Other electrical problem on the 2012 Volkswagen Passat
2 crashes 2 of the 32 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 electrical problem gets reported
Owners of the 2012 Volkswagen Passat report other electrical problem at a median of 60,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 40,000 miles and a quarter after 70,000 miles, from 24 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 20,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 85,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 64,250 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.
17% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22,200 miles | 40,000 miles | 60,700 miles | 68,250 miles | 86,450 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 is 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 $250–$2,000 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 21 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2022, at a median of 100 miles, and latest on the 1997 at 140,000 miles.
By volume the 2002 carries the most reports, with 109; the 2012 has 32. 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.
I was in very slow bumper to bumper traffic when the battery light came on and there was a significant loss of power in the engine and no power steering or brakes. I was able to coast to the shoulder and turn off the car. Lights, radio and ventilation systems did not seem to be impacted. After a minute, I turned the car on and everything appeared to be back to normal. This has happened twice in 3 months. *tr
Both of my headlights have failed (on two different occasions). The first in 2013 (right side) in which dealer representative said that vw was having a problem with the light housings. They were going to charge me for the repair, but the dealership management decided to do a "courtesy" fix. In april of 2014 the left light failed and the vw dealership said I would have to pay for repairs and then "apply" for a refund when the recall campaign came out. They have had a known problem for over 18 months and they still have not issued a recall. No lights creates a very hazardous situation. *tr
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 volkswagen passat. While driving the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer more than five times for an electrical failure. The dealer diagnosed and repaired the vehicle with a repair kit, connector, bumper, washer cap, filter element, refilled the oil and replaced a screw however, the failure recurred. The check oil, check engine, navigation system and the check coolant sensor warning lights intermittently illuminated. The contact made multiple unsuccessful attempts with a mechanic to obtain a diagnosis to determine if the failure was electrical. The mechanic was unable to be determine if the failure was associated with a fuse or the battery. The police attempted to assist the contact with starting the vehicle; however, it would not restart. A police report was filed because the vehicle stalled on a major highway. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer who was unable to duplicate or diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact was awaiting further inspection and diagnosis by an authorized dealer. The manufacturer was notified of the failure several…
Also reported on the 2012 Volkswagen Passat
Airbag inflator rupture
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Steering column or shaft failure
Other engine problem
Other fuel system problem
Fuel pump failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 32 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 electrical problem happen on the 2012 Volkswagen Passat?
Across 24 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 60,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 40,000 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 electrical problem on the 2012 Volkswagen Passat?
32 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.9 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