Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure on the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta
When ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure gets reported
Owners of the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta report ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure at a median of 55,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 40,000 miles and a quarter after 62,500 miles, from 25 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 22,500 miles at the tenth percentile to 77,500 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 56,080 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
Reports bunched into a band this tight usually mean the component has a life of its own: it goes at roughly the same mileage regardless of who owns it.
20% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21,920 miles | 39,500 miles | 55,000 miles | 62,700 miles | 78,000 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
Putting it right typically runs $250–$1,500 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 16 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 1997, at a median of 35,000 miles, and latest on the 2006 at 170,000 miles.
By volume the 2019 carries the most reports, with 58; the 2013 has 45. 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.
August 30, 2014 this 2013 vw jetta 2.5se has had an intermittent problem with turning the car off and removing the key from the ignition since about 10,000 miles. Today it went from an infrequent problem that was hard to duplicate to a full-blown problem. It will no longer work at all and is now non-functional. It is not the steering wheel locking mechanism that causes this. Prior to today, the key would randomly not turn to shut off the car or turn to start. A slight push in and jiggle of the key would solve the issue. I only have a house key and a small vw key fob, nothing heavy hanging on it that would have caused any damage or wear to the cylinder. Today, the car would not shut off at all. Twisting, pulling, pushing, and any jiggling would not turn the ignition into the off position for engine shut off and key removal. Fortunately, my vehicle is a manual shift and I was able to shut the engine off by dumping the clutch. The electrical system was still on due to the key being in the on-position. I had to remove the battery cable from the terminal to shut the electrical system off and not drain the battery. Multiple tries by…
Tl* the contact owns a 2013 volkswagen jetta. The contact stated after numerous attempts, the ignition switch was able to release. The failure recurred twice. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the ignition switch cylinder was cleaned and lubricated. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 39,500.
Ignition switch: the key has gotten stuck multiple times in the on position in our 2013 volkswagen jetta ignition.. A quick web search demonstrates my family is not alone in this issue. A carguru forum discussion (:http://www.cargurus.com/cars/discussion-t41581_ds528745) goes on at length about it. A complaints.com comment also mentions this problem.: (http://www.carcomplaints.com/volkswagen/jetta/2012/accessories-interior/ignition_switch_problems.shtml) a simple web search turns up lots of ignition switch problems in vw's. This is a safety hazard especially if you cant get your key to turn to the off position, and some other part fails like the brakes or the accelerator. I urge there to be a recall. It seems to affect multiple makes and models. Additionally this should not be something that costs a car owner 1000$ + to fix.
Also reported on the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta
Other electrical problem
Other powertrain problem
Other engine problem
Fuel pump failure
Other steering problem
Oil leak
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 45 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 ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure happen on the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta?
Across 25 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 55,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 40,000 miles and a quarter after 62,500 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure on the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta?
45 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 1.0 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