warning light came on while driving. The following day, the 'glowlight' began to blink, then the 'catalytic' warning light also began blinking. Car was taken to dealership the same day. After (remote) diagnostic assistance from the manufacturer, dealer reported that the 'crank sensor' needed replacing. After 2 days, the dealer informed me that it was not the 'crank sensor' after all. Days later, a manufacturer's rep inspected the car at the dealership and determined that an onboard computer was the problem, and that one would arrive from germany in 10 to 14 days. Dealer later revised that time estimate to 35 days. If dealer's estimate is correct, my new car will have been in the shop for well over 40 days. Note: u.s. Dept. Of transportation database shows at least 3 similar complaints for 2010 jetta tdi's. See odi id # 10359939, 10359434, 10353544. So why hasn't volkswagen corrected this known problem? *tr
This is an addendum to complaint odi# 10362604 and references 6 additional "glowplug" warning light odi complaints filed for the 2009 model year. (the 3 references in the original complaint were only for the 2010 model year.). This brings the total to 9 other volkswagen jetta sportwagen tdi incidents that are similar or identical to my own. Based on these multiple reports, there can be no question but that volkswagen has known about this hazardous and costly defect for at least 3 years. Additional odi complaint numbers: 10356900, 10355519, 10354353, 10315932, 10297692, 10295191. *tr
My new 2011 vw jetta sportswagen decelerated suddenly while driving at 65 MPH on the highway. The engine lost most of its power and the car could only go at about 30 MPH. The car regained all its power after the engine was shut off. I consider this a critical safety issue with the car.
Also reported on the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta
Fuel pump failure
Other electrical problem
Other fuel system problem
Other powertrain problem
No-start or intermittent start failure
Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 56 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other engine problem happen on the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta?
Across 43 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 40,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 12,500 miles and a quarter after 80,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other engine problem on the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta?
56 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 1.3 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
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