Other engine problem on the 2016 Volkswagen Jetta
2 crashes 1 fire 3 of the 23 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 2016 Volkswagen Jetta report other engine problem at a median of 15,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 5,000 miles and a quarter after 40,000 miles, from 14 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 900 miles at the tenth percentile to 65,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 62,604 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.
64% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 896 miles | 3,225 miles | 13,272 miles | 37,754 miles | 63,500 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
Of these reports, 2 a crash and 1 a fire 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 2016 has 23. 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.
This is the base model s automatic transmission 1.4 tsi. This vehicle doesn't have a gauge for measuring the temperature. Unable to make a decision promptly if the car starts to heat is a safety problem. The car apparently has a mechanism to lower the rpms if the car starts heating and has a light indicating that something is wrong with the cooling system but it is unacceptable that in 2016 you can't see the engine temerature. I didn't notice this while testing the car before doing the purchase and thought it was a matter of configuration but confirmed this with the manual. This car has 85 miles and when running through a slope in rural area if it decides to down shift theres a bump or a knock in the transmutation as if you were abusing the car and the motor or transmission mounts can't hold its force. It really feels awful when this happens. This should happen smoothly but it doesn't. I understand that it will make its own decision of what is the best gear in order to provide enough torque to manage the slope but this is not normal. This could be a sing of future failure and of course an accident can occur. Would like this two…
I am a vw fan and I am having serious issues with regards to my vw jetta 2016 1.4. Ever since my 1st service I advised the service department that my breaks are making a noise and every time they say it was fine. There is a knocking sound coming from the front left side when it is switched on and stays on and gets worse as you drive. When I purchase the car that sound was not present. Again I was told that there was nothing wrong with it, it is that way was mean to sound that way and that was normal. I then did some research and spoke to various people that have knowledge on vw as well as a previous service manager who told me that is an issue that they are trying to no face it. I was not please to their respond the car has 2,780 miles on it and 6 months since I drove it out of the lot I ask that someone do really need to address this. Then I was told that there will be a representative from vw corporation that will be coming and that he would be the one to have it inspected. This say in october 2016 today is april 2 2017. I am still waiting for that to happen to have the car inspected I am sure I will told now is close to year oh…
At any time, day or night, any time of the year, when accelerating from a stop or attempting to pass another vehicle, this car will fail to accelerate when pressing down on the gas pedal. The delay can be as long as 5 seconds and since I never know when it will happen, I feel the vehicle is very unsafe. It can fail to accelerate in the middle of an intersection with traffic coming at you from both directions and you will not be able to get out of their way. I feel I take my life in my hands every time I step into this vehicle and recommend that on one ever buy one of these death traps!!!!
Also reported on the 2016 Volkswagen Jetta
Other electrical problem
Other fuel system problem
Other brake problem
Other powertrain problem
Fuel leak or fuel odor
Other speed control problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 23 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 2016 Volkswagen Jetta?
Across 14 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 15,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 5,000 miles and a quarter after 40,000 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 2016 Volkswagen Jetta?
23 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.6 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