Other fuel system problem on the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta
When other fuel system problem gets reported
Owners of the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta report other fuel system problem at a median of 45,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 15,000 miles and a quarter after 70,000 miles, from 12 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 90,000 miles. It is the 10th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 5,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 75,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 70,400 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
33% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6,100 miles | 17,125 miles | 46,600 miles | 69,750 miles | 76,500 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 $300–$2,200 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 20 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2019, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 2005 at 105,000 miles.
By volume the 2010 carries the most reports, with 100; the 2013 has 18. 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.
The car completely lost power while in motion and I had to pull off the roadway in heavy traffic. The dealer told me that the tdi (diesel) fuel system had a complete failure and imploded into many very small metal parts. Vw is replacing the entire fuel system, but not the engine. I believe metal in the fuel lines is cause for a complete engine replacement as they cannot prove the contamination was limited to the fuel lines. The car is less than 4 months old and has 5500 miles total. *tr
Approached traffic light (which was red). When light changed, attempted to make a left turn. No power for about 3 seconds, then accelerated through the light and all was normal. Now have about 1500 miles on the car and similar situations have occurred. Estimated that we had about 15 repeats of this problem. Dealer found no codes and could not repeat the problem. Dealer said we would have to wait until a code was recorded before they could do anything. Problem occurred twice with a cold engine and the rest of the time when the engine was thoroughly warmed up. Feel that this is a safety problem and something must be done. We could make a left turn into approaching traffic and be stalled in the middle of the intersection.. Am afraid to have my wife drive the car. *tr
I was driving the car approximately 40 miles per hour on a straight road, when all of the sudden the engine lost power and I started coasting in the middle of traffic. I would press the gas and the engine would rev, but no power would be delivered. It was unlike anything I've experienced before with the car. It was like I was in a false neutral, the rpms would increase but the car would not accelerate when I was pressing the gas pedal. Since the car would not regain power, I was forced to coast to a halt in traffic. When I tried to remove my key to power down the car, it would not let me take the key out of the transmission. It was as if the car thought that the transmission was not yet in park even though it was. After a few seconds I was able to remove my key, when I turned the car back on, the problem seemed to go away. *tr
Also reported on the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta
Other electrical problem
Other powertrain problem
Other engine problem
Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure
Fuel pump failure
Other steering problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 18 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 fuel system problem happen on the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta?
Across 12 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 45,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 15,000 miles and a quarter after 70,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other fuel system problem on the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta?
18 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 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